SMAN's The World at War

[sman1975]

What is the link to the collaboration site for SCW - on civfanatics?

 

[Florian de Saltés]

https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/smans-the-world-at-war-scenarion-spanish-civil-war.641454/

 

[sman1975]

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on it and add what I can.

Testing on the SME started about noon today, after I added all the scenario-specific data for the WW2 scenario. I may have selected the wrong mod for the initial test, as the WW2 scenario is huge, actually. 17 playable civs, hundreds of unique units, and over 40 defined Combat Operations with about 55+ Fronts. I'm still adding to the initial data set, but the hardest part (for Germany) is done and looks pretty "life like" so far.

Anyways, I'm still not 100% confident I'll have testing done this week, but I don't think it will take too much longer than that if it drags on.

I think the "Red Start-White Star" scenario will take less than a week, based on what I've seen so far today. And about half of that is me screwing around looking for playable civ artwork...

Fingers crossed, we may be able to put together at least an ALPHA version of the SCW before the end of Feb. I hope...

 

[sman1975]

I've opened a new collaboration thread for the WW2 scenario - and all things related to the Scenario Management Engine (SME):

https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...t-war-scenarion-the-war-in-europe-ww2.641927/

Will keep track of all things related to it on that thread, and free this thread up for the main WAW mod and its issues.

Thanks!

 

[sman1975]

Working on a quick update for the main WAW mod (V4). Adding a new unit: Predreadnought. It takes the place of the Pocket Cruiser, while the PC becomes the "late" naval melee unit of La Belle Epoque Era.

Sample photos:



Am also updating a few of the Companion Mods, and plan to release all of the updated mods at the same time.

 

[sman1975]

Updated Russian Imperial Rifleman unit, as requested by Steam user @BrbNic

 

[MariusMagnus]

Hello sman,

I am glad to see the mod is still being worked on!

I actually revisited WAW recently, and still really do enjoy it! That said, I did run into a problem with the unit naming. It would appear that if you have a combat unit with its own custom names defined using Unit_UniqueNames entries while in the Industrial Era or beyond, the script will in fact recognize this, but end up replacing the name with the TXT_KEY entry rather than the localized version (In other words, if I have TXT_KEY_UNIT_X, you will end up with TXT_KEY_UNIT_X when you mouse over the unit rather than whatever text you defined TXT_KEY_UNIT_X to represent). After reviewing the logs, I found this easily resolvable: replace line 101 in WAWUnitNamerScript.lua:

pUnit:SetName(sOldUnitName)

With

pUnit:SetName(Locale.ConvertTextKey(sOldUnitName))

and that should resolve things.

Overall, the mod is still lots of fun. Fighting off hordes of AI armies in a World War setting is great, although the snowballing can be a bit extreme sometimes.

 

[sman1975]

@MariusMagnus - my old collaborator! Good to hear from you! Thanks for the tip - I'll add that to the fix. Appreciate it!

 

[sman1975]

Latest Russian Imperial Rifleman. About as good as I can get it:

 

[sman1975]

FYI: I'm updating the 'Unique Units' Companion Mod. One of the changes is to add units for China. Sixteen, so far, throughout the WAW Tech Tree.

Question: does anyone have an opinion as to what other "Chinese" custom civs should I also allow to use these Chinese units - if any?

Many thanks!

 

[sman1975]

After way too much time trying to get the 'Ohka' model working, I've decided to use a re-skinned version of the guided missile for the "jet powered" Kamikaze unit. I'm not perfectly happy with it, but it's probably in the "good enough" rating, so I can move on to other things. Screen grabs:



The model is oversized, and have a quite slow movement speed, so you get to enjoy the entire attack animation. Requires Oil. I think this one is about done...



The earlier Kamikaze unit (A6M2) is based on the Zero:



The ranges are "flipped" for Kamikaze units, compared with the V1/V2 rockets. A6M2 has a range of 10 (one-way fuel tank), while the Ohka has a range of 5. Does NOT require Oil. Both units are pretty cheap, without a substantial penalty to purchase with Gold.


Both units receive the "Divine Wind" promotion:



A6M2 has Evasion 1 promotion (Reduces damage taken from interception by 50%.).

Ohka has Evasion 2 promotion (Cannot be intercepted).

 

[sman1975]

Hello! Both the main 'World at War' and the 'Unique Units Companion Mod' have been updated (both V4).

Main World at War Mod: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/smans-the-world-at-war.27142/

World at War - Unique Units Companion Mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1562535329


Lots of changes in both, but mostly "under the hood." Lots of fixes, unit stat adjustments, promotions normalization, reworks of unit model ArtDefines, etc. Hopefully, the mods will now play better and provide a more consistent gaming experience.

Change notes to be published soon. Updating slides on Steam will take a bit longer.

Will publish the new companion mod "Starting Armies" in the next few days. It provides a dramatic headstart, designed for games starting in one of WAW's Eras. Adds a lot of units (including Great Peoples), Gold, and Culture at the game start, so that you'll have your Civ ready for combat in just a few turns. Of course, the AI gets even larger bonuses to start the game, so look out...

 

[sman1975]

Changes Summary for V4:


GENERAL
- Removed the "Commerce" requirement from the Freight Depot
- Added counter-espionage capabilities to many normal and WAW buildings. Remember that Constabulary and Police Stations reduce enemy spy stealing rate by 25%, respectively. The numbers in parenthesis show how much these buildings do the same: Barracks (3), Walls (3), Castle (3), Armory (3), Arsenal (3), Mil Academy (3), Mil Base (3). These WAW buildings now also have counter-spying abilities: Civil Defense (10), Adv Warfare Facility (3), Def. Sat System (6), High Court (2), Natl Mil Academy (1), Natl Naval Academy (1), Natl Air Force Academy (1). It is now possible to raise the counter-spy effort to 90% without Wonders, 95% with Wonders. Yes, spies may be dropping like flies, but it that really a problem…?
- Lowered the Culture bonus of the railway station's culture from 5 to 3, to match what it says in the description
- Checked to make sure replanting forests yields Production to the nearest city
- Added British city names (for my own personal playing style…)
- Updated the Freight Depot help key - to show that Coal was required to build
- The Work Progress Administration wonder is now "purchasable" with gold
- Added a build limit for the Nuclear Weapons Lab (5)
- Lowered the cost of Bomb Shelters
- Fixed some incorrect font icons
- Expanded the Unit List popup window for Cities or Carrier units, to allow for longer unit names. This is especially needed for some of the units from the Unique Units mod
- Fixed some of the repetitive Technology quotes; added some new ones
- Cleaned up many discrepancies, errors, typos, etc.


UNITS:
• "Normalized" all unit costs, strengths, promotions, etc. Now they should represent more evolutionary progress through the Tech Tree, in a much more consistent manner•
• Reconfigured every unit's ArtDefines files, removing the .sql file and adding corresponding commands in the basic unit .xml file. While .xml might execute more slowly than .sql, the file handling overhead more than defeats that advantage. The new approach should speed up mod load times (slightly)
• Added several missing trigger files, which should improve their corresponding units' attack animations
• Added @MariusMagnus' namer fix for the Localization problem on late-start games
• Adjusted the naming function so that it can accommodate alternative Custom Civs. See the Unique Units mod for more details (https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/discussion/1562535329/1629663905430904945/)
• Some units' Icons/Flags were adjusted
• Re-wrote almost all unit Help text keys, to help a player remember where the unit fits into the overall unit role evolutionary path, and what resources are required for the unit. This was primarily done, so that all the unit variants from the Unique Units mod could reuse those keys without needed their own


AIR Unit changes:
• Added the Dive Bomber Unit, a fighter nominally weaker than the Fighter Mk I, but with the Bombardment I and II Promotions (+66% Combat Strength against Land Units)
• Added the Fighter Mk III Unit, a late-WW2-Era Fighter, with better strength than the Fighter Mk II and longer range than the Advanced Fighter, receives the Bombardment I promotion
• Heavy Bombers and Advanced Bombers now receive the Evasion I promotion
• Added the Anti Air I Promotion to the Zeppelin, so they will be more damaging to early fighters
• Lowered the Advanced Bomber range from 12 to 10
• Guided Missiles no longer become obsolete
• Added the "Divine Wind" promotion, which can only be used by Japanese Kamikaze Units (from the Unique Units Companion Mod). This promotion adds +100% Combat Strength vs Ships, +50% Combat Strength vs Armor Units. Earns points toward a Golden Age for each enemy unit killed
• Recon Plane/Jet units now receive the Intercept Promotion, allowing them to perform Interceptions, albeit at a much weaker rate than a normal Fighter of the Era
• Put the build limit (8) for Wild Weasel units into the HELP text key


LAND Unit changes:
• Added the "Motorized Infantry" Promotion, allowing late-Era Infantry units the ability to use enemy roads/railroads as if they were friendly
• Removed the ability to pillage from all 'mobile scout' units (tenders, etc.) – Helicopter units still can pillage
• Most Siege Units have had their Ranged Strength increased
• The "Hovercraft" Promotion that Helicopter Units receive now has additional anti-armor damage
• Changed the Scout's "goodyhut" upgrade - from Lancer to Horseman. Kept the "normal" upgrade at the Lancer unit. This prevents Lancers from appearing in the first turn of the Ancient Era
• The " De Oppresso Liber Promotion" Promotion that Special Forces & BlackOps units receive now reduces the Combat Strength of adjacent enemy units by 15%
• Changed Bazooka upgrades from Mobile Infantry to Main Battle Tank
• FLaK Units no longer become obsolete. This allows a Civ with no Oil or Uranium on hand to at least be able to build some form of anti-air unit
• Corrected the "goodyhut" upgrade of the SP Artillery Unit to Rocket Artillery, not Laser Artillery
• Knights obsolete at Metullurgy, not Military Science


SEA Unit changes:
• Added a new unit, Predreadnought, which takes the place the Protected Cruiser used to occupy – as the 'Main' ranged naval unit of the Belle Époque Era
• Converted the Protected Cruiser to a hybrid naval melee/ranged unit, and moved it to the 'Late' melee ship unit of the Belle Époque Era
• Added a new unit, Destroyer Escort, which is the Main WW2 Naval Melee unit (between the Corvette and the Heavy Destroyer)
• The Battleship and Heavy Battleships were given promotions to help them be more effective against land troops (BB = Bombardment I, II, and Heavy BB = I, II, and III)
• Naval Ranged Ships from Battleship and later received the Targeting I and II promotions, to make them 66% more effective against other ships
• Adjusted naval melee unit movement/promotions. Now, only Ironclad, Torpedo Gunboat, and Torpedo Boat Destroyer units have the "Double Move on Coasts" promotion. Other naval melee units have increased movement speed. New movement speeds for these units: Ironclad (3), Torpedo Gunboat (3), Torpedo Boat Destroyer (3), Destroyer (5), Flotilla Destroyer (6), Corvette (6), Heavy Destroyer (6), Aegis Destroyer (6), Missile Destroyer (7), Railgun Destroyer (8)
• Changed the Fleet Sub obsolete tech, so that it obsoletes when the Cruiser Sub becomes available
• Flotilla Destroyers now obsolete at Combined Arms, when Corvettes become available
• Changed Carrier obsolete tech to Full-Spectrum Warfare from Materials Science – this prevented the situation where you could not build any carrier units, due to which Techs were discovered
• Lowered cost of Belle Époque Era naval melee units
• Changed some Great War surface ships (Light Cruiser, Torpedo Boat Destroyer, not Carriers or Subs) to require Coal, not Oil
• Ironclad now obsoletes at Telephony
• Adjusted Nuclear Sub stats to place it properly in the Sub evolution timeline
• Resized the Protected Cruiser, to make it a bit smaller
• Beefed up the Railgun Cruiser's attack animation, hoping to make it look more menacing
• Changed the incorrect Advanced Start Cost of 10 to the correct number (60) for Armored Frigate and the Predreadnought units
• Protected Cruiser now has the "Can See Submarine" Promotion
• Fixed Brit ship name – changing it from Barfleur to Harfleur

 

[JNZS13]

Tnx a lot for the updates! Ill give a try tomorrow.

Any plans or something new for After the Revolution? A great mod to!

 

[MariusMagnus]

Oooo, that's some pretty sweeping changes! It might be a while before I can get a full game in, but I'll see about it.

Adjusted the naming function so that it can accommodate alternative Custom Civs.

I was actually quite curious about this. How open would you to be to rewriting these lua tables so they primarily exist in the database? It would allow other modders to add custom names for their civs as they please and it'll save you the need to update the script every time someone wants custom names for their own civ. I know refactoring can be a real pain, but it's something to consider.

 

[sman1975]

Thanks, @JNZS13! I don't have any strong plans for AtR, but there have been a few suggestions in the WAW- Unique Units Companion Mod "Suggestions" forum on Steam, starting at post #34 thru #41:

https://steamcommunity.com/workshop...42225999456333033/?ctp=3#c1779388024839067443

I don't have any suggestions for other governmental types, so maybe the basics of that feature have been covered in the mod. From @MEDIC!'s suggestions at the link above, there may be a way to expand the relationship between governments and Ideologies (aka Social Policies). I can see some possibilities there, but it might be quite game-breaking for compatibility with some other popular mods (not including VP). I need to do more research into what some of these mods might be and look at ways to try and maximize compatibility, if that's possible/needed.

If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see in AtR, please drop by and let me know:

https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/after-the-revolution.635326/

Thanks again!

 

[sman1975]

@MariusMagnus - It may look like a lot of changes, but basically, most of the revolved around a single change: "normalizing" the various units/buildings/misc. features. What I mean by this is making sure the units progress through their evolution in a systematic ways. Unit B costs more than Unit A, has stronger stats, and aligned in the obsolete/required techs from A->B, etc. I was surprised at how much discrepancy there was floating around. I also put a lot of work in ensuring that Promotions made more sense, and again as you progress through the Tech Tree, Unit B would have at least as good of Promotions as Unit A.

Additionally, I tried to use Promotions for certain units more intelligently. That's why Battleships have Bombardment and Targeting Promotions, to make them more "battlewagon-like." A fight between a Battleship and a Destroyer is quite a bit different now than it was before, and as it should be. Did the same thing with different plane types, to demonstrate the possibilities of "specialization" in airframes that existed historically, but doesn't always show up in the mod while playing.

I was quite confused about this:

How open would you to be to rewriting these lua tables so they primarily exist in the database?

I toyed with the idea of using a 3 element table in the WAWUnitNamerGlobals.lua file, consisting of an index, the new Custom Civ's name, and the third element the "main" Civ who's naming table to use. Then change the function that determines which table to use to loop through this new structure to find a Custom Civ match, and if finding one, uses the corresponding "main" Civ. It wouldn't be toooo hard to update for some players, but perhaps a lot wouldn't want to bother.

It sounds like you're talking about making a mod to the Civilizations table via SQL? Perhaps adding a column, "CorrespondingMainCiv" - then initializing it with a simple copy of the Type value. Following with a statement that adds this value for a Custom Civ defined by the user? Something like this:

ALTER Civilizations ADD COLUMN CorrespondingMainCiv INTEGER DEFAULT -1;

UPDATE Civilizations SET CorrespondingMainCiv = 'CIVILIZATION_ENGLAND' WHERE Type  = 'CIVILIZATION_JFD_GREAT_BRITAIN';

And change the GetCivType() function to first check the value of CorrespondingMainCiv for the Civ in question. If it's a -1, then process normally. If there's a different value, then use that to assign the main civ for this one?

Forgive me if this seems like jibberish. Should never post before coffee. What the heck am I thinking????

 

[MariusMagnus]

It sounds like you're talking about making a mod to the Civilizations table via SQL? Perhaps adding a column, "CorrespondingMainCiv"

No. This actually already exists in the Civilizations table, it's called 'DerivativeCiv'. I'm suggesting taking the lua tables created in WAWUnitNamerGlobals and recreating them in SQL. The lua tables will still exist within NamerGlobals, but they will just be populated by running Queries on the SQL tables. This would allow other modders that reference WAW to access and append their own custom unit names to them. Even though WAWUnitNamerGlobals does exist in the VFS and can be imported by other mods, I don't believe there's any way within lua to modify the tables so that your changes will be picked up by WAWUnitNamerScript without directly modifying NamerGlobals itself. It would have to be done via SQL.

Although reflecting back, having GetCivType() check DerivativeCiv isn't a bad idea either.

 

[sman1975]

A new Companion Mod called, "WAW - Starting Armies" has been published!

It provides a lot of units for games starting in La Belle Epoque Eras or later, as well as extra Culture, Gold, Resources, Tech, etc. The goal for the mod is to get your wartime economy up and running in just a handful of turns.

STEAM Link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1873249525

A note of caution: the mod itself is pretty stable. However, I've flagged it as still ALPHA, as, TBH, I have no idea how this is going to play out, and how off the bonuses are. I'm hoping that feedback from players can help me set the numbers in a better place.

 

[sman1975]

The problem with 'DerivativeCiv' is that sooooooo many Custom Civs don't use it!

But, I think I get what you're saying. You're not really limiting the name adjustments to accommodate Alternative Custom Civs, but the entire suite naming tables in SQL, and using DB calls to access it. I don't think there's too much overhead associate with that (database fetch, as opposed to sandboxed local data references).

I also don't see a way for Lua instances to see one another without using that "shared date" trick WHoward docuymented. It's a bit painful to do so, and I still think one would have to modify the name instance for every single other instance you'd want to share data with.

I haven't really thought about creating a new database, although I've seen it done on a few mods. No one's ever asked for anything similar for any of the mods I've built. It's not much trouble, and I suspect it could save a lot of trouble adding new Alternative Custom Civs to the overall naming function. If, as I suspect, when players discover the Unique Units now allows different Civs to use the basic Civ's models, the request for new Civs to be added might grow quite a lot. Anything I can do to lower the number of fingerprints on the namer function in the future might be quite a good idea...