Modular Airships

[Vehem]

Well, I plan to keep this mod updated until the end of ice and I also plan to take other peoples ideas for UU airships and different tiers of airships.

I've had another look at the NIF for the Airship I posted (Dragonia's) - it should actually be reasonably easy to graft any "real ship" onto the bottom of the balloon, keeping all the rigging and such, or even to merge a ship's hull into the body of the balloon to create a more "zepplin" style balloon - some definite options for different appearances there. If you'd like a few modifying, I'll give it a shot once Fall Further is done.

 

[Farmer Bobathan]

Thanks for the offer, all I know how to do is texturing and how to move the ships up. I was planning on using a zeppelin as the luichirp UU for airships what do you guys think?

 

[Alzara]

A Luchiurp UU I would suggest would have a significantly higher strength value than normal airships, slower movement and cargo, plus the ability to bombard and deal collateral damage!

Xien, why don't you copy those stats we discussed accross from the thread where the Lanun ship was first mentioned?

Al

 

[xienwolf]

I love to chime in when it is just an idea, but once someone has actually created a mod of some type I try to leave things alone until input is specifically requested I am already tinkering with far too much as it is But you may feel free to do as you will with the stats/ideas I posted in the other thread. That's what they are there for

 

[Farmer Bobathan]

I finally uploaded a new version once it stopped crashing on me.

2.00 - Changed the folder structure, now airships are buildable with a shipyard and no longer upgrade from firgates and added a new airship: Sky Pirate (7 6 2 cargo starts with stealth and hidden nationality, can still attack anything if nationality is declared, 6 gold from combat)

 

[Tarquelne]

I finally uploaded a new version once it stopped crashing on me.

How'd you fix it?

 

[Farmer Bobathan]

I dunno it just stopped after I added the Sky Pirate and changed a few xml fields (it might have been a problem in the frigate xml block).

 

[Viatos]

Does this mod work with .32A FfH, .31 FF, and 1.12 Scions of Patria?

I like playing Terra, Creation, and Big and Small, but I hate wasting tech and time on freaking boats. The oceans of FfH could use a serious overhaul. 'Till then, there's airships. Hopefully, anyway.

 

[Tarquelne]

Does this mod work with .32A FfH, .31 FF, and 1.12 Scions of Patria?

Speaking of...
Having thus far completely ignored naval units I'm thinking of incorporating airships into the Scions. Perhaps as an optional module. So they'll probably be in a future version of Scions.

 

[Farmer Bobathan]

I'm not sure if it works with fall further (it probably will) and it will work with .32a.

Having thus far completely ignored naval units I'm thinking of incorporating airships into the Scions. Perhaps as an optional module. So they'll probably be in a future version of Scions.

That'd be neat

 

[Jabie]

I love the idea or Airships. Here's a few ideas that spring to mind.

You need to be very careful when creating airship units. In regular Civ (and in the modern world) there are three main aspects to any military force - the army (land), the navy (sea) and the air force (air). By adding air units you need to provide them with something to do in the game and, because FfH works on tech specialisation, you may also need to provide adequate counter-measures for the (some of the) other tech routes.

I'm presuming that Airships are going to fit somewhere along the Engineering line, perhaps as a new tech at the end of the branch. (Stealing the Flight Tech from the original game may save you some work) I'd recommend that you make them National Units, so that if they are unbalanced, they are at least limitted in number.

At the simplest level, the "something to do" can be cargo and recon. Recon isn't game-breaking - we can do that with hawks early on. Cargo is a nicer advantage - dump a load of troops behind enemy lines and let them cause chaos. That's potentially powerful, but you're probably giving up another line of research to get it, I don't think it's going to be a game-breaker.

Optionally you can add anti-aircraft aircraft for shooting down your opponents airships and hawks. These units become somewhat redundant when your opponent doesn't take to the air, so you may want to grant them a recon ability to make up for it.

The most dangerous air route would be to provide any kind of bombing capacity. As there are currently no anti-aircraft measures in place, aside from researching the engineering line, you effectively have an unblockable unit capable of reducing the enemy to rubble. That's unwise in terms of game balance, so I'd remove any kind of bombing capacity til there's adequate countermeasures down the other tech paths.

Building requirements for Airships. You might want to see about adding either a building requirement (e.g. Shipyard) and/or a resource requirement (Air Mana or Swamp Gas) The latter could be a bonus resources that is only available in Swamps (see Fall Further), provides +1H and is only visible on researching the Flight tech. By destroying/capturing these resources a land based army can ground your air fleet and remove them as a threat.

 

[arkham4269]

Building requirements for Airships. You might want to see about adding either a building requirement (e.g. Shipyard) and/or a resource requirement (Air Mana or Swamp Gas) The latter could be a bonus resources that is only available in Swamps (see Fall Further), provides +1H and is only visible on researching the Flight tech. By destroying/capturing these resources a land based army can ground your air fleet and remove them as a threat.

Another idea is that you have to have alchemy or some other version of chemistry so you can make helium or some such.

Also, if airships are brought into the game, it would seem to me that a promotion "Wings" should be created so that units with this promotion can attack airships in a anti-air sort of mode.

BTW, I had mentioned Airships because I'd like to see the Luirchip made into Gnomes and made into kind of a Warhammer steampunk/fantasy race. As a D&D player going back to 1974, I see Golems as being something created by mages so I'd put them with the Amurites or something. However, my question in this is where in the forum to you go to 'request' stuff like this. I mean a place where you could make a list of things you'd like to see or recommend and get some feedback (someday)?

Plus, I agree with someone who said up the thread a ways FfF ships need to be revamped. I mean as I said earlier, I wish Luann could be his own race with more gunpower steam/fantasy tech with Hannah the Irin using more fantastical ships.

 

[Jabie]

I like the idea of Alchemy idea. Instead of Helium, I'd call it Phlostigon and make it available at Knowledge of the Ether. You might want it's presence to give a +1G boost to Alchemy Labs for Civs that don't want to follow an air path.

 

[arkham4269]

I like the idea of Alchemy idea. Instead of Helium, I'd call it Phlostigon and make it available at Knowledge of the Ether. You might want it's presence to give a +1G boost to Alchemy Labs for Civs that don't want to follow an air path.

Yes! Phlostigon is much more steampunk. As I've said here and in different forums, I wish the Lurchirp (I can NEVER remember how to spell these guys) would be changed to Gnomes that would be the steampunk/fantasy guys. I can see all these gnomes in goggles and the like. Sort of like these guys...

http://www.sillof.com/C-Steampunk-SW.htm

 

[Jabie]

Re: Wings. You could simplify it to say that if a Unit has the "Wings" promotion it may attack other flying units. Give units like Air elementals, Angels and Demons the Wings Promotion.

Re: Steampunk. It's a lot of work, but I wouldn't replace the Chirp as a lot of work has gone into them already. Instead I'd suggest creating your own civilization of Steampunk Gnomes. Machinery could be their "thing" with flying airships their main advantage and, as they rely more on Fantasy Physics/Science, restricting them to Adepts for magic could be their disadvantage. The leader should get Ingenious, Industrive and Adaptive. A secondary drawback is having to survive til that point in the game. Possibly their world spell (Chain Reaction) could Doomsday Machine which generates an effect much like a Nuke, but shouldn't be available until at least the mid-game.

Here's a few other ideas for you to munch on:

Clockwork Units - Initially a unit with enhanced speed and power, but with an X% chance to jam. If it jams, its move drops to zero until it is repaired by a battlefield engineer. Vulnerable to rust and more likely to jam if damaged. Can't heal.

Airship - As discussed above. The big advantage that this civ would have over other civs is that ability to fly their troops behind enemy lines and drop them into enemy territory. Major disadvantage is that this would be a late-game tech and they'd need to survive to the late game to get it.

Gattling Gun - OK, the name stinks and is a little too high tech, but basically a City Building that requires Walls. When built it grants all units in that City the Drill I promotion whilst they are in the city.

Signaling Towers - +1 Science, +1 Trade Route

Ironworks - Steal from core game. Nuff said.

Unique Unit - Repeater Crossbow. Crossbowman with Blitz and Drill promotions.

Steamers - Str5, slow moving Naval Units that get a +1 bonus to their movement and Strength per commodity of Coal you own. (You might need to cap it at 4 or 5 coal)

Artisan's Workshop - Generates extra commerce and happiness with Gems and Metals. Could also generate Gnomish Devices, a Luxury Item similar to Hit Singles in the main game.

 

[arkham4269]

Here's a few other ideas for you to munch on:

All of these ides makes me wish I knew HTML and Python and all that; alas I spent my years learning how to be a intelligence analyst. The last language that I could code in was BASIC! (sigh) However, all very good ideas that I hope someone runs with. (hint to anyone out there!)

Gatling Gun - OK, the name stinks and is a little too high tech, but basically a City Building that requires Walls. When built it grants all units in that City the Drill I promotion whilst they are in the city.

Actually you could make this a unit that would be a anti-personnel unit similar to the Korean unit that is just a bunch of tubes stuck together and fired all at once. This was refined later by countries such as France and is use can be seen by Walker's Achaen's in S.M. Stirlings "Island In the Sea of Eternity" series.

Though this just made me think that another thing that could be done for magical races would be the "rifles" that Harry Turtledove used in his series "Darkness Series" so they'd be riflemen with the added promotion that they could sacrifice a unit to recharge as Lich's can by sacrifice one of your own units.

 

[steampunk1880]

Coal is unaccounted for in Erebus. Use fire mana instead.

 

[Farmer Bobathan]

A few of those changes would require python making the mod non-modular (I'm going to keep it modular because I'm lazy and don't want to have to update this every patch ) and I was going more for airships powered by magic instead of being balloons/blimps (which is why they need air mana).

About countering airships I made a personal mod for me that made archers able to attack at range and as a side effect they can attack airships. If interest is shown I could include that mod with this one. I'm also thinking about giving airships their own tech branch but I've never tried moving where a tech is positioned through the xml.

 

[Jabie]

Coal is unaccounted for in Erebus. Use fire mana instead.

For coal read Gunpowder. You could go down a four element thing with air mana granting flight, water mana improving naval options, fire improving offense and earth improving defense. It kinda has a nice symmetry to it...

If only my surfeit of imagination was balanced with an equal measure of time. Maybe I'll come back to a Gnome Machinist Civilization at some point, but I fear I may have dragged this thread more than a little off it's original topic.

 

[Avahz Darkwood]

has anyone used this one with the latest version of FFH .41?