Rallying call for all interested: Colonisation of the Moon mod!

[woodelf]

I can always tweak the civics folder to make them a bit more useful if you'd like, by the way. I think I'll do an SMAC-style two bonuses and one penalty system. If, of course, we decide to actually keep these civics. I rather like them myself, but perhaps my viewpoint is a biased one...

Your viewpoint isn't biased, but right now they simply aren't balanced. I'm all for you working on them, but I agree with Belizan that we need some default and the rest need to be earned through research. The techs that unlock them might be hokey and convoluted, but at least there will be new options down the road.

Let me know by the time you stop coding tonight if you're doing the civics. Otherwise I might have time to look at them in 6 or so hours.

 

[JBG]

I found out why the diplomatic and populous traits weren't working. Someone had overwritten them in the leader traits tags without saying anything!

In future, whoever-it-was, could you please say something rather than just doing it? I have wasted a great deal of time trying to fix this.

 

[woodelf]

I found out why the diplomatic and populous traits weren't working. Someone had overwritten them in the leader traits tags without saying anything!

In future, whoever-it-was, could you please say something rather than just doing it? I have wasted a great deal of time trying to fix this.

Did you ever look at the new file I sent you yesterday JBG? When we first got the mod working those files were overwritten so we could simply run it without errors since the traits were buggered. Now we need a new thread for changes since this thread rolls over so much that little things gets missed. I know I never absorb everything written when I need to read 3-5 pages at one time. I think that's what happened here....

But I think if you check your email for files that will help as well.

 

[JBG]

Sorry. Anyway, I've restored the two extra traits to their Moon Bible status and have tried them in-game with no ill effects whatsoever, so here are the fixed leaderInfos and traitInfos XMLs.

And I'll get cracking on the civcs. I'm afraid I don't know the layout of the tech tree (or, indeed the names of most of the techs) so there might be some odd tech/civic pairings.

I'll post the XML when I'm done.

 

[woodelf]

JBG - Are you home now to get email? I can send you my tech tree in Word with what I have filled out.

 

[JBG]

Yeah, I am. Fire away - it'd be really helpful!

 

[woodelf]

Fired away. I hope my work filter lets it get through. Let me know if it doesn't and I'll type it out in email if necessary.

edit - I didn't list the eras breaks, but it's set up in groups. The 1st 24 or so are 1st era, 2nd 24-25 are 2nd era, ect.

 

[JBG]

Thanks. I've got more realistic attributes for all the civics programmed in (and I successfully got rid of the +4126507 happiness per non-state religion bug )

All I need to do now is allocate techs.

What needs doing next?

 

[woodelf]

Here's a minor update to the Building file JBG put up a while ago. There were some XML errors that I corrected. Mainly just some incorrectly placed "/"s.

 

[woodelf]

Thanks. I've got more realistic attributes for all the civics programmed in (and I successfully got rid of the +4126507 happiness per non-state religion bug )

All I need to do now is allocate techs.

What needs doing next?

What definitely needs doing is that you please make sure everything you've done is uploaded before you sign off tonight.

Also, if you want you could look through the email I sent out yesterday and compare it to your civilization work that you finished today. There are bound to be some minor discrepancies that we need to iron out. Again, if you don't have time I was going to look at it once I get home.

Once dsquared gets the units the way he wants them we should be in good shape.

 

[JBG]

I think you'd better look through the civs files. My file is simply a modified version of the latest - whenever I see a file, I download and install it, so I'd imagine it's just a modified version of whichever the last one was.

I did, however, modify the traits file too.

Looking through your techs file, I think we'll need to add a few - and one or two seem to be way too high up/low down. I'll post spearately with some ideas on how to rearrange it (nothing too major, mind). At the moment, though, it looks like I'm going to have to pick a few techs and have multiple civics granted by them - bunching the civics together, in other words. Maybe if we add a few more civil-type techs it'd be better balanced - a 'patriotism' tech or something would be helpful.

 

[woodelf]

I think you'd better look through the civs files. My file is simply a modified version of the latest - whenever I see a file, I download and install it, so I'd imagine it's just a modified version of whichever the last one was.

I did, however, modify the traits file too.

Looking through your techs file, I think we'll need to add a few - and one or two seem to be way too high up/low down. I'll post spearately with some ideas on how to rearrange it (nothing too major, mind). At the moment, though, it looks like I'm going to have to pick a few techs and have multiple civics granted by them - bunching the civics together, in other words. Maybe if we add a few more civil-type techs it'd be better balanced - a 'patriotism' tech or something would be helpful.

I'll look through the files later then, no problem.

The techs have some issues. But I've learned it's easier to get something down on paper and discuss it, then to discuss it and never get it written down.

I think we can use our imagination for assigning civics to techs as well. Basically if a tech doesn't have a unit, building, or improvement assigned to it ----> give it a civic!

Oh, and I thought of something else you can chew on -----> Great People. You posted some good ideas about them about 40 pages ago, not much since.

And Wonders.

 

[matthewv]

Okay, Im back though i doubt I will be able to get much done this week. (too much homework)

So far the dust sea terrain is working well IMO. What makes you want to change it?

Try saving a game and them loading it again. I noticed that theer currently is a problem with the way dust sea works that you guys seem to have not encountered yet.

Ok, so I've been reading over the XML files some more, and I have to ask you all again... Are you sure we can't just make "water" a land terrain and then make some units not able to traverse it? I heard you all say "it's not possible in XML" before, but.. In UnitInfos, units have this--

<TerrainImpassables/>

?

If this method works we sould define the dust sea as land instead of water as it will eliminated the problem I incountered with dust seas.

Also, while we as talking about dust seas, If you want to increase the amount of dust seas by changeing the setting where it says small lakes to seas when starting a new game.

As you guys a busy balancing other aspects of the game and debbuging has been left on they wayside, I guess I will have to make debugging as my first priority at the moment. Have you guys encountered any bugs besides the exit game bug recenty?(I will first focus on the exit game bug)

 

[woodelf]

Try saving a game and them loading it again. I noticed that theer currently is a problem with the way dust sea works that you guys seem to have not encountered yet.

Good idea. I rarely restart a game.

If this method works we sould define the dust sea as land instead of water as it will eliminated the problem I incountered with dust seas.

Also, while we as talking about dust seas, If you want to increase the amount of dust seas by changeing the setting where it says small lakes to seas when starting a new game.

That sounds good. The AI seem to go around dust seas quite well. I was impressed.

As you guys a busy balancing other aspects of the game and debbuging has been left on they wayside, I guess I will have to make debugging as my first priority at the moment. Have you guys encountered any bugs besides the exit game bug recenty?(I will first focus on the exit game bug)

Sounds good to me. I still don't crash upon exiting so me debugging it wouldn't do any good. I could zip up my Custom Assets folders if you wanted to look at them.

 

[matthewv]

Sounds good to me. I still don't crash upon exiting so me debugging it wouldn't do any good. I could zip up my Custom Assets folders if you wanted to look at them.

Don't worry about sending me your custom assests folder. I thinks I will have to find this bug the hard way.(removing changed xml files one by one to see which one is causing the problem.(and wade through a million XML Errors in the proccess. Very time consuming)) I would like it if you sent me the most current set of XML files in 5 hours or so.

 

[GeoModder]

And Wonders.

Electro-magnetic launcher: production increase (should be buildable only in the equador area)
space elevator? --> probably obselete on the moon
Flying Hall/Dome: +happiness in all bases (is a huge space in which people can fly by using wings in low-G)
Deep Space Array/Observatory: beaker increase in the city in which it is built.
Lunar Network: Free tech for x number of other civs having the same techs.
Ice Mission: +health in all bases, is a capture mission of an ice-planetoid. (perhaps better a national wonder)
Solar System Reconnaissance: probably a late(r)-Era project/wonder, a manned mission to all objects of significance in the system. +happiness, +beaker (or free specialist(s))
Project StarProbe: robotic mission(s) to the nearest star(s) of interest. Let's say it gives a delayed beaker increase, simulating the later arrival of that probe. Or else an increasing amount of free beakers simulating the added new scientific info beamed back from the probe(s) as they progress.

That triggered something.

 

[woodelf]

Don't worry about sending me your custom assests folder. I thinks I will have to find this bug the hard way.(removing changed xml files one by one to see which one is causing the problem.(and wade through a million XML Errors in the proccess. Very time consuming)) I would like it if you sent me the most current set of XML files in 5 hours or so.

Let me make sure mine and JBG's files mesh then I'll send it out.

 

[dsquared]

cant do much at all today guys, accounting midterm tomorrow, so the unit xml will have to wait, woodelf i sent you a copy of the spreadsheet i am going off of if you want to take a crack at the tracked upgrade path, also do we want to set asset and power equal across an era's counters so the AI builds equal numbers or set it equal to combat. dont know if this matters.

 

[woodelf]

cant do much at all today guys, accounting midterm tomorrow, so the unit xml will have to wait, woodelf i sent you a copy of the spreadsheet i am going off of if you want to take a crack at the tracked upgrade path, also do we want to set asset and power equal across an era's counters so the AI builds equal numbers or set it equal to combat. dont know if this matters.

Can you send me your xml file and the spreadsheet? Also, I don't have Excel at home so is there any chance you could send it in wordpad or something else?

How much have you changed from what I had? Did you gut it or work around it?

 

[woodelf]

Electro-magnetic launcher: production increase (should be buildable only in the equador area)
space elevator? --> probably obselete on the moon
Flying Hall/Dome: +happiness in all bases (is a huge space in which people can fly by using wings in low-G)
Deep Space Array/Observatory: beaker increase in the city in which it is built.
Lunar Network: Free tech for x number of other civs having the same techs.
Ice Mission: +health in all bases, is a capture mission of an ice-planetoid. (perhaps better a national wonder)
Solar System Reconnaissance: probably a late(r)-Era project/wonder, a manned mission to all objects of significance in the system. +happiness, +beaker (or free specialist(s))
Project StarProbe: robotic mission(s) to the nearest star(s) of interest. Let's say it gives a delayed beaker increase, simulating the later arrival of that probe. Or else an increasing amount of free beakers simulating the added new scientific info beamed back from the probe(s) as they progress.

That triggered something.

Good list! Keep em coming. I hope to incorporate some soon.

edit - 1000th post in this mod. We've hit the big time!