(Planetary Mod)The Ascent of Mankind

[Pouakai]

Maybe you could have a screen from your 'Astropedia' which allows you to 'View Colony' when you click it, which takes you to a strategic view-esque map of the surrounding area randomly generated upon foundation of the colony. Then you could have the deposits of minerals on the 'map' which are aquired by building a '_______ miner' "unit" (really a building) that provides said resource.

 

[Galacticat42]

Maybe you could have a screen from your 'Astropedia' which allows you to 'View Colony' when you click it, which takes you to a strategic view-esque map of the surrounding area randomly generated upon foundation of the colony. Then you could have the deposits of minerals on the 'map' which are aquired by building a '_______ miner' "unit" (really a building) that provides said resource.

Well really the whole thing has been thought out already, graphics will be the last thing to worry about. Units and buildings will actually be units and buildings however they will be handled differently than what you're used to. One thing I would like to point out right now is that due to the large overall aspect of the mod, all ground-bound 'units' that the colonies would make will be autonomous and voluntary. This means that the only directly micro-manageable things will be colonies themselves and spacecraft. So if you settle a colony on the moon and discover a deposit of He3 then the colony would have to build a 'worker'. Once the worker is built a timer will be initiated until the completion of the mine to retrieve the He3. If there were multiple resources with one worker then the worker will connect the resources in an order of priority weight. Another thing since the moon has no real resources and if you wanted to build... say a huge ship to Alpha Centauri that you couldn't on Earth because of the pure size of the thing, then you would also have to make a trade route and pay the huge maintenance of sending shuttles back and forth to give the moon colony the resources in order to make it in the first place.

Progress Update:
I've implemented the dynamic list code that Kael made in his guide and Whys redid after the latest patch. I unfortunately couldn't get it to work and will be talking to Whys (since Kael hasn't been around for a bit and has an overflowing PM box from his guide) about how to get this to work.

 

[Pouakai]

Maybe buildings built in different places can have different bonuses? eg. An astronomy built on the moon will provide more science than one built on earth because there is less atmospheric disturbance?

Maybe (Sorry to keep bombarding ideas) you could have a different resource or something on each 'Celestial stepping stone' that is needed to progress further, so you have to have a space race instead of going straight to AC? So for example He-3 on the moon is needed for the engines to go to mars / other solar systems?

 

[Galacticat42]

The thing about building an -observatory- on the moon would be that it would be like having a second Hubble telescope. If anything the best thing would be sending out deep space probes the size of the Chrysler building that could only be built in orbit or on the moon. Sure an observatory on the moon would produce more science than an observatory on the earth, but doing so would also diminish the need for the Hubble and although it may give a net increase, the individual science income would decrease. Again, the moon is a tool best used as a stepping stone to reach the goal instead of another base to reach the goal.

Anyway the resources thing is almost a given, He3 would give purpose to being on the moon instead of just building things in orbit. As technology increases so does the need for new materials, hell the only way to go certain places would require a new material to acquire another new material to acquire yet another new material to find the thing your looking for and claim victory.

 

[Decimatus]

Not only is there no way to support a map in a map or a map on a popup, but the engine was only designed to handle so many tiles in which even the most advanced computers get taxed heavily on the bigger maps. I've thought through this whole thing once before and the only plausible and possible way of getting more than one planet in -which is the main 'earth' planet the game starts on- is to have your cities and units automatically find their own paths upon request of the mission triggered by the player without actual visuals of the units and cities on the extra planets. This however does not mean I can't put in fake graphics to give the impression those things are there without actually seeing the map.

Yeah I figured it would have to be a faux map. It could work, but like I said, depends on how it turns out. CtP doesn't need to go that far really, but of course if it works out great, then i'm on board.

 

[Galacticat42]

After much stress, head-bashing and a big Modern Warfare 2 break, I have finally broken through my first major barrier. With my first dynamic list finally showing up with Earth as the first (and for now only) item on the list I can now fix up the button alignments and continue on with the colonies.

 

[Proximus]

I like this idea. I was somewhat disappointed with the way they handled the space age in vanilla Civ V. I figured the first satellite in orbit, the first man in orbit and the first moonshot, and even the first interplanetary voyage would all be milestones found in the game, accompanied by bonuses for the first Civ to achieve these breakthroughs. Even if they were nothing more than a superficial ladder of cultural victories, I would have been happy with that..

Unfortunately there was nothing like that. They included the Apollo Project, and I understand the rationale behind the spaceship and why they chose to do it that way, but it makes the game seem more like a puzzle strategy rather than a sim strategy - and in the end the whole concept of space travel seemed entirely unappreciated in Civ V.

Space Flight should have led to Ecology and a whole new round of exploration, since exploration is a major component which makes the game fun, and once you've had your frigates and scouts on the loose for a while there isn't much to explore by the time the industrial era rolls around.

I know there were probably memory limitations, but they should have at least included superficial wonders in the form of space achievements, each building on the last with it's own unique benefits and rewards.

I will say this, even though it's not space related - I like how they did the whole atom bomb thing. It's actually a challenge to get them, and when you do get them it's a game changer. I know people do a lot of complaining about Civ V, but it did a hell of a lot more right than it did wrong. It just feels unfinished. Sadly, space exploration wasn't as exciting as it should have been.

 

[Galacticat42]

@Proximus
I feel for ya and welcome to CFC

Progress Update:
Working on Colonies

 

[orlanth]

If you want, feel free to use the Planets mapscript that TC01 made for my scifi mod Colonization 2071. It creates multiple circular planets distributed in a "sea" of space - would be awesome to see a Civ5 mod based on that: starting on isolated planets with 2-3 civs each, then spreading to interplanetary warfare in the later game with the development of space flight.

 

[Proximus]

This is semi-related, so I'll post it here...

A while ago I made a pretty solid tech tree of my own that somewhat made sense. I don't have much use for it, but I'll list some of the techs I think would work well in a Mod like this... I based them off the last branches of the vanilla Civ V tech tree...

Also, I tried to only include techs that were relevant and significant, and didn't infringe on any other tech's niche, so to speak.

Unified Theory
prereq techs: Particle Physics
leads to: Interplanetary Travel (with Supranationalism), Temporal Mechanics, Gravimetrics
Enables decoy hologram units and cloaked units.

Nanophotonics
prereq techs: Nanotechnology
leads to:
Enables decoy hologram units and cloaked units.

Molecular Assembly
prereq techs: Nanotechnology
leads to:
Cost of all armored and naval units reduced by 75%, Force Fields, Replication, etc.

Genetic Engineering
prereq techs: Nanotechnology, Ecology
leads to: Cryogenics
Cost of all land units reduced by 75%

Fiber Optics
prereq techs: Globalization
leads to: AI & Neural Imaging (along with Nanotechnology)
Enables Stealth Drones

AI
prereq techs: Fiber Optics, Nanotechnology
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Neural Imaging
prereq techs: Fiber Optics, Nanotechnology
leads to: Neural Networking
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Supranationalism
prereq techs: Globalization
leads to: Sustainability, Interplanetary Travel (with Unified Theory)
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Sustainability
prereq techs: Supranationalism
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Cryogenics
prereq techs: Genetic Engineering
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Neural Networking
prereq techs: Neural Imaging
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Interplanetary Travel
prereq techs: Supranationalism, Unified Theory
leads to: Astrobiology, Interstellar Travel (with Temporal Mechanics)
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Astrobiology
prereq techs: Interplanetary Travel
leads to: Xenolinguistics (with Interstellar Travel)
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Temporal Mechanics
prereq techs: Unified Theory
leads to: Interstellar Travel (with Interplanetary Travel)
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Gravimetrics
prereq techs: Unified Theory
leads to:
Can build Starships (with Interstellar Travel)

Interstellar Travel
prereq techs: Temporal Mechanics, Interplanetary Travel
leads to: Xenolinguistics, Interstellar Tactics
Can build Starships (with Gravimetrics)

Xenolinguistics
prereq techs: Astrobiology, Interstellar Travel
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Exotheology
prereq techs: Xenolinguistics
leads to: The Meaning of Life
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

Interstellar Tactics
prereq techs: Interstellar Travel
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

The Meaning of Life
prereq techs: Exotheology
leads to:
No assigned bonuses/units/buildings (yet)

These techs are just ideas and I haven't done anything myself to implement them to Civ V (I would if I knew how). Many of them need units, wonders and slightly better reasons for being included in the game. The techs I've chosen are important civ-defining traits and do have a logical progression to them though, which is more than i can say for the rest of the vanilla tech tree.

 

[Galacticat42]

@ Orlanth
I perhaps wasn't clear enough about this but, you the player never see space. You manage your empire on the earth regularly but control your empire across the galaxy using screens. That sea of space is what I was trying to avoid. What I'm shooting for is a realistic view of cosmic expansion in a never-ending void. You the player are the leader of your empire across the galaxy, granted, but you don't see the president(s) of the U.S. going to the ISS every time he wants to talk to them. The leaders of the countries that are taking part in the ISS talk to them via communication devices. EDIT: Besides, that link is for Civ 4.

@ Proximus
I have a huge tech tree related to this mod when it will go solo. However that tech tree is not even a quarter of the larger tech tree of some 392 techs give or take a few from RoM when that will be transferred to Civ5. Sure I have a few adjustments to the techs specific to ATOM but that's almost never-ending.

 

[Galacticat42]

Not much of an update to give right now, I've been working out the colony display along with planet to colony display relations. Basically getting the buttons in the dynamic list to return the correct value. Anywho, my college spring 2011 semester began this past monday which will limit my time able to work on this project. Good news though I've enrolled in my second C++ class which covers in-depth loops, pointers, dynamic lists, queues, and last but not least Object Oriented Programming. Since the more current Lua versions are based off of C, this will expand my knowledge of how to do stuff more in both Lua (to an extent) and to the DLL when it is released. Currently the only bad side is that I'm not registered to the C++ class but am instead on the waitlist of some 26 people and 14 open slots, slightly over half a chance of getting in, so I have high hopes on that. If I don't get in I have my back-up class with 3D Modeling/Animation where I'll have to animate a scene from a movie for my mid term project and final (For the C++ final I'll have to make my own mini-game and thanks to Sid Meier for his video on a game in 2 days and my 3D Modeling/Animation class last semester I'd imagine I could probably make a nice 3D game over the course of the week that it would be due(This of course means that I would also be more able-bodied to get a job in this poor economy similar to the way Sid did but in a more modern fashion (a.k.a. Smart Phone game apps))).

 

[Decimatus]

Not much of an update to give right now, I've been working out the colony display along with planet to colony display relations. Basically getting the buttons in the dynamic list to return the correct value. Anywho, my college spring 2011 semester began this past monday which will limit my time able to work on this project. Good news though I've enrolled in my second C++ class which covers in-depth loops, pointers, dynamic lists, queues, and last but not least Object Oriented Programming. Since the more current Lua versions are based off of C, this will expand my knowledge of how to do stuff more in both Lua (to an extent) and to the DLL when it is released. Currently the only bad side is that I'm not registered to the C++ class but am instead on the waitlist of some 26 people and 14 open slots, slightly over half a chance of getting in, so I have high hopes on that. If I don't get in I have my back-up class with 3D Modeling/Animation where I'll have to animate a scene from a movie for my mid term project and final (For the C++ final I'll have to make my own mini-game and thanks to Sid Meier for his video on a game in 2 days and my 3D Modeling/Animation class last semester I'd imagine I could probably make a nice 3D game over the course of the week that it would be due(This of course means that I would also be more able-bodied to get a job in this poor economy similar to the way Sid did but in a more modern fashion (a.k.a. Smart Phone game apps))).

Wish I had the time and energy to take a C++ class. Unfortunately for me and those aspirations, not only do I work to much, but 2011 appears to be the Yeah of Gaming from the launch lineup over the next 11 months.

 

[Galacticat42]

Although this thread and mod has been slowly forgotten to the pages where the sun never shines, it has come back to the front page of the C&C forum.
I have finally found out how to handle dynamic buttons and have now successfully implemented colony handling. Although colonies can now be displayed, they are but shells of mimics and need to be more developed before I release for Alpha testing. I'm still working on college classes and am doing fine while approaching my first midterm in my C++ class late Thursday. As I said before since I'm trying to focus more on my school work than this don't expect frequent updates.

NOTE: Two things I would like to mention at this point are that I finally added a custom image for the button and that the Astropedia button will be visible and click-able in the city screen. It is for this reason that I had not included the Astropedia in the Diplocorner using Alpaca's modular Diplocorner file and have instead added a new button to the top.

 

[CYZ]

This is awesome. I'm looking forward!

What I'm personally dreaming about (yes, I know you said it's close to impossible) is actual maps of the planets. So when you start colonizing the moon an actual moonmap (size 33% of earth) is made and you can send some sort of futuristic settlers there to start up a colony. And start mining the helium ofcourse!

Then, once you start colonizing Mars a special Mars map is made (50% of earth). And there are two victory conditions, space victory (flying to AC) and terraform victory. Terraform victory = using improvements and buildings and resources to add water and oxygen to Mars, turning it into a habitable planet.

I know it won't happen though, too bad.

Good luck with the mod, can't wait to try it!

 

[Pouakai]

Awesome update, 'tis shaping up nicely. Might need to change the other victory conditions so the game actually reaches the space age though

 

[Galacticat42]

Well about the whole 'seperate map' thing, I remember one or two of the Firaxis developers saying that the main game where you react with the units, cities, etc. is actually a screen in itself. If somehow (through the DLL once it is released) I can close the main screen and open different ones for different aspects, then that could be do-able. Since the main planet screen would be de-queued, it wouldn't hog the CPU and RAM.

 

[CYZ]

Well about the whole 'seperate map' thing, I remember one or two of the Firaxis developers saying that the main game where you react with the units, cities, etc. is actually a screen in itself. If somehow (through the DLL once it is released) I can close the main screen and open different ones for different aspects, then that could be do-able. Since the main planet screen would be de-queued, it wouldn't hog the CPU and RAM.

Would really be awesome. I'll keep hoping for fighting wars on the moon

 

[naruto 101]

where download

 

[Pouakai]

It's not currently out, still in development