[Religion and Revolution]: Feedback and Questions

[Daw]

I've been looking into the XMLs and made some moderate progress (e.g. Pioneers, Scouts and Veterans now come with their skills but not with their equipment, which fits my taste a lot), but still cannot figure out several features:

1. I figured out the moves (I think) but the major concern is how it is that you prevent units to go to some terrains (e.g.PEAKS)?
2. Did not find anything about roads - they are not in the Terrains, Features or Improvements. Where are their effects programmed?

 

[raystuttgart]

... how it is that you prevent units to go to some terrains (e.g.PEAKS)?

That is inside of the DLL. There are no special XML tags for that feature.
If you want to adjust that, you will need to program in C++.

2. Did not find anything about roads - they are not in the Terrains, Features or Improvements.

...\Assets\XML\Misc\CIV4RouteInfos.xml

Where are their effects programmed?

They are programmed inside of the DLL.
XML is only configuration.

 

[Daw]

That is inside of the DLL. There are no special XML tags for that feature.
If you want to adjust that, you will need to program in C++.

Hmm... UnitInfos has <TerrainImpassables/> and <FeatureImpassables/> tags (if I name these things correctly) though. I failed to find a unit with them enabled (i.e. filled with something). Do you think I could avoid programming in C++ if I put something like:

<TerrainImpassables>
<TerrainImpassable>TERRAIN_MARSH</TerrainImpassable>
</TerrainImpassables>
<FeatureImpassables>
<FeatureImpassable>FEATURE_JUNGLE</FeatureImpassable>
</FeatureImpassables>

I am almost sure the unit having this will no longer go to tiles with Marsh terrain OR Jungle feature after that. What I doubt is if it will go there by road... Will check.

...\Assets\XML\Misc\CIV4RouteInfos.xml

Thanks

They are programmed inside of the DLL.
XML is only configuration.

Ok, got the difference Configuration is still a lot of fun I hope I will not get neural twitches in my face before I finish adjusting what I want to be adjusted.

 

[Commander Bello]

1. I figured out the moves (I think) but the major concern is how it is that you prevent units to go to some terrains (e.g.PEAKS)?

If you are interested in especially that feature, you may want to have a look at my little modmod

Regarding features made impassable: this actually might work with the respective XML settings to a certain degree. But you still won't be able to distinguish between two "impassable" features by only XML settings. In other words: if a unit is enabled to enter "impassable" features, it will be allowed to enter any impassable feature, even if you would like to only allow for entering jungles but not for bushland (under the assumption, that both have been marked as "impassable").

For terrain, unfortunately the story is different. Hills and peaks are only some kind of "changed" basic terrain, and settlements are always sitting on the terrain below them.
In other words, if you mark say "Prairie" as "impassable", chances are good that you would not be able to enter any city on a Prairie tile. And you wouldn't be allowed to enter any prairie hill anymore, too.

To make changes like this and to cope with all the possible combinations, as Ray said, you will have to maintain the DLL.

 

[Daw]

Thanks for clarifications, Commander Bello.

Currently peaks have already been processed in such a nice and neat manner according to my taste that I have no intention to touch them. I am only concerned about marsh, jungle, and the wheeled units (various artillery and various transports) going there. The point is that look, this is marsh, and this is jungle, and although I can imagine men and horsemen go through there with a certain effort, I cannot picture someone getting a cannon or a wagon through there unless after building a road. Such terrains will give a hard time passing them even for modern off-road vehicles.

As for the problem of inability to enter a town, the jungle are cleared when a settlement is being founded, so it will not be the case.

Marsh terrain is another thing. But (please correct me if I am wrong) a town always has a road in it. That is, if you found a settlement next to a native village, you can see them immediately get connected by a road. Edit however, problem with a unit unable to enter a town placed on an impassible terrain confirmed. Road does not make a difference.

However, upon my attempt, I found out 2 things:
1. My initial syntax was wrong. The proper thin will be:
<TerrainImpassables>
<TerrainImpassableType>TERRAIN_MARSH</TerrainImpassableType>
</TerrainImpassables>
<FeatureImpassables>
<FeatureImpassableType>FEATURE_JUNGLE</FeatureImpassableType>
</FeatureImpassables>
Otherwise the game cannot go through XML and generates tons on error messages.

2. It does not work. Well, maybe it does, but not in any obvious way. My unit with altered settings still rolled happily over marsh, jungle, and marshy jungle.

 

[fox456]

Thanks for continuing to work on this mod and for the latest release, version 1.7. Has this file (RaR_Schmiddies_Edition.7z) been updated for the new version?

 

[Schmiddie]

yes it has been updated.

 

[fox456]

Great! Thank you.

 

[Schmiddie]

Hi Folks,

I have played a new testgame with the new RaR-Version 1.8 (EDIT: which will be published on short notice) and it works perfect!

Here are some screenshots. It's around 1700 and the KI builds big cities as well:

 

[raystuttgart]

I have played a new testgame with the new RaR-Version 1.8 and it works perfect!

@Community:

Release 1.8 is no yet public.
(If things work out well, we will probably publish within the next 2 weeks.)

It is even still under development.
(Port Royal is not yet finished.)

Here are some screenshots.

Nice screenshots.

the KI builds big cities as well

It better should.
After all, this is the best AI that has so far been created for Civ4Col.
(Even after strongly reducing cheats.)

 

[Will The Viking]

Looking forward to 1.8! Just a question - and it may be related to my style of play:

When I play, even on the greatest difficulty level, I find the European AI peaceful and it rarely attacks me. It also rarely declares independence. So even though my favoured style is building a huge empire and not trying for independence, I find it rare the AI presents a real challenge. If it attacked me or declared independence (so forcing me to defeat him or also declare independence) then I would always have to keep an eye open for him. But it seems so rare!

Also, I'm interested in the team's opinion. I find it hard to build up the required rebel sentiment to DoI. Am I too used to focusing on expansion and have become a poor player, or is it really that hard in R&R?

 

[raystuttgart]

I'll try to answer your questions:

1) AI in RaR considers its war decisions a lot more logical than in Vanilla (or TAC).
It will only declare War if it has a reason and good chances to win the war.

I simply did not like that AI stupidly declared wars while being totally underpowered without real chances of winning that war.
I also did not like AI declaring wars although it had no good reasons to do so.

It is a matter of balancing (which is influenced by personal taste of course).

2) Generally it is not more difficult to create rebel sentiment in RaR, than it is in Vanilla (or TAC).

But of course, if your empires / cities become really huge, you will need to have much more liberty bells.
(Empires / cities in RaR often become much bigger than in TAC or Vanilla due to our new features and people mostly playing MapSize "Gigantic".)

That is the main reason that AI in RaR does not declare independence as often as it does in TAC or Vanilla.
(AI creates much bigger cities and empires.)

Another reason might be the new balancing considering the king's army and navy (REF).
AI does need to feel strong enough to challenge its king.
In RaR, this might take a bit longer than in Vanilla.
(Not totally sure though, since it is extremely long ago since I played Vanilla.)

I personally however did not have problems creating enough rebel sentiment.
(It is just taking a bit longer if your empire and your cities have become gigantic.)

I do focus however a lot on liberty bells, since I try very hard to get as many Founding Fathers as possible.
(It really gets me angry if AI steals a FF I desperately wanted to have.)

 

[Schmiddie]

In my current game the Danish have an alliance with the Spanish and two native tribes (Blackfoot and Crow) now have entered into this alliance.

I have provided the Blackfoot with horses and guns since I thought they would challenge the Spanish or Danish... ...so this is a powerfull alliance within spitting distance to my border... Declaring war to one of these nations might end in a massacre for my troops... I could challenge one of them or maybe two - but 4 against me will be a problem...so I think the AI is able to challenge a player...

 

[raystuttgart]

European AIs in RaR are capabable of becoming strong and will then not be easy targets for warmongers.
But they are simply not brainless aggressors.

They will not surprisingly attack the player if the player has good relationships and/or is really strong.
Some players might miss those unexplainable (good relations) or unlogical (player much stronger than AI) surprise attacks though, simply because it is surprising.

I personally however prefer to have AIs that act more logical.
(And thus the balancing of RaR has been done that way.)

 

[Axeman89]

Is it possible to increase cities defense strengh by editing xml files? I don't find much difference between attacking enemies with cannons either in cities or in open terrain (of course, there is a difference, I just want to make cities harder to take).

Thanks in advance.

 

[raystuttgart]

Such general questions about modding are probably better put here:
Civ4Col - Creation & Customization

But ok, I will try to answer your question.

I cannot remember to have seen an XML tag (e.g. in GlobalDefines.xml) to generally configure something like a base city defense value.

But you could simply increase the defense value of the defensive buildings.
(CIV4BuildingInfos.xml -> iDefense)

You could also try to rebalance units.
(Buildings is probably the better approach though.)

Anything else would probably require programming.

 

[Pallando]

This post is basically directed to Nightingale, who I think is the creator of the Feeder Service.

Could you explain
1. What is the Feeder Service?
2. How it should be used?
3. Best Practices.

I would like to ask what would be the best practices to use it in the following example:

Supose I have 5 Cities.
A (main export to Europe, produces Cloth and Guns)
B (produces Horses and Rum)
C (produces Cigars and Refined Salt)
D (produces Indigo and Colour Cloth)
E (produces Silver and Hemp)

All of those cities have a population of aprox. 25 - 35, and I want to maximize the Domestic Markets consumption in each city, and be able to sell my surplus to Europe (Perhaps Africa or Port Royal in 1.8).

What is the best type of transport that suits my needs?

What is the best practice for distributing Luxury Goods in my colonies? The less manual work involved for me, the better.

How should I do, or what is the best practice so that I can enjoy even more this great Mod.

Thanks.

 

[eropple]

Yeah, a Colopedia entry for the feeder service stuff would be nice. I think I have a handle on it, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[agnat86]

I think something's seriously wrong with the growth of the REF.

In my current game, I had the king add 19 Man o Wars in a single turn. This results in a net addition of 76 land units to the REF in a single turn. See my screenshots.

I'm playing on conquistador difficulty level, on a gigantic map, with epic speed.

This may have happened before in this game, but it only occurred to me now that you never see more than 5 messages each turn informing you of the king building his REF, and that you need to check it on the event log if you want to know if there are more than 5 units added. So until now, I always assumed that the king never added more than 5 MOW's a turn.

Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, but this way it will be impossible to ever win the War of Independance. Could you maybe have a look at the code for REF growth? Maybe insert a cap on the amount of MOW's the king can add each turn? I think it would be a shame if your years of hard work would result in a game that's impossible to win.

 

[raystuttgart]

We have implemented the new War of Independence mechanism designed in TAC.

The King will attack in several waves, giving you some time in between to recover a bit.
(He will not throw his whole REF at you at once.)

He does need a lot of Ships to be able to transport all of his land troops, because his ships will not travel back to Europe to pick up troops.

The amount of ships is directly calculated from the amount of land troops.
(So if a cap at all would be needed, then it would be on land troops.)

It has been desinged like that on purpose to ensure a challenging WOI that will mainly be fought on land.
(Killing ships will only reduce the amount of troops that get on land.)

Please give it a try first and see how it feels while actually fighting the War of Independence.
(After you have fought such a WOI we can talk again.)

Edit:

If you might not have noticed yet, there is a Game Option when starting a Custom Game that will reduce the REF by 50%.
If you really believe, that you cannot take the challenge without even having tried, you could use that one.

But as I said, this is not the WOI that you are used to.
REF attacking in several waves (and some other minor tweaks) plays very different compared to the old mechanism.

I would really suggest to simply give it a try as it is.
An experienced player should be able to handle (and enjoy) it.

The new WOI is challenging, there is no doubt about it, but that is how it is supposed to be.
But from everything I have heard (mostly feedback from TAC players) it is very well possible to win.

Edit 2:

I just saw in your screenshots that you have many thousands of weapons, horses and cannons stored.
(All togehter about 40.000 !!!)

And you are really wondering that your king is increasing his REF like crazy ?