[Religion and Revolution]: Mod Development

[raystuttgart]

Therefore I will presumably change the cannons into "real" ship cannons.

I have already done this for the caravel:

Looks great.

Have you considered the impact on the GPU load?

I really don't believe that this small change will impact performance in a noteable way.

 

[raystuttgart]

Since I have vacation right now, I will work a bit on the mod again as well.
(I think I will create some more Python/XML-Events.)

 

[Marla_Singer]

Translating the mod in French is a bigger pain than I assumed first, but things are moving forward.

I know version 1.20 is already out but I'm still continuing my efforts. Here's the current situation :

• _Achievements.xml : 3056 lines - Not translated
• _Colonization.xml : 4240 lines - 100% translated
• _Colonization_Diplomacy.xml : 2947 lines - Partially translated
• _Colonization_Events.xml : 3308 lines - Partially translated
• _Colonization_Objects.xml : 15477 lines - 100% translated
• _Colonization_Pedia.xml : 2291 lines - Partially translated
• _Colonization_Strategy.xml : 1640 lines - Partially translated
• _Credits_Readme.xml : 1289 lines - 100% translated
• _ImpTerFeaPedia.xml : 406 lines - 100% translated
• _RaR_Founding_Fathers.xml : 1320 lines - Partially translated
• _RaR_New_Nations.xml : 3724 lines - Partially translated
• _RaR_New_Ressources.xml : 6201 lines - 100% translated
• _RaR_Release1.xml : 4843 lines - 100% translated
• _RaR_Release2.xml : 240 lines - 100% translated
• _TAC.xml : 3189 lines - Partially translated
• _Objects_Original.xml : 4188 lines - 100% translated
• _Original.xml : 17346 lines - 100% translated

 

[raystuttgart]

... but things are moving forward.
...
Here's the current situation :

Sounds good.

And yes, translations (or improving texts) in a mod as big as RaR is a lot of work.

I know version 1.20 is already out but I'm still continuing my efforts.

There will be a Release 2.1 once we have collected a reasonable amount of improvments (and features) again.

By the way:
I suggest comitting your progress to SVN from time to time.

Edit:

CIV4GameText_Colonization_Events.xml
--> Please commit all your current progress to that file today.
--> After that, I suggest to not work on it for a while, because I will add a lot of new texts to it.

 

[Marla_Singer]

Alright, I need to leave home now (I don't work today), but I'll be back in the evening.

I can work on the translation this evening (from memory, there's not so much to do but it's scattered all over the file). Tell me if that's too late for you.

By the way, RaR_New_Ressources and RaR_Release1 were so damn' long to translate I had never imagined... that's where we realize the number of hours of work behind a mod as big as this one.

 

[raystuttgart]

Tell me if that's too late for you.

That is fine.

It is just, that I want to add a lot of texts for new Python/XML-Events and thus will be working a lot on the file I mentioned above.

... that's where we realize the number of hours of work behind a mod as big as this one.

The amount of work that has gone into this mod is really incredible.

When I try to estimate all the work of all the people involved directly in this project (team and partners), I easily get to more than 2500 hours (maybe even about 3000 hours) in total.
(brainstorming, creating concepts, coding, graphics, texts/translations, testing, balancing/functional XML, maps, bugfixing, performance optimizations ...)

When adding the time of people being involved indirectly (including our base mod TAC and the parts we used from other mods) the number of hourse is probably doubled.

 

[Marla_Singer]

As requested, I've fully translated and committed the CIV4GameText_Colonization_Events.xml file today.

I was actually wrong. Only the few first hundreds of lines were already translated. 80% of the file wasn't. Text and text and text... There's too many text in this game!

Do you know if there's any way to force triggering of events just to check if my translations aren't out of context? There's no reason why they would be, but it's always better to check the result in-game.

Anyway, just as an update to not feel as if I had wasted my hours:

• _Colonization_Events.xml : 3308 lines - 100% translated

 

[raystuttgart]

As requested, I've fully translated and committed the CIV4GameText_Colonization_Events.xml file today.

Great.

You can continue working on all the other XML files for texts, since the one above will be the only one I will touch in the next days.

Do you know if there's any way to force triggering of events just to check if my translations aren't out of context?

Yes there is a way to force a trigger:

1. Activate Cheats if you haven't already done so.
(That is one of the first things a modder should do.)

Spoiler :

In CivilizationIV.ini change CheatCode = 0 to CheatCode =chipotle.

2. Start a new game and activate Game Option "Random Seed"
(This is very useful.)

3. Set up the conditions necessary for the Trigger.
(Usually Worldbuilder is the easiest way.)

4. Press Ctrl+Shift+E and then select the Trigger.

 

[raystuttgart]

@team and partners:

New revision available in SVN.

I have uploaded the first 2 of about 20 new Python/XML-Events I plan to create.
(They have been tested of course. I will probably create a few of them every day.)

Texts may not be very pretty yet, but I currently focussing on functionality of those events first.
(I would show screenshots for all of them, but I ran out of my quota for attachments several months ago.)

Spoiler :

Vintager in Europe offers Wine Plants for sale.
--> If you accept: New Bonus Ressource Wine created outside of city.

Natives offer seeds for Red Pepper for sale.
--> If you accept: New Bonus Ressource Red Pepper created outside of city.

Also I have fixed a small issue (and will fix if I notice further) in existing events.

 

[raystuttgart]

@team and partners:

New revision available in SVN.

I have uploaded another new Python/XML-Events.

Spoiler :

Sick Immigrants arriving in the New World.
--> If you accept: 2 Indentured Servants, -10 Food in City, -2 CityHealth

I realized that some of the new events I plan to create will require some DLL coding.
(This event did require a bit of DLL coding as well. Actually it did not require DLL and could also have been solved in Python but it was just better to do it in DLL.)

 

[raystuttgart]

Creating these Python/XML-Events is actually pretty easy.
(If you are able to do only the tiniest bit of Python programming you can also do quite complicated stuff.)

Well yes, it requires some time to set up the XML and write the texts.
But everything in modding does require some time ...

I really wonder, why all our modmodders around never tried to create some of these events on their own.
(Or maybe they did and never bothered to share. )

 

[raystuttgart]

And another one.

 

[gay_Aleks]

I find that 400 gold for a new Wine/Red Pepper Resources seems kind of... cheap? Even if you purchase immigrants from Europe and hurry the production of buildings, I still believe that you'll have a profit. Does this even trigger at specific age (i.e Discovery/Expansion/Colonial?)

Also, if by some kind of a blessing from God, there is R&R 2.1, will these events be included?

 

[raystuttgart]

I find that 400 gold for a new Wine/Red Pepper Resources seems kind of... cheap?

Yes it is.
So the player will be really happy to get it.

But that event is unique for each game and tied to several conditions (which I will not tell).
If another European player gets it first, you might not see it.

There is absolutely nothing to worry about considering balancing.

Also, if by some kind of a blessing from God, there is R&R 2.1, will these events be included ?

No, I will keep them all for myself !

Spoiler :

Just kidding.
Of course -like always- everything we create will be included in the next release.

 

[raystuttgart]

By the way:

I am going to also set up Event Chains.
(Choices in some of the events will lead to follow up events.)

To not ruin the tension, I will not tell of course which follow up events exist or which choice will lead to such a follow up event.
(So the events I will tell about are often only entry points for such a chain.)

 

[raystuttgart]

And another one.

 

[Schmiddie]

Wow, cool events!

 

[Willi_Tell]

Go on, Ray, go on...!

 

[raystuttgart]

And the next.

 

[raystuttgart]

And the next.