[Module] Less Dangerous Animals 1.30

[Wauthan]

Actually being huge can be a problem to climb mountains, because huge are usually heavy and mountains aren't that stable.

Opera makes a really good point here. There's a very good reason why large animals display no mountaineering ambitions here on earth. This reason can be neatly summarized as SPLAT! Mammoth trails go around mountains or through valleys. Also, huge units should not be able to be loaded onto boats.

Mountains in Civ4 are supposed to symbolize terrain too hazardous to traverse. Large mountain chains like the the Alps or the Andes would be best symbolized by mountains mixed with hills. Preferably mountaineering would only be given to a select few units to symbolize either super expert knowledge (like say dwarven recon units) or supernatural ability (like say incorporeal undead). A "mountain trail" improvement might give a solution everyone is happy with, in that you can make mountains traversable by investing resources for this end. Heck, dwarves might even get a unique improvement called "tunnel" which is a road only they can use. Could even go under shallow sea tiles to connect islands. Obviously a late game tech if possible at all.

What makes strategy games interesting is when they force you to make hard choices, but not so hard that it's simply an exercise in frustration. Rife is getting there step by step.

Thanks for sharing this module Milaga.

 

[SupremeShogun]

Thanks for making this

 

[odalrick]

Heh. I think I would be the one Odalrick means in that post... yeah, I see them as just around 10-12 foot, honestly. They came from Man, so they aren't THAT big.

I thought it was you, but I didn't want to put words in your mouth in case I was wrong.

I have a simple rule for giants: If you can't uproot a tree with your hands and use it as a club (or toothpick) you're not a Giant. Big possibly, but not a Giant.

And no, saplings don't count.

]Dwarves (Khazad +2 and Luchuirp +1) and Jotnar (+1) gain production from peaks. I want them settling near them. This is difficult to do if they are not able to move through peaks.
In the case of the dwarves, it also (in my mind, at least) represents their tunnels through the mountains... Not them going over the top.

Maybe just allow it in their culture. Would symbolize tunnels and local area knowledge that allow the units to go through otherwise impassable areas. (Could be done with promotions, with the drawback that it screws up path-finding. Not as much as Haunted Lands, though.)

Of course, I like the specific tunnel improvement even more.

 

[Deathwind]

Could this be better achieved by only allowing workers to walk on mountains, and then requiring other units to have a road on the peak before they can move over it?

I agree.

 

[Milaga]

Could this be better achieved by only allowing workers to walk on mountains, and then requiring other units to have a road on the peak before they can move over it?

To my knowledge there is not a way to do this. Right now the best solution I can think of is only allowing workers to move onto peaks (and once on a peak, they can't move to another one.) They can then build a tunnel, which is a route. the tunnel will then transform the tile into a different terrain that looks like a peak but that Dwarven units can pass through.

Except that gives me a headache.

I have a simple rule for giants: If you can't uproot a tree with your hands and use it as a club (or toothpick) you're not a Giant. Big possibly, but not a Giant.

I think there should be a special clause for people named Andre.

 

[Valkrionn]

I thought it was you, but I didn't want to put words in your mouth in case I was wrong.

I have a simple rule for giants: If you can't uproot a tree with your hands and use it as a club (or toothpick) you're not a Giant. Big possibly, but not a Giant.

And no, saplings don't count.



Maybe just allow it in their culture. Would symbolize tunnels and local area knowledge that allow the units to go through otherwise impassable areas. (Could be done with promotions, with the drawback that it screws up path-finding. Not as much as Haunted Lands, though.)

Of course, I like the specific tunnel improvement even more.

Eh. The Angels only created Man. Elves, Dwarves, Aifons, etc, all come from Man. The Giants can only be so much larger than the Humans; They would either be descended from them due to the interaction of some god, or the manipulation of a mage. Either way, the fact that they can use magic shows that they have the divine spark, and thus are descended from Man.

So I don't think they can be too big.


As for the rest... That might be possible, but I'm just not sure it's worth it.

To my knowledge there is not a way to do this. Right now the best solution I can think of is only allowing workers to move onto peaks (and once on a peak, they can't move to another one.) They can then build a tunnel, which is a route. the tunnel will then transform the tile into a different terrain that looks like a peak but that Dwarven units can pass through.

Except that gives me a headache.



I think there should be a special clause for people named Andre.

You can't just have a 'different terrain type'. The mountains are specifically referenced in the DLL, you would need to duplicate quite a bit.

 

[Milaga]

You can't just have a 'different terrain type'. The mountains are specifically referenced in the DLL, you would need to duplicate quite a bit.

Ow, my head!

 

[darkedone02]

even with this, civilization falls by savages. Need to be more dangerless

 

[Milaga]

even with this, civilization falls by savages. Need to be more dangerless

What is killing them?

 

[Dukko]

Just to let you know, this mod apparently causes CTD on all my games. Usually on the 100-101-105 turns. Kinda odd. Normal speed, also.

 

[darkedone02]

What is killing them?

5-7 strength elemental and mercenaries, 5% chance of a huge 10-15 stacks of orcs.

 

[Milaga]

Just to let you know, this mod apparently causes CTD on all my games. Usually on the 100-101-105 turns. Kinda odd. Normal speed, also.

That is strange. Are you running any other modules? The only thing I can think of is that there might be another module that conflicts with mine.

5-7 strength elemental and mercenaries, 5% chance of a huge 10-15 stacks of orcs.

Do you have feral mana or mana guardians on? There have been reports of them breaking free from their nodes and rampaging across the continent. They start very strong so could easily demolish a civ if they spawned too close to a capital. I have never seen this behavior and despite all my efforts I cannot reproduce this, so I am not the best person to be releasing an unofficial patch for it.

Until 1.31 I recommend you play without these two options.

 

[Dukko]

I replied via PM

 

[lemonjelly]

Feral Mana is okay, I use it all the time
Mana Guardians and Lairs is better turned off, and makes the AI play better.
Turning Savages off, and Barb Cities on helps the AI as well as keeping some barbs around

 

[Sjru]

One thing I've noticed with this mod, is that, since there are 2 more leashed barbs, I can spot much more leashed barbs units in Clan capital after they cast their worldspell.

 

[Valkrionn]

Need to add an "If isLeashed()" check to the Clan worldspell.

 

[Sjru]

Yes, this mod was the main cause of a fatal CTD that I had with Khazad, now as Dtesh I've had the same CTD at turn 301, I don't know what causes it, but disabling this mod fixed my problem.

 

[jacktannery]

Feral Mana is okay, I use it all the time
Mana Guardians and Lairs is better turned off, and makes the AI play better.
Turning Savages off, and Barb Cities on helps the AI as well as keeping some barbs around

Yes this is excellent advice - but make sure NOT to do this with the starting worker module on. Barbarian cities and starting workers don't seem to go well together at all.

 

[lemonjelly]

Yes this is excellent advice - but make sure NOT to do this with the starting worker module on. Barbarian cities and starting workers don't seem to go well together at all.

Why not?
I play with it
Is it because the barbs get workers?

 

[Milaga]

Yes, this mod was the main cause of a fatal CTD that I had with Khazad, now as Dtesh I've had the same CTD at turn 301, I don't know what causes it, but disabling this mod fixed my problem.

One thing I've noticed with this mod, is that, since there are 2 more leashed barbs, I can spot much more leashed barbs units in Clan capital after they cast their worldspell.

I had a feeling the Clan worldspell might be causing the problem. The leash is released if the barb unit is captured, but I didn't check what happens with the worldspell.