Spanish Empire Civ

[The Slayer]

Hello everybody!. As some of you may already seen, i have uploaded on the Mod Hub a mod called Spanish Empire Civ

Current Version on the Hub is : v3 - Beta
Mod Name on the Hub : Spanish Empire Civ (v3)

This mod adds the following :

- Civilization : Spain
- Leader : Isabella
- Trait : Discovery and Conquest (+1 movement for sea units, +1 vision for mounted and gunpowder units)
- Unique Units : Conquistador (replaces Knight, +25% Strength in Open Terrain) and Tercio (replaces Musketeer, +50% Strength against Mounted Units)
- Unique Buildings : None

Mostly, my focus on this Civ is to show the Spanish Empire from the times of the Reconquista, the discovery of the Americas, and its following Conquest.

I would like some feedback about Trait/UU's balance mostly.

Missing Text so far:
- Units Text on Civilopedia
- Dawn of Man Text

Missing Graphics so far:
- Unit Icons on Civilopedia

Known Issues so far:
- none

Expected Changes on v4 - Beta:
- Complete missing graphics and text.
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Changelog :

v3 : Added new Unit combinations for UU's. (03/10/2010)
v2 : Added/Changed some graphics for both Civ and Leader. (03/10/2010)
v1 : Initial Release. (01/10/2010)
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Credits :

Gedemon, for his R.E.D. modpack included on this mod.
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Thanks in advance for any help/input

Enjoy!

Spain before starting the game:

Tercios in Action: (note that the horseman attack the musketman by throwing torches at them since they are at range )

Conquistadores resting:

 

[IbericGladiator]

Hi, this is my first post and I am delighted to participate in this forum ;-) my favorite saga.
(First of all I must say that my English is very bad so I use the "google translator" to translate and decipher what they do not understand at first sight, if not understood correctly, forgive me XD.
Makes every effort to communicate properly ).

That said, I feel great this proposal and the election of the leader simply wonderful as Charles I of Spain and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (Carlos I de España y Carlos V del sacro imperio romano in Spanish XD)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

Or his son Phillip II(civilization 2 male leader) (Felipe II in Spanish) as they were the most important leaders of the Spanish empire at the height of the empire (not to mention of Queen Elizabeth)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain

I drew a lot of attention so closely related that all the crowned heads of Europe France, England, Spain, etc. .. throughout history has been a fratricide for power. forgive me I'm fine tirade releasing, I get excited.
Something caught my attention are the names of the slogans of every nation, I was struck by the motto that put the English empire: Sun Never Sets, that phrase is Charles V. Just said (in my empire the sun never sets - spanish En mi imperio jamas se pone el sol) and is considered one of the most characteristic phrases of the Spanish Empire, which adopted as its own after Phillip II.

 

[euskai]

One suggestion: changing the bonus for Conquistadores to rough terrain instead of open.

They are not supossed to fight in the European plains like knight or lancers, but in the South American jungles, so it makes more sense that way doesn´t it?

 

[The Slayer]

Hi again fellas!, i just uploaded a new version (v3) to the hub, it has new unit graphics (basicly a combination of units) for the UU's. Enjoy!.

Ill upload some images so you can see what the mod is about before downloading it.

@Iberic, if you speak spanish, then you could easily first write your post on spanish (i also speak it) and then use the google translated text too, so others can follow what you are trying to say.

Those leaders might be better for the Mod's purpose (focus on the Spanish Empire era) but Isabella's where way easier to grab and use. (also, there's another Spanish mod out there already using Charles, so i didnt wanted to be a copycat )

About the phrase on which the English trait is based, yes, actually it was the Spanish who used it first, i was too surprised, but, oh well, doesnt makes too much sense talking about naming here.

@euskai: well, you see, according to history, Spanish battles against the Incas and Aztecs where way more succeful in open plains, mesas and the like than in forests. And for the record, Spain did little to nothing to conquer the South American Amazon. Also, in their campaigns in South America there were lots of places where their Horses were mostly useless, since the terrain was very rocky/harsh for them, creating a natural advantage for the locals.

Thats why i gave them bonus on open terrains.

 

[santino6]

The slayer have you added leader head animation? probably not ... I have been trying for two days to try to figure out how to put my own static leader head for my civs leaders it doesn't seem possible... I can have a static image for leader head showing if the leader graphics setting in minimum, but most people dont have it on that setting.

banging my head against the wall with this

anyway welldone with the mod

 

[Ikael]

A much needed addition still, I wonder about its balance: the SA is kinda crappy (albeit historically realistic), and coupled with two average UU. But anyway: yay, tercios! quite underrated guys, and much more influential than the more famous conquistadors when it came to empire - building.

 

[The Slayer]

Meh, i checked the thread offline at work and i couldnt see any images.. i thought that was because i wasnt logged in but now im at home and theres nothing here too , dunno what happened to them, but i have just uploaded them somewhere else for all of you to enjoy!

The slayer have you added leader head animation? probably not ... I have been trying for two days to try to figure out how to put my own static leader head for my civs leaders it doesn't seem possible... I can have a static image for leader head showing if the leader graphics setting in minimum, but most people dont have it on that setting.

banging my head against the wall with this

anyway welldone with the mod

Nope, i couldnt add any custom images for Isabella leaderhead (diplomacy view) as well, its seems its quite impossible for now. I checked the Elizabeth_scene.xml which is supposed to handle all those files trying to find something that makes the static leaderhead the default one but to no avail...

A much needed addition still, I wonder about its balance: the SA is kinda crappy (albeit historically realistic), and coupled with two average UU. But anyway: yay, tercios! quite underrated guys, and much more influential than the more famous conquistadors when it came to empire - building.

As said before my starting/main focus was to remain as historical correct as possible. Altho i was also thinking about buffing the SA, but i cant find a balance between making it or too poor or too overpowered (because the SA affects the UU's too)

Any ideas and suggestions are always welcome

 

[ashmizen]

The SA is fine, just make it more focused on a single era (which is historically true anyway) by buffing the UU's!

Instead of +25% on plains, which is weird (they won't be better than knights, I think, on the open plains), make them really UNIQUE somehow. Some ideas:
- No Movement Penalty on Jungles and Mountains (they dismount and conquer, this is historical)
- or, though this would be hard to implement, make them slightly more expensive or have 1 less strength than knights, but have the same strength and movement as carivels on the open seas! This way, they are worse than knights for fighting your land neighbor, but way better at taking over distant lands over the ocean. This would also make Spain really DIFFERENT, as the only one able to take distant lands across oceans in the medieval period.

 

[Ikael]

As said before my starting/main focus was to remain as historical correct as possible. Altho i was also thinking about buffing the SA, but i cant find a balance between making it or too poor or too overpowered (because the SA affects the UU's too)

Well, if you want to get historical I know quite a bit about Spain's history, being a spaniard and all that jazz

First, the main advantage of the conquistadores were more related to exploration and the fact of being able to operate with very little support from the metropoli. If you take the inventories of the weapons that the conquistadores brougth to America, they were almost without supplies. For you to have an idea, Pizarro conquered Peru with 2 cannons and 30 muskets. I think that its bonus should be like that:

Conquistador - replaces knight
+1 sight
It does not require iron in order to be built
Doubles its movement when embarked

Albeit not a poweful unit per se, it can be built on unsupplied, overseas colonies. When combined with its double embarked speed, it can really give you an edge when taking other landmass, which is afterall what conquistadores were about.

Tercios were a really weird unit, a strange mobile formation composed of pikes and muskets, they were used extensively on city sieges and as an elite unit. So the bonus against mounted units is entirely right in order to give it an edge, you can take two approaches:

Tercios - replaces musketman
+25% against mounted units
They gain experience faster => in order to represent their elite status.

Or

Tercios - replaces musketman
+25% against mounted units
+25% against cities or units garrisoned inside cities => in order to represent their role during city sieges

About the Special Ability, I already theorized about two different possibilities in another similar topic:

Non plus ultra
Halves the unhappiness of cities located in another different landmass

So there's an even bigger focus on building empires overseas, also putting you in frontal colossion against England

Or

Siglo de oro

During golden ages you gain the following benefits:
- Sea units gain +25% more strenght
- Land units gain +25% strenght VS cities and units garrisoned in them
- ocean tiles yields 1 production

That way you will be forced to play as Spain: a bit tad schizophrenic (huge contrast between golden ages with huge expansions followed by periods of decadence), with a big preference for the piety social tree. Also: try to time the golden age with the UU in order to obtain maximum pwnage.

 

[The Slayer]

Well, i guess im looking at them from the other side, since im one of the conquered ones (Im Peruvian).

Those suggestions are quite awesome, altho i fear they might be a little overpowered. Maybe if we restrict those bonunes to those units or until certain era/tech?

Keep the good ideas flowing

 

[Horem]

Hello The Slayer,

I was wondering if you mind me including this Civ in a mod im making?

 

[The Slayer]

Surething, as long im at your credits list, fine by me!

 

[Horem]

Hi Again,

Seem to have a small issue with this Civ:-

[6233.472] Database::XMLSerializer (Civilizations/Spain/CIV5ArtDefines_SV_Units.xml): 'Row' or 'Delete' expected, got 'Type'.
[6233.487] Database::XMLSerializer (Civilizations/Spain/CIV5UnitFormations.xml): 'Row' or 'Delete' expected, got 'Name'.
[6233.487] Database::XMLSerializer (Civilizations/Spain/CIV5ArtDefines_Units.xml): 'Row' or 'Delete' expected, got 'Type'.
[6233.487] Database::XMLSerializer (Civilizations/Spain/CIV5ArtDefines_UnitMembers.xml): 'Row' or 'Delete' expected, got 'Type'.

 

[Arwon]

I tend to think Spain should get a gold-increasing and culture-generating religious building (maybe a replacement for the Monastary with no resource restrictions), but hey, I didn't make the mod!

 

[estrategos]

First of all, congratulations, The Slayer! I was triying to figure out how to reflect the unique combat style of The Tercios, and when i saw the combined "pikeman-muskeeter" animation i was atonished

Feedback:
- Leader: I agree that, for multiple historical reasons, Philip II must be the frontman of the Spanish Empire.
- UA: Plus Ultra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus_ultra_(motto): embarked units gain 1 extra per turn, +1 to sight and can move across open seas from the begginning of the game.
- UU:
Tercios could be simply stronger than mukeeters and keep the bonus against mounted. I think that they took part in many sieges, but they are no specially prepared for that. You could think in an "fighting in enemy & neutral territory" bonus, as i can't remeber a single battle in the Iberian peninsula with Tercios involved.

Conquistador: its really difficult to reflect the true advantages of the conquistadores: bravery, cunning, greed, adaptation to the circumstances, and kidnapping emperors

- UB: House of Trade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Contratación) replaces port, and adds +2 gold + 2 culture + 1 happy. Althought it should be a National Project and far more powerful (and complex), i think that in this way it adjust perfectly to the Civ V "keep it simple" spirit. Remember that it would be constructed in a coastal cities.

 

[estrategos]

BTW, in the Spanish Empire (2010) image, you missed Ceuta, Melilla and The Canary Islands

 

[Ikael]

Well, i guess im looking at them from the other side, since im one of the conquered ones (Im Peruvian).

Oh my LOL then we should also make an Incan mod! It is a pity how the Aztecs always get prevalence on the civilization roster over the Incas :/ most civilized South American civ by far, me thinks.

Those suggestions are quite awesome, altho i fear they might be a little overpowered. Maybe if we restrict those bonunes to those units or until certain era/tech?

Hmm, it is true that it might be a little tad overpowered when in combination with the two other UUs. Perhaps it would be a good thing to tone them down, so what about keeping the SA while toning a little bit down the UUs?:

Tercio
Replaces musketmen. +25% against mounted units, heals faster on enemy terrain.

Able to resist several charges of calvary and substain lot of damage when supporting invasions.

Conquistador
Replaces knight. +1 sight. When embarked, it gains 1 movement, can travel ocean tiles and it can defend itself.

Not exactly a more powerful unit per se (specially since it stills needs the same resources of their "mother unit") its usefulness lies, however, on their ability to start the conquest of oversea landmasses more efficiently.

 

[Arwon]

- UU:
Tercios [...] You could think in an "fighting in enemy & neutral territory" bonus, as i can't remeber a single battle in the Iberian peninsula with Tercios involved.

Oooh I like that.

 

[RTOULABAL]

whos is your spanish bad

 

[Putmalk]

If you still want to update your dawn of man text, try this:

"God be with you, Queen Isabella, Her Majesty of glorious Spain! Your people had been under Muslim control for nearly five long and arduous centuries. But your people, ever valiant and brave, fought in battles now known as the "Reconquista", and in the late 13th century, you reduced the Moors to control of only one city in Spain. Isabella, in 1469 you married Ferdinand II of Aragon and unified your nation, and in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic and discovered the New World. Your Inquistion drove terror into the hearts of your non-Christian subjects, but your empire became one of the richest and wealthiest nations, until revolution led to its decline by the 19th century.[NEWLINE][NEWLINE]Isabella, your people look up to you to lead them back into greatest. They seek to regain their lost glory and riches. Isabella, can you rebuild a Spanish civilization that once ruled over most of Central and South Americas? Can you establish a mercantalist empire to fuel the expansion of your riches? Can you build a civilization to stand the test of time?"