Our World: Civilizations of the Present

SuperWaffle247

Secretary General
Joined
Feb 19, 2010
Messages
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Hey everyone! I've been working on a handful of civs drawn from modern-day countries that aren't otherwise represented in the base game or in mods.

Before I begin, some notes on the design philosophy. By nature, civilizations rooted in today will be controversial. I don't want this to be a political thread. So you may notice that my Nigeria design doesn't incorporate the scary levels of sectarian violence. That's because a) I'm shooting for an idealized version of the civ and b) penalties in unique abilities aren't fun. Please don't discuss politics in here. There are plenty of places for that. That being said, if I've designed something horribly offensive (which I've done my best to avoid), that's something that can be pointed out.

Anyway, here's the first wave of Civs that I have designed/planned:

United Arab Emirates
Spoiler :
Leader: Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan
Capital: Abu Dhabi
Unique Ability: Migrant Labor - Receive Production from incoming Trade Routes. Receive +1 Tourism for each 200 Gold in the Treasury.
Unique Unit: Corvette - Replaces Destroyer. +1 Movement and the ability to Sell Exotic Goods.
Unique Building: Investment Bank - Replaces Stock Exchange. +1 Gold for all resources worked in this city, with an additional +1 for strategic resources.

The UAE is, unsurprisingly, a Gold civ. The UA would ideally apply to only incoming trade routes, so you have to place your cities opportunistically and maximize your attractiveness as a trading destination. There's also benefits for having a large gold stockpile, with even a few hundred helping with early game tourism. The UU is designed to help protect your rich coastal cities. Finally, the UB helps to generate that large gold stockpile.
Here's my first ever map.
Music Credits
Peace - "The Empty Quarter", Clint Bajakan
War - "Iram of the Pillars", Greg Edmonson


Iran
Spoiler :
Leader: Ayatollah Khomeni or Nader Shah
Capital: Tehran
Unique Ability: Any military unit can be bought with faith after the Industrial era, and all faith purchases of military units are 20 percent cheaper. After researching Theology, cities can convert production to Faith.
Unique Unit: Revolutionary Guard - Replaces Airborne. Grants a large amount of influence when gifted to a City-State.
Unique Building: Bonyad - Replaces Stock Exchange. 25% of the Gold production of this city is converted to Faith.

Iran is able to put those late-game Faith stockpiles to use for conquest. The design speaks for itself. I have two leader options because I'm not too sure about Ayatolah Khomeni. He's obviously important, but as a safer alternative, Nader Shah can represent a post-Islam Iran.


Nigeria
Spoiler :
Leader: Nnamdi Azikiwe
Capital: Abuja
Unique Ability: Unity and Faith - Generating a Great Artist, Writer or Musician in one of your cities gives a boost to the generation of the same type of Great Person in all cities. (Or maybe the Great Work yields points of the approp. type?) Each tile that borders another empire yields +1 culture.
Unique Unit
Unique ? -

This is my least developed idea. I ran out off creative juices, which prompted me to finally make this thread. I want to incorporate Nigeria's notable ethno-diversity via culture, as I think this reflects Nigeria's venerable cultural traditions as well as its burgeoning cinema. I am very open to suggestions here.


There you have it. I'm looking for some help. I don't know much Lua. I'll try stuff myself eventually but I figured if someone's interested in these civs, it'd be better than my novice code. My contributions can include design, XML, icons, maps...I'm gonna take a crack at a leaderscene sometime too. If you have design suggestions, post them! If you're interested in working on these civs, PM me!

Other civs I have in the pipeline, but no design for yet:
Kenya
North Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey

The first civ I'm working on is the UAE. As you can see, the icon and map are done. XML is just in need of text. I need a leaderscene, unit/leader/building icons, and Lua. I'll be slowly working on these things myself unless anyone else is interested! Oh, I need to pick out music too.



Hope you guys like where I'm going. Remember to please keep discussions focused on on Civilization V.
 
Hey, my thread was my 300th post!

Thanks for the support. The UAE is the thing I'm focusing on right now. The XML is done except for spies and cities past #10. I'm gonna try my hand at making the tourism-from-gold-stockpile over the next few days.
 
With regards to a North Korea civ, I had planned to do a Cold War-era Korea split of my own, but never really got anywhere with it. The only thing I cemented for the Norks was part of their UA being "Can purchase Uranium resources in cities after discovering Atomic Theory", and the leader being Kim Il-Sung, obviously.
 
I was considering doing a South Korea as well, but I didn't really find myself inspired. I think I'd want to represent the technological powerhouse, Asian Tigers type economy with them. But I think I'm gonna do that with Taiwan (or, alternately, Singapore).

North Korea, though, is too interesting to pass up. I hadn't really thought of anything apart from negating unhappiness due to public opinion. Or maybe mitigating the effects of unhappiness overall.
 
Status report!

The UAE is inching forward. I've got music picked out. The XML just needs text. Art-wise, I made ugly unit, building and leader icons. All I really need is a leaderscene in the art department, though I'll probably redo the icons as I get better/if anyone else decides they want to. (Oh, I need to do alpha icons and the unit flag.)

In terms of functionality, I found good things to adapt the Lua from, so I'm feeling good in that department. I also gave the Corvette the Sell Exotic Goods like the Nau.

The main purpose of this post is to see if anyone wants to do a leaderscene for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan. I'd imagine you could do something where there's oil derricks in the background. Or it could be set in modern-day fancy Abu Dhabi or Dubai, but he'd have to be aged, as he passed away in 2004.
 
Thailand? But we have Siam....

You're right, obviously. I was thinking something based on the modern nation. To be honest, though, itis really just an idea of something I might look at. I primarily looked for interesting nations that weren't directly represented already. The existence/plans for splits of blob civs plus alternate leaders has set a new precedent for what can be made into a civ.

That being said, I've done no in depth research so far. If you'd like me to take it off the list, that's fine, as I haven't got an idea that I'm attached to.
 
Right, I remember reading that. I'm honestly unsure if I'll get to Thailand. I'm focusing on these three first, and then I'll start to assess my actual capabilities.
 
Progress report!

The Uniques are functional. I changed the Investment Bank to only give the bonus to Strategic Resources, and the Corvette now has Sell Exotic Goods. It has its own flag but uses the Destroyer model. Remaining art is really the leaderscene.

My prime obstacle right now is Lua. In trying to give the player a production boost from incoming trade routes, I adapted this from JFD's Churchill:
Spoiler :
HTML:
function UAE_MigrantLabor(playerID, city)
	local player = Players[playerID]
	local numIncomingTradeRoutes = 0
	local tradeRoutes = player:GetTradeRoutes()
	for i, v in ipairs(tradeRoutes) do
		local domain = v.Domain
		local originatingCity = v.FromCity
		local targetCity = v.ToCity
		if city == originatingCity then
				numIncomingTradeRoutes = numIncomingTradeRoutes + 1

		end
	end
	
	return numIncomingTradeRoutes * ((player:GetCurrentEra() + 1) / 2)
end

function UAE_MigrantLaborProduction(playerID)
	local player = Players[playerID]
	if player:GetCivilizationType() == GameInfoTypes["CIVILIZATION_UAE"] then
		for city in player:Cities() do
			if city:IsCoastal() then
				city:SetNumRealBuilding(GameInfoTypes["BUILDING_UAE_MIGRANT_LABOR"], UAE_MigrantLabor(playerID, city)
			end
		end
	end
end
GameEvents.PlayerDoTurn.Add(UAE_MigrantLaborProduction)

and here's the accompanying building xml:
Spoiler :
HTML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Created by ModBuddy on 6/2/2014 8:52:27 PM -->
<GameData>
	<BuildingClasses>
		<Row>
			<Type>BUILDINGCLASS_UAE_MIGRANT_LABOR</Type>
			<DefaultBuilding>BUILDING_UAE_MIGRANT_LABOR</DefaultBuilding>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_TRAIT_MIGRANT_LABOR_DESC_SHORT</Description>
		</Row>
	</BuildingClasses>
	<Buildings>
		<Row>
			<Type>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</Type>
			<BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_STOCK_EXCHANGE</BuildingClass>
			<Cost>360</Cost>
			<PrereqTech>TECH_ELECTRICITY</PrereqTech>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</Description>
			<Civilopedia>TXT_KEY_CIV5_BUILDINGS_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK_TEXT</Civilopedia>
			<Strategy>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK_STRATEGY</Strategy>
			<Help>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK_STRATEGY</Help>
			<ArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_BUILDING_CARAVANSARY</ArtDefineTag>
			<MinAreaSize>-1</MinAreaSize>
			<ConquestProb>66</ConquestProb>
			<HurryCostModifier>25</HurryCostModifier>
			<ArtInfoEraVariation>true</ArtInfoEraVariation>
			<TradeRouteLandDistanceModifier>50</TradeRouteLandDistanceModifier>
			<TradeRouteLandGoldBonus>200</TradeRouteLandGoldBonus>
			<IconAtlas>UAE_ATLAS</IconAtlas>
			<PortraitIndex>2</PortraitIndex>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<Type>BUILDING_UAE_MIGRANT_LABOR</Type>
			<BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_UAE_MIGRANT_LABOR</BuildingClass>
			<Cost>-1</Cost>
			<FaithCost>-1</FaithCost>
			<GreatWorkCount>-1</GreatWorkCount>
			<PrereqTech>null</PrereqTech>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_TRAIT_MIGRANT_LABOR_DESC_SHORT</Description>
			<Civilopedia>TXT_KEY_CIV5_BUILDINGS_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK_TEXT</Civilopedia>
			<Strategy>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK_STRATEGY</Strategy>
			<Help>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK_STRATEGY</Help>
			<ArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_BUILDING_CARAVANSARY</ArtDefineTag>
			<ConquestProb>66</ConquestProb>
			<HurryCostModifier>25</HurryCostModifier>
			<ArtInfoEraVariation>true</ArtInfoEraVariation>>
			<IconAtlas>UAE_ATLAS</IconAtlas>
			<PortraitIndex>2</PortraitIndex>
		</Row>
	</Buildings>
	<Building_ClassesNeededInCity>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<BuildingClassType>BUILDINGCLASS_BANK</BuildingClassType>
		</Row>
	</Building_ClassesNeededInCity>
	<Building_Flavors>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<FlavorType>FLAVOR_GOLD</FlavorType>
			<Flavor>20</Flavor>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<FlavorType>FLAVOR_I_TRADE_ORIGIN</FlavorType>
			<Flavor>20</Flavor>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<FlavorType>FLAVOR_I_TRADE_DESTINATION</FlavorType>
			<Flavor>20</Flavor>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<FlavorType>FLAVOR_GREAT_PEOPLE</FlavorType>
			<Flavor>5</Flavor>
		</Row>
	</Building_Flavors>
	<Building_YieldChanges>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>3</Yield>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_MIGRANT_LABOR</BuildingType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_PRODCUTION</YieldType>
			<Yield>1</Yield>
		</Row>
	</Building_YieldChanges>
	<Building_ResourceYieldChanges>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<ResourceType>RESOURCE_IRON</ResourceType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>2</Yield>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<ResourceType>RESOURCE_OIL</ResourceType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>3</Yield>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<ResourceType>RESOURCE_COAL</ResourceType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>2</Yield>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<ResourceType>RESOURCE_ALUMINUM</ResourceType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>2</Yield>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<ResourceType>RESOURCE_HORSE</ResourceType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>2</Yield>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<ResourceType>RESOURCE_URANIUM</ResourceType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>2</Yield>
		</Row>
	</Building_ResourceYieldChanges>
	<Building_YieldModifiers>
		<Row>
			<BuildingType>BUILDING_UAE_INVESTMENT_BANK</BuildingType>
			<YieldType>YIELD_GOLD</YieldType>
			<Yield>25</Yield>
		</Row>
	</Building_YieldModifiers>
</GameData>

I can post the mod later but does anyone see anything glaringly wrong with the lua? I'm sure there's something.

I'm having trouble testing. Is there a way to test if this even fires? I really don't know the slightest about Lua but any help would be appreciated. Also, all I'm doing at the moment is importing with VFS. It doesn't appear in the UpdateDatabase dialog.

Please be nice about my awful rookie Lua skills!
 
You need to add Lua as an InGameUIAddin, which is under the "Content" tab below "Actions." Everything looks right with the code, but you can always throw in some print statements to test what's working and (if anything) what's not.

So add print("some unique comment") at certain points to test how far the code executes.
 
Okay, sounds good. I'll implement that and see what happens. Where do the print statements print to? Logs?
 
When I go into the Content tab, and hit Add, I get four fields. The first one I set to InGameUIAddin, but what do I do with Name and Description? And my Lua file isn't appearing in the fourth field.

EDIT: Got it. Does it matter what goes under Name and Description, though?
 
Yeah, that's a bug with the Modbuddy. You need to choose the file first, otherwise Lua files don't show up (don't know why, ask Firaxis :/ ). Then set the name at whatever you want (usually whatever the Lua file is called) and you can leave the Description blank.
 
That's exactly what I stumbled upon. Okay, thanks for the help with these basic things!
 
These basic things shouldn't even be an issue, but, well, Firaxis... :p

It's better than the original ModBuddy, where you had to type the files names in by hand
 
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