Mods or scenarios with dinosaurs

[Bluemofia]

for sure I remember that somebody actually played the barbarians in the Japan Scenario, not a normal civ equipped with barb Units. he could not do Research, he could not build towns but Held the camps, he could not capture or destroy but only plunder cities...
i will look the Story up, and maybe somebody knows how one can define the barbs as playable...
thanks!
t_x

Edit:
here is the game i am talking about:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/revenge-of-the-ronin-sengoku-mod.353867/

This is the first time I've heard of this. Thanks! And looking through the story, they used Sima Qian's Multiplayer tool to pull this off:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/multiplayer-tool-play-scenarios-up-to-31-players.456432/

There isn't a way to do it with the game by default, as this is .exe level modding (not really modifying the .exe, but using an external tool), and you sort of assume control of the Barbarians shortly after starting a game.

Also, they don't exactly "build" barbarians, they just spawn per normal barbarian spawning rules.

 

[Blue Monkey]

It's worth noting that a careful reading of the reporting makes it clear that it was more of a stunt by a skillful player than something which would be casual fun. Hidden Nationality units (including all Barbarians) are ferociously attacked by any AI-played civ once they are spotted. Since you can't build more (no cities) unless you know how to take advantage of limitations in the AI you'd quickly be eliminated from the game.

Try playing the Jurassic Park scenario. If he enjoys it and wants to play it again and again then exploring how to modify it, such as making a more dinosaur friendly map might be much easier than making a scenario from scratch.

Edit: we're cross-posting. Which is a good thing. Shows you've interested a lot of people with a deceptively simple question.

 

[timerover51]

timerover, a 6-year-old in Austria is desperately waiting for progress in your mod...
t_x

Templar_X, I have not fully tested it, but if your son is willing to be my beta tester, I will post the .bix file for you. Your son will need to play it under Play the World.

 

[templar_x]

sure, let´s try it!
i will let you know any findings that we have...
t_x

 

[timerover51]

I am trying to upload a .bix file with my dinosaur scenario, but I am having problems with getting a message of not allowed file format. How do I upload it?

 

[Bluemofia]

I am trying to upload a .bix file with my dinosaur scenario, but I am having problems with getting a message of not allowed file format. How do I upload it?

Try using a .zip file.

 

[timerover51]

Okay, I will try that. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[templar_x]

did you upload it already, TO? the little one got scarlet fever in the meanwhile, and having started with the antibiotics he feels much better than he actually is, of course. some dino civ scenario beta testing seems to be just the right cure ... not for the illness, but the boredom.

in case you upload it somewhere else, it would be great if you could give notice here. thanks!
t_x

 

[timerover51]

Greetings Templar_X. I finally have uploaded the .bix file in the zip file. You can run it in either Play the World or Conquests, but it will play a bit differently in Conquests. I would recommend that your son use Play the World. Let me know if there are any major problems with it. It should run okay.

 

[templar_x]

thanks, timerover! i dled it, and wow, Food ressources give PLENTY Food. however, dinosaur Units come at a steep Price... when do you expect that the Player is able to actually build them at Minimum 800 shields per Piece?

otherwise, my first two Units were trampled over by 2 T-Rex with 16/10/3 stats when the best unit i could build was a 1/1/1-warrior. is that intentional? are those dinosaurs barb Units?

t_x

 

[templar_x]

first test results, a try as China:
-the happy ressource Gold is shown as "22" in the City Screen
-the airlift Action button Shows for Units right from the start, but seemingly does not work
-AIs end a conversation with "(no reply)"
Overall, what I can say after a few turns into the game: the expensive settler/high Food value of certain tiles/big boost through land improvement concept is nice! the ultraearly T-Rexes are too hard, but otherwise the normal plus the Dino barbs are fun. no idea yet how it is to build any saurs yourself
t_x

 

[timerover51]

thanks, timerover! i dled it, and wow, Food ressources give PLENTY Food. however, dinosaur Units come at a steep Price... when do you expect that the Player is able to actually build them at Minimum 800 shields per Piece?

otherwise, my first two Units were trampled over by 2 T-Rex with 16/10/3 stats when the best unit i could build was a 1/1/1-warrior. is that intentional? are those dinosaurs barb Units?

t_x

They should not cost that much, so let me see what I sent. You should be able to build units fairly quickly with the high food values. There are Barbarian Dino units, and the player Dino units are only available to Abyssinia. Again, let me check that. I might have changed something without meaning too.

If you want to play another civilization, then I would suggest a European one, as there are no Dino-Barbs in Europe. They are in Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

Edit Note: My sincere apologies for my error. I had them set for the cost as if in Conquests, and not for Play the World, where the cost shown is multiplied by 10. I have made the changes to the Dinos, so you should be able to use them. Would you like a version where all of the civilizations can make them? If you do that, then the AI will be making them just about exclusively for the first half of the game.

 

[templar_x]

thanks for that info! we tried another game as Abyssinia then. dino barbs appear very early. but yes, we can build dino Units ourselves! at the steep Price tough...
some more General remarks:
-the large map and the high # of civs are too much for my Laptop Computer: during IBT, i miss most of what is Happening due to White Screens.
-the Abyssinian start is very weak, compared to China
-the higher def boni for Terrain and higher movement costs are nice tweaks, just as the higher Boni of tile improvements, notably Irrigation.
we so far only played a bit more with China. with their very strong land, the tech Speed was good. with Abyssinia, for sure this would be very different.
ah, and yes, there were a few pedia entries that did not seem to be correct - but i guess you are not through with them anyway.
t_x

 

[Blue Monkey]

It is a fairly simple process to import rules to another map. With random starting locations you could use any size map you want. Even save a bix that generates a random map.

 

[templar_x]

I am merely trying to give Feedback to TO as requested/promised. I am happy with the game, and I sure won´t find the "fairly simple process" in fact simple, as all I can do in the game is start it, Play it and save it.
t_x

 

[Blue Monkey]

I am merely trying to give Feedback to TO as requested/promised. I am happy with the game, and I sure won´t find the "fairly simple process" in fact simple, as all I can do in the game is start it, Play it and save it.
t_x

I get it. I didn't mean to imply that you should be the one to do it. Just that it could be done without the need to "start from scratch". Which would shift your suggestion(s) into the realm of practicability.

 

[timerover51]

Greetings Templar_X, attached is the corrected file for the scenario.

With respect to the game, my laptop has the same problem with a full 31 Civilization game. I generally tone it down to 5 or 6 opposing civilizations, and then it runs quite well. There are a LOT of pre-placed Barbarians along with the Dino Barbs on the map, which also consume processor time, as they are moving a lot as well. What you and your son can do is place hot-seat on the same computer and game, and work as Allies if you want too. I know that Abyssinia is not the greatest start, which is sort of why I choose them to be my test Civilization. I have given the Israel player Triceratops cavalry in one game, and that was a bit of fun.

I have not changed any of the Civilopedia entries to reflect some of my changes, as that would mean changing the basic game file, which I would rather not do. I have several variations of the game that I poke at.

Now, if you would like a smaller map, then there are a couple of ways to approach that. First, a new map will get ride of all of the pre-placed Barbarian units, which will in and of itself, speed up the game. I prefer larger maps as it give me time to develop my civilization prior to running into the AI, and also reduces the AI trading of techs. For a smaller map, I would recommend going to fewer playable civilizations. Now, you can either generate a new map using the Dino scenario in the editor, with one idea setting the random map seed starting number to your son's birthday, and then saving the map as his Dino scenario. Another option would be to find a nice smaller map that you like, and then reproduce it using the editor. Otherwise, I could look over what maps I have been poking at and see if any of them look suitable. Are you looking for more of a "real world" map, or more of a totally different map? I think that somewhere in my collection of maps I have a large-scale map of South East Asia, including Australia. That might prove interesting.

 

[templar_x]

more into the game, more Feedback from my son and myself :
-with accelerated production, one runs out of builds very soon in the AA, and can only build even more Units.
-as soon as real trade sets in, the AI is helpless as usual. i guess it would be better to have trade of communications much later.
-Europe seems very crowded, in Africa there is lots of space (but abnormous numbers of barbs)
-my son stresses that i should write that he LOVES to build dino Units.
t_x

 

[Blue Monkey]

My Little One started to be interested in C3C, and he especially demands me to find something with dinosaurs for him. ...

more into the game, more Feedback from my son and myself :
-with accelerated production, one runs out of builds very soon in the AA, and can only build even more Units.
-as soon as real trade sets in, the AI is helpless as usual. i guess it would be better to have trade of communications much later.
-Europe seems very crowded, in Africa there is lots of space (but abnormous numbers of barbs)
-my son stresses that i should write that he LOVES to build dino Units.
t_x

This may the first time in the history of C3 C&C that play-testing preceded scenario design. There's enough of us here that love dinos & megafauna that something exactly like what he wants may eventually hatch. OTOH, crafting a good scenario moves more at the pace of a brontosaurus than a velociraptor.

 

[timerover51]

more into the game, more Feedback from my son and myself :
-with accelerated production, one runs out of builds very soon in the AA, and can only build even more Units.
-as soon as real trade sets in, the AI is helpless as usual. i guess it would be better to have trade of communications much later.
-Europe seems very crowded, in Africa there is lots of space (but abnormous numbers of barbs)

TETurkhan put all of the civilizations where they primarily came from, with a lot of them in Europe. I tend to play with most of the European ones not included, as otherwise, Europe turns into a real war zone. As for the accelerated production, you can disable that, or when you do not have more builds except units, you can go to the wealth default, and build your treasury. That helps later in the game when you need to build things fast at a new colony.

-my son stresses that i should write that he LOVES to build dino Units.
t_x

I like to build them too. One reason for working this up. I chose the Abyssinians as the Dino civilization because they have such a bad start.