[MOD] Planet Roanoke, a/k/a all SMAC'ed up

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

"Yes'm, we came out of hibe 30 clicks early, we did, and that's what did us in." The man looks old enough to have seen Planetfall. A twitch periodically ripples from his left eye down to his hand, a marker of the psychic toll Roanoke has taken on its trespassers. "Sumpin in breaking the ionic boundary shorted L-Support. Lost a whole bay of civilians. Let 'em spoil, too. Weren't 'recycling' then." He gestures meaningfully at his Orgsoup.

"Ship wasn't meant to support that many Breathers. Engineers pulled off some miracles recycling the oxy, but it wasn't enough. No way we were going to make it to New Eden." He looks out the glassteel at the twinkling stars. "Nope, it was Plan B for us, and our best hope was this chunk o' rock we're standing on now."

"She's no beauty, but when we saw her we thought we were lookin' at heaven. Or maybe it was the oxy-depro. By then the whole ship was so lightheaded we were barely flying straight. Maybe that explains the FUBAR podlaunch sequence. That, or a mutiny. Maybe a bit o' both."

"Some Old-World Fundies think it's destiny we ended up here. They say they heard the planet itself calling to us like a 'celestial siren' and all. We wanted to reach the New Eden, but you and I both know this ain't the Promised Land... we're the Lost Colony of Roanoke."

Early in the second millenium of the Common Era, mankind has begun colonizing nearby star systems. Like the first settlers of the First New World, these new colonists depart their homeland for a variety of reasons: the thrill of discovery, religious mission, entrepreneurial greed, or simple hope for a fresh start. But instellar travel is no safer than early colonial seafaring. So it was that the Mayflower II hit a series of disasters as it passes through a "slingshot" system, leaving it unable to reach its destination. With life-support stretched beyond capacity, the crew have no choice but to crash-land onto the nearest (barely) habitable planet.

The ship breaks up in orbit, and thousands perish. But a hardy few survive, only to face new challenges on a hostile new world...

MOD GOALS
This is a sci-fi mod about early human interstellar colonization, inspired by Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC). As a work of sci-fi, it sits, like SMAC, somewhere between hard science and sci-fantasy (e.g. Star Wars). Here are some of the goals I set for myself when I started this project:

Tell an exciting story. Rather than copy the SMAC story wholesale, I'd like to capture its feel -- both a sense of discovery as well as an unfolding plotline that the player moves forward however she chooses. While movies and multimedia would be ideal, given likely limitations text storytelling is a desirable vehicle for me. I err on the side of "literate" and DO think text-based insterstials would not only be acceptable but desirable, though of course a movie would be better.
Provide exciting choices. I would like for the "builder" option to be just as fun as the "conqueror" option. I would also like the game mechanics for non-violent conflict to be just as fun as violent conflict. For example, "economic competition" should be just as fun as battles -- perhaps by leveraging the battle model.
Provide "moral" choices. I liked how SMAC delivered an ecological message without forcing you to accept it (victory was quite possible as an eco-abusive Morgan). I would like the player to confront these choices -- whether as a matter of selecting civics or terraforming the landscape. The Strip Mine improvement might, for example, provide an immediate boost to production but destroy the land's long-term value. As a consequence, users of the Strip Mine would be forced to constantly move like locusts to stay alive.
Be easy to learn. Techs and units should be intuitive, and there shouldn't be layers and layers of concepts. Since the setting is sci-fi, the beginning should be more intuitive, and new complexity should be added in digestable chunks. All else equal, always choose the simpler option.
Be immersive. As much as possible, I'd like the end product to be well-polished, with a consistent style and feel. (For example, try to avoid the "clip art" approach to unit graphics).
Have fun -- of course! Honestly I'm having plenty of fun just creating this mod, but I hope the result will also be fun to play .

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Download version 0.15 (note: this version INCLUDES the texture and sound packs listed below - you do not need to download them separately)

Terrain Textures
Sound Pack

MAP INSTRUCTIONS: After unpacking this mod, you will see a file called "Roanoke.py". Put this file in your map directory (I use "/Civilization IV/PublicMaps/" in my main install directory but you may prefer the one in your "My Games" directory).

KNOWN BUGS

CTD when turning on tile grid
"Irrigation" (from the "Terran Air" feature created by Aerators) only works for Hothouses built AFTER the Aerator.
Some buttons still missing
Dierdre STILL starts with an extra Probe

UPDATES
- New civilisations (Diemos)
- New leader traits (Diemos)
- New faction leaders (1 per faction to allow for more players) (Diemos)
- New faction-based HQs (1 leader each for more players) (Diemos)
- set xp caps for barbarians and animals up to 15
- removed all entries for great persons and removed GP points from current wonders
- switched lattice roaming characteristics of the (2,2 and 3,1) animal pulses so only the stronger one can leave the lattice
- gave animal pulses -25% vs airborne units
- general code tidying
- Reduced base energy output of squares back by 1 to slow the quick fire techs at game start

Spoiler :

TO-DO LIST

Continue balancing opening options (Bagheera has been doing much work here)
Mod SDK to allow for "missile" units
Mod SDK to remove earth features from map generation even if not using our "official" map
Get rid of pink unit icon / popups
Update list of credits and other info below!!!

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

The colonists start in the wreckage of the Mayflower II and whatever equipment they can salvage and reconstruct. The first few months are marked by hardship, as survivors cobble together life support systems, manufacture shops, and energy collectors. Each faction has its own path to survival: the BioDeck survivors can build a simple life support system; the Engineers can build a basic factory; while the Barracks can scour the surrounding terrain for wreckage resources.

Eventually, by building a psi clinic, surviving citizens are able to work the surrounding 3x3 tile around the crash site. They can finally begin building hothouse, mines, and other basic improvements to begin the long climb back to advanced civilization.

It is then that the colonists discover that the planet is not uninhabited, after all...

Spoiler :

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Survivors of the Mayflower II Science Deck establish their first base, but they lack the equipment (and discipline) to "leave the base." Instead, a robotic probe is exploring this alien landscape.

Planet Roanoke, unlike Chiron of SMAC, starts as a desolate wasteland. [I'm not a scientist, so some of this needs filling in.] The gravity is higher than Earth's, holding a dense but cold atmosphere (average temperature hovers at -80C) -- there are significant frozen CO2 and NH3 assets that the colonists can mine for early horticulture.

The most striking feature of Planet V is its expanses of "Fibersea" (visible at lower-right in image above), which are dense mats of sharp silicon tubes, ranging in size from razorwire to hundreds of meters thick. Related to this Fibersea are terrestrial "lattice" structures that cover a significant portion of the land.

The unusual and frustrating property of both the Fibersea and the Lattice is that they interfere significantly with normal electronics -- close proximity is almost certain to short most circuitry. It would be safe to assume that these structures have something to do with the crashing of the colony ship.

TERRAIN VALUES
Wasteland : 0 / 0 / 0
Basalt : -1* / 2 / 0
Sand : 0 / 1 / 0
Soil : 1 / 0 / 0 (terraforming only)
Terran Drylands : 1 / 1 / 0 (terraforming only)
Terran Grasslands : 2 / 0 / 0 (terraforming only)
Stripped : 0 / 0 / 0 (terraforming only)

* - Technically it's 0/2/0, but this does not allow good food improvements.

RESOURCES
Basic resources are the same in this mod as Civ4, but with some SMAC-flavored names:
* Nutrition
* Producton
* Energy

In addition, there are:
* Research
* Psi (culture)
* Stored energy

Roanoke is actively hostile to its settlers, and whether through the mysterious workings of fiber/lattice or by the colonists' own fears, civilians cannot work outside a certain Psi threshold. (At least, that's my story of cultural borders for now). In this mod, Psi functions as a resource that can be stored up, then spent down, unlike the Civ4 approach, in which culture is a one-way expansion.

FEATURES
Lattice - Very much like Xenofungus, and like Xenofungus, become more useful over time. Currently this can't be modeled in XML, but we can create improvements (the equivalent of lumberyards) to capture this idea if we like it.

IMPROVEMENTS
These are not completely helpless colonists, but rather come prepared with terraforming tools (though much was lost in the crash landing). At the outset, the most important improvements will be food-related. If the faction adopts a particular race (see "Religion" below), certain improvements should produce more or less food. [This is not possible through vanilla XML tweaking, but I have some workaround ideas]. Terraforming should be a major option.

Around Era II, players will be given a choice of what direction they seek to take their civ: the original plan, which is to terraform towards Earth-like conditions (or beyond) or switch to a new survival paradigm. For example, it will be possible to build a production-centered civ that builds capacity through production (buildings) rather than through growth (people).

Hothouse/Farm (depending on tile) -- +1 nutrition (+1 if Anthrocentric civic)
Mine -- +2 minerals
Wind turbine -- +2 energy
Resonance collector -- +1 minerals, +2 energy; "irrigates" Resonance energy (irrigation works on energy, not food, in this mod) [Note: this may need to be revisited, as irrigation is coded in C++ as food-related)

Specials

Terraform -- Each terraform causes the terrain to go "up" one level of nutrition and "down" one level of minerals. For example, Basalt becomes Sand, and then Soil; eventually it will be possible to create Terran environments -- or perhaps better.
Borehole -- -6 food, +6 minerals, +6 energy. Immediately terraforms the lands to "Stripped" (no values, no improvements, including Boreholes, to prevent exploit). They work like reverse cottages -- after several turns they drop in value, until they collapse.

BONUSES
I would like to keep bonus resources both simple and diverse, as they are in vanilla Civ4 (e.g. lots of resources, but mostly with the same game mechanic -- same effect, same discovery time, same exploiting tech/improvement). If we cut back on resources somewhat, we can make up for it by enabling the player to choose between how to use some bonuses. For example, geothermal vents could be used to heat up greenhouses, or to generate energy.

Bonuses will also work differently based on lifeform. The energy-based Cyneid, for example, get extra happiness from "Chaos" resources like High Winds. Production-phile Borgs enjoy mineral resources.

CO2, NH3 -- Nutrition / health
HE3 -- Strategic (fusion)
High winds, geothermal vents -- energy
Terran bonuses -- not found but "discovered" in hothouses after Genetic Engineering
Native life -- unknown
Strange shapes -- unknown

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Each civilization, or "faction," represents a different segment of the mother ship before it had broken up - the Engineering Bay, the Biodeck, the Security barracks, etc. The leader of each is the ranking surviving officer. (It is believed that the Captain went down with her ship).

Currently I am using factions and leaderheads borrowed from SMAC, but I'm looking for alternatives! Also, "Biodeck" is not a good name for a civ, so any name that fits with the storyline would be welcome.

Biodeck (Naisiunta) ~ Diedre, Cha'Dawn

Engineering Bay ~ Domai

Science Deck (Tekhneans) ~ Zakharov, Roze

Security Barracks (Polician) ~ Santiago, Yang?

First Class (Moja) ~ Morgan

Steerage (Hudmass) ~ Lal, Miriam

Prison / Brig ~ Svensgaard? Yang?

(Note: the current version has only Diedre, Zakharov, Santiago, Morgan, and Lal.)

TRAITS

Traits are yet to be implemented, but could include:

Resilient (like Creative)
Flexible (like Spiritual)

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

As in SMAC, I would love for the technologies to "tell the story" of colonizing and then thriving on Planet. At the same time, I know that most people (myself included) probably only listened to each story once or twice before clicking on. Still, at least the first time through I'd like the player to experience an unfolding discovery in as immersive a way as possible.

I'd also like for the player to be able to "branch" as much as possible in the tech tree, and be able to make a meaningful and perhaps decisive choice among possible branches. For example, if the player decides to pursue a "Borg destiny" (see the "Races" section), he should be able to choose pursue that branch fairly exclusively and then "fill in" later, if necessary.

Currently I have the techs divied up into the following eras:

1. Survival
2. Adaptation
3. Growth
4. Awareness
5. Ascendence

As in Civ4, some techs are major "breakthroughs" that also "break" old paradigms (e.g. calendar for obelisks). Some of the key techs I am imagining include:

Spoiler :

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

The system of religion is replaced with Lifeform (species / race). At various points in the game, new Lifeforms are born that introduce both new capabilities and problems. As we find on Earth, simply getting races to get along is a miraculous feat -- never mind sentient species.

My hope is that we'll be able to reshape the religion system so that official adoption of a favored or promoted lifeform will shape a faction's tendencies. For example, Cyneid lean towards scientific discovery and espionage, while the Borg favor production and war. But, which lifeform each faction adopts should also be shaped by conditions -- a faction that has low food potential but high production potential should probably switch to a Borg existence.

These are the species I've come up with so far:

Cyneid -- Conscious software that evolves into beings of pure energy. For Cyneids, energy = food. Focii: Research, Espionage. Inspiration: Jane from Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Game series)

Mutagen -- Psionically talented humankind adapted to the planet's environment. Focii: Psi (culture), Growth. Inspiration: er, X-Men?

Borg -- Human/machine symbiotes. Resistance is futile. If fully adopted, the Borg eliminate happiness issues at the cost of research and psi. Focii: Production, Military. Inspiraton: Star Trek, natch.

Native -- to be determined .... Inspiration: SMAC.

Civ4 handles religion as binary on/off options, which isn't really all that great for this adaptation. If possible, I'd love to adapt the culture identify slider to measure religious (species) population, somewhat like Masters of Orion.

In the meantime, the effects of race will have to be captured in buildings, specialists, and units. Most of the species should add new capabilities and flavor, but not drastically unbalance the game. For the most part, races should be able to co-exist, though not always happily. The Borg, I think, could be somewhat different: right now I think that they grow through building rather than population, and to enforce that mechanism perhaps they are only capable of strip-mining...

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

The primary units in the first era are near-future ones; they are squared off not so much against each other as against the quite dangerous native life. First-era units cannot enter Lattice, except one type of worker and the zeppelin (scout), which floats above it. The Lattice shorts out most conventional units, and only later do the colonists discover alternatives and workarounds.

Unit classes

Infantry - conventional
Mounted - conventional
Psi - Used by native and mutagen lifeforms
Hack - Used by Cyneid; like artillery

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Civics
(Very much in brainstorming mode, despite these icons! I have concepts but not much in the way of mechanics, yet)

Government

Autocracy

Democracy

Hive

Philocracy (Philosopher-King)

Consentience (Mind Meld?)

Economics

Simple

Planned

Free

Green

Synergy

hmmm... I'm limited in my images ... will continue into the next post, I guess...

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

(Civics, Continued)
Society

Simple

Free

Caste (Brave New World)

Eudaimonic

Values

Survival (run, run away!)

Power

Knowledge

Genomy
Anthrocentrism -- non-human lifeforms produce unhappiness
Tolerance -- er, not anthrocentric
Chauvinism -- Promote one lifeform above all others

...and NOW barbarians...

As in SMAC, the barbarians are the planet's self-defense mechanisms. They are actually other-dimensional lifeforms that manifest in the human mind as their worst fears -- from simple animals to mythological beasts. As the humans become more powerful, so too does the native life.

Ideally, you would begin learning techs that would enable you to communicate with barbarians, convert them to your cause, and win thereby win the game. Not sure if this is possible; this role may need to be played by a minor civ.

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Spoiler :

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Who knows, I may have more to say later

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

Thanks go first to Firaxis, of course, for creating not only Civ4 but also SMAC, which inspires this mod. My intent is to pay tribute to SMAC but not to rip it off; thus, any "borrowing" of assets from that game is a placeholder. I have every intent to remove all SMAC-derived asset and replace it with original art and text as we create them. However, for now I consider this mod a "remix" of SMAC -- SMAC'ed Up, if you will.

TEAM ROANOKE (incomplete list)
woodelf :king:

- Psi Clinician
Krikkitone - Cyneid Axon
Padmewan - Borg Drone

I have borrowed liberally from many mods and mod components posted here. If I forget any, please remind me:

The Song of the Moon provided inspiration and showed me that this can be done! The Moon Worker has found its way onto Roanoke, and perhaps much more...
Specifically, matthewv's Biodome is now our Life Support System graphic. Thanks also for map scripting help!
Laster Lexx's Greenmod taught me how to terraform, and his resources tutorial explains all there is to know about Resources XML.
C.Roland's Solar Plant, Zeppelin, and Futuristic Tank Skins
King Tuxx's religion modification guide is so complete, I can't cope
Kael, for everything, including the jungle reskin; we will soon enough start ripping off FFH for our own uses
Rabbit, White for his inspiring models, including the ones on loan from the Moon Mod
Sevo's Faces of God has not yet made its way into this mod, but it has already led to some great ideas
Ditto for RogerBacon's Bad People Mod

Shqype · Apr 12, 2006

This seems well thought-out and is very interesting to me! I personally haven't played Alpha Centauri, so most of this is new to me. I wish you luck and will have to see how this plays out. Nice job so far

woodelf · Apr 12, 2006

Yes! Finally live and I can put it into my sig.

Now to get my xenofungi/jungle working....

woodelf · Apr 12, 2006

I think one of the biggest hurdles for me personally is how close to SMAC do "we" want to go? The idea, the sounds, the techs, the factions, ect? The idea is nothing new. The sounds take me back 7-8 years and I love them. The techs and factions are like old friends, but we don't want to step on Firaxis or the Apolyton guys toes. I'm going to try to cook up new factions names at some point.

One thing I think we agree on (now after you convinced me via email) is that the tech buttons and all buttons should stay SMAC style. The are simple, elegant, and tell a story about the tech itself. Very cool.

seZereth · Apr 12, 2006

This sounds very interessinting, i really love the fungus idea!
keep on going!
Perhaps my dryad can be used for some alien abominations (dont know if that is planned...)

Perhaps i will be interested in designing some futuristic units (infantry or alien life forms

). so tell me if you are interested in me doing this

or even buildings...
well well if i wouldnt be busy with so much else...

woodelf · Apr 12, 2006

seZereth said:
This sounds very interessinting, i really love the fungus idea!
keep on going!
Perhaps my dryad can be used for some alien abominations (dont know if that is planned...)

Perhaps i will be interested in designing some futuristic units (infantry or alien life forms ). so tell me if you are interested in me doing this

or even buildings...
well well if i wouldnt be busy with so much else...

Sez, the Dryad or some variation of your tree dude is something I'm trying to push through.

I think a Plant religion would work. Help me work on Pad.

I would love to see what sort of alien life forms you could come up with. That would be a huge help. Also, more borg type units, and whatever psi/energy guys we dream up.

Buildings or geometric resources are needed. Stuff that the colonists don't understand, but eventually through tech figure out.

Any idea how to solve my terrain issue that I posted in the C&C? It looked like xenofungi except for the shadowing....

Padmewan · Apr 12, 2006

seZereth said:
Perhaps my dryad can be used for some alien abominations (dont know if that is planned...)

Perhaps i will be interested in designing some futuristic units (infantry or alien life forms ). so tell me if you are interested in me doing this

or even buildings...

I've definitely been eyeing the Dryad as the most "alien" of the unit models so far. No offense to her!

Would love your thoughts on how Cyneid (software) units should look. In the city shot above, you can see a Cyneid specialist -- I was envisioning them as glowing energy balls, in this case with colored squares floating around. They are used like catapults -- to hack enemy defenses or units.

The three existing lifeform units are all "missionaries" and therefore non-combat. A Borg prototype (SEAL w/ no weapons?) and Mutagen seed (Warrior with no weapons) would really help!

As woodelf sez above, he's been trying to mod the basic city look/feel -- would love any help on that!

woodelf said:
Sez, the Dryad or some variation of your tree dude is something I'm trying to push through. I think a Plant religion would work. Help me work on Pad.

Any idea how to solve my terrain issue that I posted in the C&C? It looked like xenofungi except for the shadowing....

Well, let's figure out what these plant lifeforms can do (beside Photosynthesize). Truthfully, a lot of these lifeforms can be "invisible" and do most of their work inside cities, just as you don't see a lot of Buddhists running around in a vanilla game

As for the xenofungus, er, Lattice, I was kinda picturing them being like Arches National Park in Utah on steroids. (They are made of silicon, after all).

KrikkitTwo · Apr 12, 2006

Padmewan said:
My hope is that we'll be able to reshape the religion system so that official adoption of a favored or promoted lifeform will shape a faction's tendencies.

In the meantime, the effects of race will have to be captured in buildings, specialists, and units. Most of the species should add new capabilities and flavor, but not drastically unbalance the game. For the most part, races should be able to co-exist, though not always happily. The Borg, I think, could be somewhat different: right now I think that they grow through building rather than population, and to enforce that mechanism perhaps they are only capable of strip-mining...

Religious Buildings, and religions themselves, can be used to give effects only when they are the official religion (at least happiness and commerce, I'm not sure about % boostings/food production.)

[MOD] Planet Roanoke, a/k/a all SMAC'ed up

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

King

Shqyptar

Bard

Bard

FfH´s art monk(ey)

Bard

King

Immortal

Similar threads