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

I don't know if it's been suggested before (I don't have enough time to read 57 pages) but, might it be possible to create a game type where, you start off normally (i.e. like without a mod) and once you research a certain tech, or build a certain wonder, then you unlock a second portion of the map, which is generated with whatever script you use to create lunar maps.

The two halves of the map are separated by impassable terrain (not necessarily peaks, but if that's what it takes to stop units from crossing...), and only through The SPace Elevator, or the Electromagnetic Railgun can units go to the moon. Then, you found a colony on the moon, and you can build an empire there too.

My inspiration for this was Empire Earth's expansion pack, which allowed you to have space travel and colonisation of other planets by juxtaposing land and space (which was impassable to all but space units). I hope that this isn't too hard to implement, because I think it might make things very authentic, because if you're the governemnt and you make a colony on the moon, you odn't immediately relinquish control to someone else.

That's my $.02

I thought of this as a tributary of this main mod. The one thing that whould hinder this is I think the techs are limited to 100 techs.(As far as I noticed)
 
I've been thinking more and more that this mod will eventually need an expansion pack. I think that depending on why there was a "cut-off" from Earth the expansion could either be to go back and kick Earth's arse or simply resettle it after whatever went wrong. I know originally JBG mentioned using the Moon as a stepping stone for Mars, Alpha Centauri, ect. But the Earth is right there ripe for the pickings! It could be post-Apocolyptic simply embroiled in a World War that the victor of the Moon could dominate. :)
 
Ooooh. That's a great idea fe3333au. But, if a horible pan-demic is raging through Earth, who's enforcing the quarantine?
 
Drakonik said:
Ooooh. That's a great idea fe3333au. But, if a horible pan-demic is raging through Earth, who's enforcing the quarantine?

If I was safely living on the Moon I wouldn't need enforcement to stay away! Obviously there are serious storyline and other issues to work out, but keep the ideas coming!
 
In my biographies I mention three major wars:
World War Three, between China/North Korea and pretty much the entire rest of the United Nations. The combined might of the UN wins, naturally.

Plus two Islamic Wars of Unification. These are much less straightforward and involve massive loss of life, not only through armed conflict, but also through mass-scale terrorism.

On top of that there is, of course, the impending Ecological Recession...

Any one of those could be an excellent reason for Earth concentrating on itself above the moon, and also an excellent excuse for the lunar colonists to say 'hey, wait a moment...'
 
Okay, Woodelf, GeoModder, Belizan, Matthewv, DSquared and anyone else willing:
Belizan has posted the latest python scripts on the Lunar Code Modding thread, and his updates include artillery, biodomes/bunkers, and the tech-unit-upgrade system.

We need to plug these into SotM and see how they work. As we have established that our computers run slightly differently and work with slightly different versions of the Song, it'd probably be best to try this out simultaneously on all our comps.

The first major patch looms already...
 
I think we all need to jot down what we're going to be working on for the next version so nothing gets done twice. ;)

I plan on adding some more units and I'll be following d^2's sheet for the most part unless there are suggestions.
 
JBG said:
Okay, Woodelf, GeoModder, Belizan, Matthewv, DSquared and anyone else willing:
Belizan has posted the latest python scripts on the Lunar Code Modding thread, and his updates include artillery, biodomes/bunkers, and the tech-unit-upgrade system.

We need to plug these into SotM and see how they work. As we have established that our computers run slightly differently and work with slightly different versions of the Song, it'd probably be best to try this out simultaneously on all our comps.

The first major patch looms already...

The main issues are artillery and fuel. Those implementations have serious drawbacks and shouled be examined. Each mod I've put up can be loaded on its own without modification and used to test out the features they implement directly.

I can plug the other scripts in myself, and in some cases, I probably should be the one to do it, or I should put out a version that is easier to customize. The main thing for these other mods is that you test out how the features work to make sure they are up to code etc. That would be great.
 
"A man's got to know his limitations" - and I know mine. I don't think I should be the one testing any python. I'll stick with my XML and button-making. :p
 
woodelf said:
I've been thinking more and more that this mod will eventually need an expansion pack. I think that depending on why there was a "cut-off" from Earth the expansion could either be to go back and kick Earth's arse or simply resettle it after whatever went wrong. I know originally JBG mentioned using the Moon as a stepping stone for Mars, Alpha Centauri, ect. But the Earth is right there ripe for the pickings!

I have to disagree there. Normal-gravity planets will simply be uncolonizable for the children and surely the grandchildren of those first moon-pioneers. They will simply be crushed by the gravity.
Besides, if bio-weapons were used, those viruses won't go away just like that.

For the mod, it's a weird feeling not having the most basic buildings already available (or techs). It's like one has to learn how to live on the moon while that should have been figgered out already before arrival. Could the mod be made that a player start with a base instead (with perhaps one or two base structures/plot improvements already in place) of a settler/colonist? And how about a random starting population depending on the difficulty level? That could represent being the first (or later) nation-on-the-moon feeling.

And I have to agree with Belizan that things look uncoordinated. There's no real sense of direction in the techtree. For starters, the first Era techtree shows different then what I used to give starting techs on the civs.
 
woodelf said:
"A man's got to know his limitations" - and I know mine. I don't think I should be the one testing any python. I'll stick with my XML and button-making. :p

It's not about "testing python".

Look, this isn't rocket science. It's simple. Take the fuel mod, for instance. It's a mod. You load it up like a mod. You start a game, on a map.. any map the game shipped with (I like islands because of the mix of land and water). Then, you notice that you can build a carrier and "fuel-based plane" right form the start, and you start with a plane. You move them around. You play with building an airfield with your worker. You see how they behave in game and how well that fits with your perception of how you thought they would be. You form an impression. You relay that impression to me. It's really quite straightforward. I'm not sure why you guys have such reservations about trying these things out. Very frustrating for me :(.
 
Well it's impossible to test while I'm at work.....

I can squeeze some XML in, but not much else.

I'll try the turrets if no one else will guinea pig. :p
 
I put 2 each (Armor, Heavy, and Foot) units into the 3rd era, but I'm basically stuck with the same skins for multiple units. :( I think before I post any of these I'll have to bite the bullet and try to make some subtle differences in them. No chance of making them Lunar, but variety is good. Maybe I'll steal some UN skins from the Units thread.....
 
woodelf said:
I put 2 each (Armor, Heavy, and Foot) units into the 3rd era, but I'm basically stuck with the same skins for multiple units. :( I think before I post any of these I'll have to bite the bullet and try to make some subtle differences in them. No chance of making them Lunar, but variety is good. Maybe I'll steal some UN skins from the Units thread.....

I wouldn't waste my time. Personally, I'd advise you not to worry about the models for now, unless you like that sort of thing. Just try and make the *game* in the mod. Features and Bells and Whistles and Graphics are all great and wonderful, but at its heart, this mod was based on vision we all thought JBG had (and hopefully still does) for what colonizing the Moon might be like, and how that might look when expressed in the sorts of terms which Civilization has to describe such things. What we need is for that vision to get realized in these techs and units. It's not about how many we have or even if every tech "does something". It's about fitting them together in a way that makes sense, is intriguing/compelling and makes for a fun game to play. And preferrably a hard one 8). Living on the moon should be hard. That's Allstate's Stand.. oh.. sorry... er.. That's my stand.. yeah... 8).
 
I can use some of the units others have skinned so I don't have to skin anything.

And the first era techs might seem like some dead-ends, but only because they got funneled into Isolation. Try the second era and see if the feel is better and I'll think about how to make the first era better.
 
I think that it is a good thing that we at least *have* a tech tree. It's all a question of opening the tin - once you've opened it you can fiddle around with the insides at leisure.

I'm going to be pretty tied up with work for the next few weeks, but when I can I'll fire up the Song or one of Belizan's python mods and get back to you.

And on a completely unrelated note, go out and buy the special anniversary edition of the soundtrack from 'Gladiator', play the second disc and select the 8th track. That is the sort of music I'd like to have on this mod - indeed, it is track 8 that gave me the idea for the name. Pity we can't use it in-game :( But seriously, listen to that piece. It's good.

Okay, end of sales pitch. ;)
 
Wow, I must say that was one rough alpha release. I vote that before we release any future versions that we have the version done several days before release so we have time to playtest properly before official release.
 
matthewv said:
Wow, I must say that was one rough alpha release. I vote that before we release any future versions that we have the version done several days before release so we have time to playtest properly before official release.

At least have it working on three or more systems. ;)
 
Oh, on the resources, are aluminium, nutrients and copper supposed to appear in the mod? I can believe the former and latter, but nutrients?
 
Back
Top Bottom