The Song of the Moon

[Rashad]

I am interested on your comments after playing the mod on a terran map.

i dont plan on ever playing the mod on a terran map. i'd rather play a terran-derived mod thats balanced for that style map.

my memory is that when you first pick the biodomes there are the two choices. after that the choices say "refit" in both cases.

since players may want to change domes, this does give a reminder the option is available. however a better solution (besides the Civilopedia updates) would be a readme file in the root that discusses this problem and other mod problems.

I'm really at a loss how this concept could be implemented so that it was more intuitive (and the AI fails to trip over it). I considered treating them as National Wonders, as the concept isnt too far off but that would limit it to just one city, which isnt the idea you want, I think.

Perhaps it would be a better if the idea is rethought and made to fit into the National Wonder mold, though... because that system is intuitive to anyone thats played vanilla. (more or less)

these are great Wonder ideas. unfortunately the creators are delaying a patch update pending a complete overhaul of this mod.

this has the side effect of not allowing the interest in this mod grow since so many players are not willing to live with the bugs.

dont sweat the small stuff. i'm sure lots of stuff is on pause until the coming weeks. the key thing is to get what CAN be done accomplished. you dont need to have complete knowledge of the workings of a game to develop the story and pseudocode that you plan on applying when the workings ARE known.

I do think players would be willing to live with an incomplete tech tree however.

the tech tree seemed pretty complete to me. it needs adjustments, and the buildings and such need to be evenly distributed.... but overall, there seems to be enough techs available for research to make an enjoyable and complete game experience.

I am not sure what you mean. do you mean a player can queue mulitiple builds of an improvement until it has actually been built?

no... when the tech is researched... it pops up listing two variants of most things.

I agree GS is too powerful as it stands. however it does not seem to be a candidate for time limited duration since a civ could choose (in real life) to permanently adopt GS.

Perhaps this Genetic Screening concept is more deserving of a civic branch then of an individual civic ? Lets say you decide to rethink that whole civic branch... instead of some being temporary and some being permanent... they could all be temporary. ie... citizens could be genetically and psychologically screened and "treated" to conform to the ideals of the civilization... focussing the citizens on production, military, health, happiness... whatever... this would provide the "state of emergency" responses that you were looking for, i believe... but also diminish the strength of GS by spreading it out.

I am open for suggestions on what negatives should accompany it. more war weariness is obvious, but what else? xenophobia, such as no foreign trade routes?

more negatives dont balance it, they only complicate it.

following the train of thought from the previous quote... the bonusses could be simple... say... +50% production.... but then applied with a -1% production per turn. so that eventually, changing civics would be more and more appealing (both to you and the AI).

on another note, would you agree the hammer increasing Civ trait is clearly the best and hence Felicity and Hera are the only real options of which civs to play?

havent paid any attention to the civs or their traits, except for what i possessed, and even that i barely paid any heed to.

 

[woodelf]

I think you two need to get together and finish this mod off. It's beyond limbo status for Belizan and myself.

 

[joelwest]

I think you two need to get together and finish this mod off. It's beyond limbo status for Belizan and myself.

I am happy to continue to contribute my thoughts on suggested improvements for gameplay.

However I have never done any software coding for Civ 4, so some one else needs to be doing that.

Any coders out there wanting to "save" this mod?

 

[woodelf]

I am happy to continue to contribute my thoughts on suggested improvements for gameplay.

However I have never done any software coding for Civ 4, so some one else needs to be doing that.

Any coders out there wanting to "save" this mod?

I think anything needed to be done to save this mod can be done via XML and a lot of time consuming typing. Pedia entries, balancing, and adding more units and such are all done without any prior knowledge of coding. I had never heard of XML before Civ4.

 

[Rashad]

I dont really think I have any interest in 'working' on this mod.

It has an antiseptic theme which is supported by unique art, which is fun to play... but not my inclination when it comes to design.

Any "work" I did would be limited strictly to removal. (ie.. removal and balancing of civic penalties, dustsea, aesthetic errors, and redistribution of buildings across the tree)

I would like to see the dustsea work but in its present state, I think it should simply be removed, or an alternate mapscript made.

If the mod is that "stuck in the mud", maybe the final goal should be rethought, and instead of a 4 or 5 era "complete game" goal... a more succinct 2 era mod could be created.... with the first era pretty much untouched, and the second era introducing the various methods of conquest and warfare (especially those that are noticeably lacking, like nuke-equivelants)

 

[joelwest]

I think anything needed to be done to save this mod can be done via XML and a lot of time consuming typing. Pedia entries, balancing, and adding more units and such are all done without any prior knowledge of coding. I had never heard of XML before Civ4.

based upon your experience the SotM bugs are limited to XML tweaks, not revised "C" programs?

 

[woodelf]

Right now the only bugs that I know about would be XML. Unless you guys are running into major issues I think Belizan's python is sound.

There's a ton of new artwork (some by myself) out there now that could be added as well.

 

[Belizan]

SotM as you see it now was designed by JBG, and is basically at a dead end. Warsong, myself and Woodelf with some contributions from people like GeoModder and others on this forum have been working on a redesign of the mod, but real life has been keeping us from completing it. At the moment, I am on an extended business trip and Warsong is besieged by the sickness of his entire family (wife and 3-year old son), and therein, we have not been working on the new mod design. The current mod-base is not likely to be worked on further (by me anyway) beyond testing new features slated for the new mod, once that mod's design is more firmly established. When we begin full-time work on that mod, you will see posts here and on the main c&c forums to that effect.

 

[woodelf]

What he said.

 

[Hadrean]

This mod looks a bit confuzing when I started it up. You guys might need to make a manuel to help.

 

[woodelf]

That's really funny if you read through the last 10 or so pages to see how disheveled this mod has become.

 

[Belizan]

Heh. We'll see where things go. I still need to get back from Seattle, re-acquire a net connection, get new email, etc., etc.

 

[joelwest]

This mod looks a bit confuzing when I started it up. You guys might need to make a manual to help.

a common mistake is to use a Terran map rather than a Luna map. however a Terran map is still quite playable if you can accept rivers on the moon, a dippled golfball ocean, and lack of key resources such as titanium that are needed to create some of the more advanced units.

also be aware the two types of biodomes are mutually exclusive.

 

[Healz]

I do hope you do do a new version of this mod because I have found it really cool. Healz.

 

[woodelf]

Me too Healz. Once Belizan gets settled I think we'll do some terrific things.

 

[strategyonly]

Heres and article for YA!! It was in PC Gamer magazine. Jul issue. Item 173.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134980&d=1154947781

 

[GeoModder]

They are a bit late.

 

[woodelf]

I saw that and almost fell out of my chair. Way too late.

 

[Hadrean]

The article has some funny stuff. cute space cities or whatever it was.

 

[woodelf]

The SotM could have been a contender, but alas mismanagement and other issues imploded it. I still shed a tear thinking about it.