Planetfall

[Cmcastl]

Interested in your music mod, blue_inStinCt. If you decide to publish it, I hope it will be in a zip file, though, as I do not have zar.

I play myself virtually nothing else these days but Planetfall though Maniac and I have a longstanding disagreement about my feeling that the sea-borne native life are just too strong!

Live long and prosper.

 

[Maniac]

I've released a very minor patch "a" which fixes a crash, and which doesn't break save files.

So heres 2 samples of the track i made today, the whole thing is 29 minutes long, but this is just my very first atempt.

Thanks! Sounds good in general. Some specific comments (disclaimer: from someone who knows nothing about creating music):

Sample 1:
Two things which drew my attention: The "base layer", if that's a good term, seems to feature the occasional bird cry and frequent sea wave sounds. Bird cries IMO don't really fit on a planet infested with fungus and mind worms rather than jungle or lush forests. Also, besides the music tracks, Civ4 has another background ambience based on the terrain you're scrolling over. If you're scrolling over water plots, you already hear sea waves. So adding that to the general soundtrack as well is either redundant, or doesn't fit if you're scrolling over land. Still, perhaps it could fit as is as a soundtrack for the Nautilus Pirates.

On the bright side, I like the "top layer" which you hear between minute:seconds 2:00 to 4:45. That can be used for all factions IMO!

Sample 2:
I like the base layer of this sample better than that of the first sample. I also like the top layer you hear from 2:30 onwards. Those high tones (3:15 onwards) definitely fit for the tech-savvy Data Angels I think.


I'd love to hear opinions from others about the samples, and for what factions you feel they would fit!

 

[Cmcastl]

If I may add my halfpennyworthy here, what is slightly jarring about the city sounds in Planetfall, which are obviously inherited from Civ IV, are sounds such as 20th century car horns. Obviously these would not be the futuristic sounds of space age centuries. I mentioned to Maniac that there was a very good city sounds file in Civilization: Call to Power but understandably he had never heard it. Any city sounds which could invoke a cityscape some one or two centuries from now would help Planetfall on. All I ask is that they be in a zip file!

Live long and prosper.

 

[blue_inStinCt]

hey, glad u liked the samples

i agree with u on the background layers of civ, they would defenitly interfere with my track. having both of them is not a good idea
i didnot notice them when i did the track. but now after i gave it a good listen i recogniced that the sounds of the game are much more 'earthlike' than my soundscapes of the ocean, wind and life. especially the bird sounds

as i said i have some more to show u, it would still have the wind and waves sounds in some variations but i can try something else and just make synthetic sounds only if u would prefere that

btw we played more truns and killed miriam (almost) , still the seaborn natives whipe my ass, iam not able to hold my first seacity atm and i have to say Cmcastle is not all wrong, the native seaborn lifeforms are very strong

cheers, epic mod, we love it

 

[blue_inStinCt]

edit:

If I may add my halfpennyworthy here, what is slightly jarring about the city sounds in Planetfall, which are obviously inherited from Civ IV, are sounds such as 20th century car horns. Obviously these would not be the futuristic sounds of space age centuries. I mentioned to Maniac that there was a very good city sounds file in Civilization: Call to Power but understandably he had never heard it. Any city sounds which could invoke a cityscape some one or two centuries from now would help Planetfall on. All I ask is that they be in a zip file!

Live long and prosper.

i agree with u, i will try something but dunno if i get something that all of the others would like.
i have some catchy tunes but they are mainly dance tracks
about zip and rar... ok i can dl winzp and do it, np, but u could as easylie dl winrar and unrar it, winrar opens most of compressed files, and its freeware
cheers

 

[Cmcastl]

edit:


i agree with u, i will try something but dunno if i get something that all of the others would like.
i have some catchy tunes but they are mainly dance tracks
about zip and rar... ok i can dl winzp and do it, np, but u could as easylie dl winrar and unrar it, winrar opens most of compressed files, and its freeware
cheers

I have long had problems in obtaining freeware to open rar files, blue_inStinCt, I won't bore you with my tribulations, but, if necessary a mate of mine who is far more computer literate than I am, could help me upgrade to unload rar files if necessary.

The premiere futuristic city sounds in my mind's ear are those of Blade Runner.

"Cmcastle is not all wrong, the native seaborn lifeforms are very strong." If you are female, I might very well propose! You see, I have never convinced Maniac of that. In the original SMAC you could proof even formers against alien life forms but sadly not in Planetfall.


Live long and prosper.

 

[Maniac]

i didnot notice them when i did the track. but now after i gave it a good listen i recogniced that the sounds of the game are much more 'earthlike' than my soundscapes of the ocean, wind and life. especially the bird sounds

Those can be changed too of course. There's an Afterworld ambience loop that might fit, and some original SMAC sounds could be used when hovering over fungus.

Anyway, personally I'd prefer to see some more people chiming in with their own opinion on the samples if you were to proceed with this. mp3's take up a lot of space in the download, so if there's no clear demand for more music from other people, I'd only use your tracks for my own personal extended Planetfall soundtrack. I can also provide you with modified files to have the tracks appear in-game (assuming you don't just use the custom soundtrack option in Ctrl-O).

 

[Pfeffersack]

I'd love to hear opinions from others about the samples, and for what factions you feel they would fit

I like parts of the soundtrack, probably what you labeled as top layer (for the first from ~2:00 to 5:30, for the 2nd from 2:20 nearly to the end). The rest isn't bad as well, but too "light" for my taste to feel like backrund music (feels rather like some backrounds sounds - waves, wind, birds etc.)

I share your opinion that the 2nd is suited for a faction like the Angels (not so easy for the 1st track, perhaps Gaians as pro-planet-faction? Would fit into the nature/meditation them IMO).
Speaking of the second 2nd...I also like the short passage from 1:26 on (only thirty seconds or so...then a voice is heard and everything falls back into the "backround sound") - the very beginning somehow reminds me of one of the Utopia soundtracks (very old city-builder/strategy game in space setting). I really like this games music, you can hear it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-t2lHJ-WJQ&feature=related
(from 0:06 to 0:31, and then from 1:00 on)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aam77g3Sn1Y&feature=related

mp3's take up a lot of space in the download, so if there's no clear demand for more music from other people.

You could offer a kind of "music pack" for PF as an additional and optional download.

 

[Dial A Cow]

In my current game, I am playing Gaians. I just researched Transcendance, and tried to 'evolve' some Spore Launchers. The evolve option was available, but the time frame in my current game would've been over 2 million turns. How can I fix this?

 

[Pfeffersack]

In my current game, I am playing Gaians. I just researched Transcendance, and tried to 'evolve' some Spore Launchers. The evolve option was available, but the time frame in my current game would've been over 2 million turns. How can I fix this?

I don't know the way to fix it, but it is not a real bug - rather a kind of "disabling placeholder" until it has been finally decided if that ability should stay in PF.

 

[Maniac]

Patch 13b for Planetfall, the Alpha Centauri total conversion mod for Civ4 BtS, has been released. This patch needs to be applied on top of the main v13 file of Planetfall. It breaks savegames from the previous patch.



Changelog:

Spoiler :

1. Updated to Better AI 84, by jdog5000.
2. The modern female scientist model by SaibotLieh is now used for the Great Doctor.
3. Datalinks text by Pickly.
4. Lead from Behind modcomp added.
5. Genejack Factories cost 33% less for the Hive.
6. The Consciousness gains any tech acquired by at least 4 known factions.
7. Aki Luttinen's favourite civic is now Planned.
8. The Free Drones gain -10% Great People points.
9. Free Drone drones produce one less mineral.
10. Domai's favourite civic is now Wealth.
11. If a base revolts to the Drones, they gain a tech known by the original owner of the base.
12. The Pirates gain some research points when pillaging an improvement or capturing a base of a faction that has techs they don't.
13. The Democratic civic now removes non-state religion unhappiness. It no longer provides extra happiness to the largest bases.
14. The Consensus civic has been removed.
15. The Fundamentalist civic lets state religions provide double their usual effect. +2 instead of +1 Planet for instance.
16. The (Sea) Colony Pod is now considered a military unit, meaning its production cost will be affected by the Police State and Wealth civics.
17. The Wealth civic now provides an additional +10% building production speed, for a total of +25%.
18. There is no longer a diplomatic penalty between those who use the Terraformer and Hybrid civics. Rather relations will sour between those who vote for the Council motions that increase or decrease the Flowering Counter.
19. The Spartans and the four human SMAX factions must be, by a council motion, offered a seat on the Planetary Council before they can switch to the Member civic.
20. There is a limit on how many Probe Teams you can control. You can always control one, but for every additional one above that you need to have accumulated 1000 espionage points over the course of the game.
21. Probe Teams can see other Probe Teams.
22. Spies can no longer be caught for just walking in rival territory.
23. Psion combat strength is also affected by players' Planet Attitudes.
24. The Voice of Toliman secret project has been added at Personality Transcription. It increases Planet Attitude by or sets it at +1, whichever is most beneficial.
25. Supply Trawler units can be gained from Unity Pods. They're a naval version of Material Supplies.
26. The Commune and Sea Commune improvements no longer enable any resources.
27. Researching Information Networks creates a free Network Node in the Headquarters.
28. The Planetmind promotion allows units on the plot to heal +10% extra per turn.
29. The Longevity Vaccine provides +3 Great Doctor GP points, and provides +1 Doctor specialist slot.
30. The Planetary Datalinks have been turned into a wonder instead of a project. It now also provides +3 Hacker points and +1 Librarian specialist slot.
31. Let's just say: Upper half of the tech tree changed. See F6.

 

[limboldt]

One of the recent patches already added the Consciousness, the Pirates, the Drones and the Data Angels.

Oh, which patch is it, installed 12m and later v13+13b but I still have no new fractions that I can choose to play?

Kind regards,

Limboldt

 

[limboldt]

Oh, which patch is it, installed 12m and later v13+13b but I still have no new fractions that I can choose to play?

Kind regards,

Limboldt

Ah, ok, seems as if I missed that one:

"The Data Angels, Nautilus Pirates, Free Drones and Consciousness will be founded somewhere on Planet when someone researches respectively Holographics, Pressure Dome, Industrial Automation and Memetics. They are not yet playable by the human player."

 

[Dionysis]

Haven't played your MOD in a while but just downloaded the latest version and patch. I have to say I am overwhelmed by the improvements you have made - I ended up playing all weekend!

Thanks for doing such a terrific job and making Civ entertaining again!

 

[Cmcastl]

I have recently dipped my toes back into SMAC Alien Crossfire.

It would be nice if the weapons sounds could be mapped onto Planetfall.

I realise that this may be prohibited by the Civ IV program, but I gotta say how greattt the SMAC Alien Crossfire automation of units works, from formers to probles and interceptors!

Incidentally, I do appreciate the need for increased security measures for the forum but they are, I fear, about to outstrip my ability to login as a bona fide member!

Live long and prosper.

 

[thecougarbear]

I have been following this mod from day one and finally decided to download it. Little problem though: it will not work and I have no idea why.

It is in the right directory, I have the latest patch, I am running it with Vista in compatibility mode for Windows XP as an admin. Other mods work. I have no idea what is wrong.

To clarify, it will not even load. The initial Civ IV Beyond the Sword loading screen comes up (the one with all of the different languages telling us that it is loading), but then I get an error message from Vista telling me that it encountered an error and has closed. Grrrrrrrr.

Any help would be greatly appreciated (I created an account just to get this mod up and running).

 

[Melhisedek]

This is probably stupid question, but playing this mod, how close do you get to playing original SMAC? I know Planetfall is not straight up port but how close to SMAC is it?

Thank you for your time!

 

[Pfeffersack]

I have been following this mod from day one and finally decided to download it. Little problem though: it will not work and I have no idea why.

It is in the right directory, I have the latest patch, I am running it with Vista in compatibility mode for Windows XP as an admin. Other mods work. I have no idea what is wrong.

To clarify, it will not even load. The initial Civ IV Beyond the Sword loading screen comes up (the one with all of the different languages telling us that it is loading), but then I get an error message from Vista telling me that it encountered an error and has closed. Grrrrrrrr.

Any help would be greatly appreciated (I created an account just to get this mod up and running).

Have you also disabled the User Account Control while playing?

This is probably stupid question, but playing this mod, how close do you get to playing original SMAC? I know Planetfall is not straight up port but how close to SMAC is it?

Thank you for your time!

Not a stupid one, but one hard to answer in general. You can for example expect to meet the same factions/leaders, behaving similar. You will meet many well known buildings, units and techs - but often they work slightly different. You will find features like native life and PSI-combat and many more things.

Then there are new features - the ones Civ4 added to the series, like unit promotions, great people, religions, corporations, combat mechanics...of course modified to fit in the SMAC theme. Not to forget a much better AI (which is still in progress to become better)!

Sadly, some things from are SMAc are just impossible to convert in the scope of amod; e.g. there is no unit workshop (a very detailed special ability and promotion catalogue makes up for this to a large extend, though), no real global warming with rising seas, less automation for units and no extensive terraforming options. Others have been ommitted for some reason or just haven't been added yet (but might return in future, if it shows that an implementation is possible)

I would just try out

 

[Cmcastl]

At the risk of getting thrown off this thread...

I salute Maniac et al. for the mmmarrrvvvvelloussss eye candy, all the techs, getting the original ambient music right and now increasing the factions available. He has successfully recreated the playability and atmosphere of the original SMAC.

He has had to do that, however, I do appreciate, within the constraints of Civ IV, and having gone back recently to playing the old SMAC I just gotta say that even after ten years the automation of units in SMAC leaves Planetfall units asleep at the post. I am stunned how beautifully intelligent this ten year old AI still performs!

For instance, the Planetfall probes are hopeless, having to be poked and prodded to do anything, whereas in SMAC they were and stealing techs and causing mischief at one click of the keyboard and the air units in SMAC were majestically autonomous in moving from one base to another in case of need whereas in Planetfall they lazily mope around their home base. I do appreciate that Maniac et al. needs to work within the Civ IV constraints but it is disappointing how less sophisticated the automation of these units is in a Civ mod - ten years on from SMAC!

Please consider, Maniac, this as constructive criticism. There are features, for instance, such the bunkers which are far more developed than in the original SMAC. I couldn't begin to reproduce your present achievement and I do appreciate, I re-iterate, you are working within the program constraints of Civ IV.

And it is probably just as well that the automation of the old SMAC and the eye candy of Planetfall cannot be combined - I, for one, fear I would have to give up bathing and going to work if that were ever to happen.

Live long and prosper.

 

[thecougarbear]

Have you also disabled the User Account Control while playing?

No, I did not have the UAC disabled. However, even after I disabled it and reinstalled, the game still refuses to work.

I would be happy to send an error report log, but don't really know how to do this. God, I want to play this mod though.