need a bit of help with the custom factions

[vyeh]

This comes from this Apolyton post:

ensure the background bright pink color is actually palette entry 0xFF (255). There's another entry for the same color at 0xD0 (208), and lots of programs will assign bright pink to have the first index. Change one of the two, ensure the palette isn't reordered at all, and use the color in slot 0xFF. Incidentally, this is why the expansion factions have purple instead of pink as the background, yet function normally - purple has slot 0xFF in those files.

 

[Kilkakon]

Here's the colour table for angels.pcx in my program, PhotoImpact 6. Yours of course probably have an equivalent thing somewhere. The program is that colour 252 is the same as the transparent colour, 255. So you need to change 252 to something different so it doesn't clash with the current colour.

EDIT: Hehe vyeh didn't notice your post. Ah well all the better to help understand things!

 

[tuga2112]

im gonna see if i can find any color pallete on gimp 2. i use it cus its freeware and it opens the pcx files. i think its converting the files to more than 255 colors when i open then. im gonna do some research on it still today since im off work again, i will post any news later on today about how its going along..

 

[tuga2112]

sorted. the problem was exactly what you stated kilkakon. now i just have to wait for my friend to send me back the images he is editing and i need a logo.

im playing with the faction to further test and seems like i put the drone and limit of population (before hab complex) in the wrong place of the .txt file. where exactly do i need to add those lines ?

 

[vyeh]

im playing with the faction to further test and seems like i put the drone and limit of population (before hab complex) in the wrong place of the .txt file. where exactly do i need to add those lines ?

It should be in your faction file after your six SOCIAL's, TECH and FACILITY entries. Make sure that you have your commas:

, POPULATION, 3, DRONE, 4

and make sure you aren't using any carriage returns in that line (let your text editor wrap the line). If that doesn't work, please post your current energist.txt file here.

 

[tuga2112]

It should be in your faction file after your six SOCIAL's, TECH and FACILITY entries. Make sure that you have your commas:

i think that is the reason i very doubth i put those entries AFTER the social.s i probably put it in the middle of them. im gonna change the file and will update when i test it. onse again thanks for the help.

as soon as i get the image i will post the files (in zip format) for you guys to take a look at. i still dont have any idea for the logos so i will probably post it with the original morgan logos (the second and third PCX files)

EDIT

just tested with the lines in the right place.

now this faction as a definite hard start. im starting to think this faction is gonna be good to play only in hard levels. as your survivability at the start is extremly hard and at a later stage you have an advantage over others.

 

[vyeh]

just tested with the lines in the right place.

So it works?

now this faction as a definite hard start. im starting to think this faction is gonna be good to play only in hard levels. as your survivability at the start is extremly hard and at a later stage you have an advantage over others.

At the easier levels, the AI has more of a disadvantage. Even with the factional disadvantages, it should still be easier to play this faction at the easier levels than at the harder ones.

 

[tuga2112]

yes it works. today i managed to learn how to use gimp 2 a bit and managed to get the picture.

this is NOT the finished vercion of the faction some things are still missing like some diplomacy talks that are very crudely altered from the hive ones. (i need more imagination to remake then in a better way)

and the datalink "talk" is.. half mine and the other half from (i think) the gaians. i havent had time to look were that talk is so i can change it to something more.... capitalistic.

HERE is the link for the download

this vercion im posting have also a terraforming bonus that im using mostly cus i hate to wait for the terraformes to do their job. i might or not take it of in later vercions. still guys i want your opinions on the graphics and the balance of the faction if yoiu guys wanna give it a shot =) thanks for all the help.

PS. pop limit at 4 toguether with drones at 3 might be too much for a starting faction im thinking about limiting the popualtion to 5 instead and keep the drones at 3.

 

[Kilkakon]

I love the logo for this faction. It looks very nice! The city graphic reminds me of something I've seen before but I can't think of were. I suggest that you try to play with the colours of the face a bit as it's a little awkward, but see what you can do.

As for the strength of the team, it may be a little strong with +2 Industry, +2 Economy and +1 Effic. That's a lot of money and production. Support makes it harder but maybe not hard enough. The Commerce bonus is also good too. These are just my random ramblings from looking at the stats, I haven't played it though.

 

[tuga2112]

I love the logo for this faction. It looks very nice! The city graphic reminds me of something I've seen before but I can't think of were. I suggest that you try to play with the colours of the face a bit as it's a little awkward, but see what you can do.

As for the strength of the team, it may be a little strong with +2 Industry, +2 Economy and +1 Effic. That's a lot of money and production. Support makes it harder but maybe not hard enough. The Commerce bonus is also good too. These are just my random ramblings from looking at the stats, I haven't played it though.

im glad you like the logo but i have to admit that logo is not the logo i have in mind for the faction. that logo was the logo original from the faction were i got the PCX file i based. also the diplomacy is still the normal one.

this was from a faction someone else made the graphics. called the "estrategist" the idea behind the faction is chess here is the link.

im afraid my abilities with gimp are limited to that graphic for the face of the leader =( im gonna change the diplomacy image for an image of a couple of skyscrappers than im thinking about using a pile of gold bars for the logo of the faction. although i think my brother might have better ideas for that so the logo might come out something different. that is just a preview of the faction so you guys get an idea of my progress and can comment on it. =) onse again many thanks for your help both.

 

[Kilkakon]

Sure that's fair enough; good on you for not taking the credit for what's not yours. As for the leader pic, if you have a link of the original image that you used, I may be able to have a go at converting it myself to see if I can manage anything better (if you like). And I didn't know that was Buster's Uncle's site. Shows I need to get out more (if that's even possible to apply to civ forums).

 

[vyeh]

i want your opinions on the graphics and the balance of the faction if yoiu guys wanna give it a shot =) thanks for all the help.

TECH, IndEcon, FACILITY, 7, SOCIAL, ++ECONOMY, SOCIAL, ++INDUSTRY, SOCIAL, --PROBE, SOCIAL, +EFFIC, SOCIAL, --PLANET, SOCIAL, ---SUPPORT,POPULATION, 3, DRONE, 4, TERRAFORM, 0, MORALE, 0, ENERGY, 50, COMMERCE, 1, HURRY, 130,

The Terraform bonus is pretty powerful for development, since it affects only the faction (the other factions will take twice as long for a terraforming task). This certainly mitigates the SUPPORT penalty (since this faction will need only half as many formers).

You have also made this faction immune from negative morale modifiers from other sources, e.g. Wealth and Eudamonic. I believe this faction can overcome the --PROBE by building more defensive infantry probes to protect its bases and to escort military units (probes don't have support cost). It can overcome the --PLANET by getting empath song or by building morale improving facilities, e.g. COMMAND CENTER, or using trained special ability for shell units. To overcome the ---SUPPORT, it has to take advantage of its increased research rate (the ++ECONOMY will generate +1 energy per square; the ++INDUSTRY will help it build network nodes), so it can field fewer units with higher attack, defense and morale. Although the hurry cost has been increased by 30%, I believe the cost to upgrade units remains the same so the best strategy is probably to build shell units with trained special ability and then upgrade them.

vaÁues, nil, ECONOMY,

For some reason, when I downloaded, I got this spelling error.

PS. pop limit at 4 toguether with drones at 3 might be too much for a starting faction im thinking about limiting the popualtion to 5 instead and keep the drones at 3.

Do you get drones at 3 when you are playing? It is every 4th drone, but I am not sure when the first drone appears.

Given the fact that this faction is an industrial powerhouse and can generate a lot of energy that will go into income and research, I don't think relaxing the population limit is a good idea.

 

[tuga2112]

so vyeh. what do you recomend. as i stated before the terraform bonus is just temporary thing mostly for my own fun than really for the faction, i intend to remove it in the last "release" (although i will keep it on my private games lol)

the "vaÁues" error is probably related to do with my windows being in portuguese and keyboard definitions or something like that i woudl expect. it should just writte "values" i guess.

putting up the cost to 150% (or maybe more) and putting +1 industry instead of +2 sounds a reasonable effect or its still not enough to make it balanced. ?

 

[vyeh]

I think the real test of whether it is balanced is for you to play a game with the faction at your normal difficulty level. And try the following:

(1) Immediately switch to free market.
(2) Research Centauri Ecology. As soon as you get it, start building a former. (Try to avoid building another unit that needs to be supported before then.)
(3) Research Information Networks.
(4) Research Planetary Networks. Once you get that, start building probe teams for exploration. When you meet other faction, trade techs and enter into treaties and pacts.
(5) Research Industrial Base. Once you get that, build an infantry probe team with syntharmor for base defense.
(6) Research Industrial Automation. Once you get that, switch to Wealth and start building crawlers.

In the meantime, your former hopefully has been able to plant a forest or two for the crawlers.

I think this faction starts out in an incredibly good position for energy and I think that can be parlayed very quickly into a good position for mineral production. On the other hand, maybe the huge PLANET penalty means that the faction will be inundated with mindworms if it immediately switches to free market.

 

[tuga2112]

I think the real test of whether it is balanced is for you to play a game with the faction at your normal difficulty level. And try the following:

(1) Immediately switch to free market.
(2) Research Centauri Ecology. As soon as you get it, start building a former. (Try to avoid building another unit that needs to be supported before then.)
(3) Research Information Networks.
(4) Research Planetary Networks. Once you get that, start building probe teams for exploration. When you meet other faction, trade techs and enter into treaties and pacts.
(5) Research Industrial Base. Once you get that, build an infantry probe team with syntharmor for base defense.
(6) Research Industrial Automation. Once you get that, switch to Wealth and start building crawlers.

In the meantime, your former hopefully has been able to plant a forest or two for the crawlers.

I think this faction starts out in an incredibly good position for energy and I think that can be parlayed very quickly into a good position for mineral production. On the other hand, maybe the huge PLANET penalty means that the faction will be inundated with mindworms if it immediately switches to free market.

i dont even know wich one is my "normal" dificulty level. i always play citizen cus i just want to enjoy the game and have a easy win. fact is. with other factions i have a easyer start but the boost later on the game surpasses the other factions. im saying this as comparing me playing in citizen with this faction and others, based on a relativity of time. like "how many cities i have at the year x, and how many techs i have. that king of thing.

tomorow im off work again so i will be able to further test. im thinking about making a slight change. put more drones (ever 2 population another drone so the third population would be drone the 5,7 etc. or maybe simply take one off the industry bonus.

i want this faction to be balanced but in a way that makes sence. so far i think it is reflecting what i would expect from a faction of investors/bankers... maybe putting an handicap on research would balance things, as a faction of investors would focus in research but not ith the output that this faction has. since investors are interested in profitable research. and not "pure knoledge" any comments on this idea ?

 

[vyeh]

i dont even know wich one is my "normal" dificulty level. i always play citizen cus i just want to enjoy the game and have a easy win. fact is. with other factions i have a easyer start but the boost later on the game surpasses the other factions. im saying this as comparing me playing in citizen with this faction and others, based on a relativity of time. like "how many cities i have at the year x, and how many techs i have. that king of thing.

My concern is that for a single HQ base, you normally get 2 energy (from the base square). With this faction, you would get an additional energy from the worked square plus two more (or it may be four -- I think I recalled reading somewhere that the table in the manual isn't correct) from Free Market. So instead of 1 lab per turn, you would get 3 or 4 labs per turn. So I think this faction would have a very easy start.

tomorow im off work again so i will be able to further test. im thinking about making a slight change. put more drones (ever 2 population another drone so the third population would be drone the 5,7 etc. or maybe simply take one off the industry bonus.

Trying out changes is the best way to test for balance.

i want this faction to be balanced but in a way that makes sence. so far i think it is reflecting what i would expect from a faction of investors/bankers... maybe putting an handicap on research would balance things, as a faction of investors would focus in research but not ith the output that this faction has. since investors are interested in profitable research. and not "pure knoledge" any comments on this idea ?

I think that would be a big step to preventing to making this faction about money and not about tech.

 

[tuga2112]

well i know its been like about 7-8 months since i last posted. i still havent forgot about this faction. i didnt gave up on it. i just been extra busy with univercity and qork (specially work) so i dropped it.
i got back to work on this faction (and even had an idea for a next faction)
i have updated a logo and diplomacy image. also made quite a few changes on the social effecs f the faction.

i believe my "ecb.pcx" file is completed now. althouhg i need some help with the ecb 2 and ecb3 as they are from the margans and i found on the internet there is some "black" files for that but all the links i got were dead so i was hopping someone still have those blank files that can send me or knows about a link that is not dead.

together i attach the current files i have. i am really happy about the faction logo i got.

if anyone can help me about the FLC file it would be much apreciated. i am acfraid gimp is not the correct program to work on that file.

thank you guys.

 

[Kilkakon]

Good to see you back!

I had a look at the pcx files -- your ECB.pcx looks good! I've attached the other two templates below.

As for FLCs, they are done using an animation studio package. Chuft has done a guide for this: http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/showthread.php?2996-How-to-guide-making-flc-biographical-animations-for-faction-mods. See if that works out for you!

 

[tuga2112]

thank you kilkakon. those files are most usefull for the PCX2 and PCX3 all i need to do is just add the logo on them. and for the FLC file i did some research and also had a look at the link you showed. and figured out how to make it work on gimp. aparently gimp works fine with it as long as you can use layers.... using layers on gimp was a bit of a struggle for me but i think i got it working now.

now i need to assemble a bunch of pics that can fake a "history" of the character. 28 images is a lot so i think i will struggle a bit to make it all. is it possible to just put up 10 and the file will read or i must put 28 ? (can always cheat and make 14 and repeat for the other 14 lol)

im glad you like the ECB.pcx file. i dont think i will need to make any modifications on it again. (fingers crossed)

as far as the ECB2 and ECB3 this one should be just a matter of copy/paste the logo of the faction in. (and make a golden line for the small top of the piramid one) so this ones should be easy to get finished.

apart from this 4 files and the txt is there any other files that i can modify to complete the customisation of the faction ? i dont want to forget anything althouhg as my playtest is going apart from "inhuman capitalist" i think the rest of the dialogs are good. i just havent figured out a better way of giving the insult to the leader of the faction. gotta work on that sometime soon. =)

much appreciated for your quick reply and the files attached.

Tuga2112

 

[Kilkakon]

I'm glad I was able to help!

As for the 28 FLC images, I'm pretty sure that a number underneath that is acceptable. I know the feeling though... I'm yet to do my own FLCs, and I have 14 factions to do there.

Normally, the 3 PCX files and the text file are what are normally customised for each faction. Some people go further and have the FLC, and others still record an MP3 for their faction. This MP3 is what is spoken when the faction is selected for play.

Let us know how you go!