Vincentz Infinite Projects [VIP MOD]

[Drakarska]

Echo ZN above. I know that 3rd can be worked from RAND and C2C, but didn't know 4th was possible.

 

[vincentz]

I guess it's a bit overkill, since it's 60 workable tiles (might cut corners and reduce it to 56) but it should be working fine, though I haven't done any playtesting.
I used a mod comp by Mulon called Enhanced Cities or something for 3.13, and it was a nightmare to merge, but it worked on first try (compiling the dll after merging what felt like 100 entries from a different version and it didn't come up with any errors was a big relief.)

edit:
Had made many changes and wanted to see if it all worked as intended so started a new game.
Take a difficulty lower than usual, so I can play quickly without consequence.
Feels like AI plays worse than usually.
Suddenly: WAR!
Me: F*** I forgot to build protection units!
Also me: Wololooo... oooo...

Fun thing is by using the new expanded cities, the map generator places some of the fish very far from shore, which is actually nice, both aesthetically, but also so it makes it impossible to predict new continents simple by observing a fish.

The starting city resource/feature placement also looks better IMHO, though had some strange behavior where a single tile of tundra was placed not far from jungle.

Edit: added a check for 0 turn, so regenerate map still works as before the DeadAIUnits2Barb.
Code is now:

Spoiler code :

void CvPlayer::killUnits()
{
    CvUnit* pLoopUnit;
    int iLoop;

    //Vincentz DEAD2BARB START
    CvPlot* pPlot;
    CvUnit* pBarbUnit;
    CvPlot* pLoopPlot;
    bool canFindAPlot;

    for (pLoopUnit = firstUnit(&iLoop); pLoopUnit != NULL; pLoopUnit = nextUnit(&iLoop))
    {
        //KILL UNITS IF REGENERATING MAP
        if (GC.getInitCore().getGameTurn() == 0)
        {
            pLoopUnit->kill(false);
        }
        else
        {
            pPlot = GC.getMapINLINE().plotINLINE(pLoopUnit->getX_INLINE(), pLoopUnit->getY_INLINE());

            //IF UNIT IS IN CITY ASK AI OWNER IF HE WANTS IT (HUMAN GETS UNIT AUTOMATICALLY IF POSSIBLE)
            if (pPlot->isCity() && pLoopUnit->canGift())
            {
                pLoopUnit->gift();
            }
            //IF NOT THEN TRY TO FIND A PLOT TO PLACE UNIT
            else
            {
                if (pPlot->getNumUnits() == 1) //ON THE SAME SPOT
                {
                    pBarbUnit = GET_PLAYER(BARBARIAN_PLAYER).initUnit(pLoopUnit->getUnitType(), pPlot->getX_INLINE(), pPlot->getY_INLINE(), pLoopUnit->AI_getUnitAIType());
                    pBarbUnit->convert(pLoopUnit);
                }
                else //OR AROUND THE PLOT
                {
                    pBarbUnit = GET_PLAYER(BARBARIAN_PLAYER).initUnit(pLoopUnit->getUnitType(), 0, 0, pLoopUnit->AI_getUnitAIType());
                    pBarbUnit->convert(pLoopUnit);
                    canFindAPlot = false;

                    for (int iI = 0; iI < NUM_DIRECTION_TYPES; iI++)
                    {
                        pLoopPlot = plotDirection(pPlot->getX_INLINE(), pPlot->getY_INLINE(), ((DirectionTypes)iI));
                        if (pBarbUnit->canMoveInto(pLoopPlot, false, false, true))
                        {
                            pBarbUnit->setXY(pLoopPlot->getX_INLINE(), pLoopPlot->getY_INLINE(), true, true, false, false);
                            canFindAPlot = true;
                            break;
                        }
                    }
                    //IF CANNOT FIND A SPOT, KILL UNIT
                    if (!canFindAPlot)
                    {
                        pBarbUnit->kill(false);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    //Vincentz DEAD2BARB END
}

update:

A feature that have been on the drawing board for a while was a bit easier to implement than first anticipated. It even went through the compiler error-free. I still consider myself enough noob-coder that I am going to be a little bit proud of such an accomplishment
It should be mentioned that it is... rather untested

The amount of gold used for healing now shows in a message:

 

[Pepo]

All these changes are all very interesting and make me want to try your mod. However last time I tried it I found it to be unbalanced and boring maybe because of the game settings I was using. What are the recommended custom games options? Also which version should I use? Because as far as I can tell the OP is completely outdated

 

[vincentz]

All these changes are all very interesting and make me want to try your mod. However last time I tried it I found it to be unbalanced and boring maybe because of the game settings I was using. What are the recommended custom games options? Also which version should I use? Because as far as I can tell the OP is completely outdated

The mod is, obviously, designed from the perspective of what I find fun and challenging. An example of this is the removal of slavery whipping, but there are many many more examples, and I think especially the extreme low pace in the neolithic era can be a turnoff for many. Personally I find it rewarding (with a sense of accomplishment ) to build the empire out of nothing, instead of a more, but not completely, linear approach that f.ex. newer civs have.
With that said, I am of course always interested to adjust imbalances and possible exploits, so if you find any please let me know in this thread.

Regarding the settings I usually always use the same, but they also tend to be extremely long games:
Giant+ map,"Big and Small", Low sea-level, Neolithic start era, Normal speed, Emperor difficulty, every option off except the last 3 on: healing cost gold, better air inception, multiple production.

Regarding version I think-the 1.5 would be the safe bet, but 1.6 have the latest features regarding 3rd and 4th city rings, but my first impression is that the AI spaces their cities wider apart, and while I personally enjoy the less overlapping, it does make the AI a bit weaker, so perhaps take a difficulty level higher than normal.

And yeah, the OP is horrible outdated. One of my weaknesses is documentation, though I've tried to list new stuff and features in this thread along the way. Its only around 80 pages

 

[Pepo]

Thanks for the answer, I think that last time I played on Epic speed and using the 2017 version, feels strange that normal is consider a lengthy speed. Anyway will give it a try this weekend and see how it goes. How much time does it usually take you to finish a run? From other mods that I have played 2k-3k turns is bearable, if somewhat unbalanced in the player favour

 

[vincentz]

Thanks for the answer, I think that last time I played on Epic speed and using the 2017 version, feels strange that normal is consider a lengthy speed. Anyway will give it a try this weekend and see how it goes. How much time does it usually take you to finish a run? From other mods that I have played 2k-3k turns is bearable, if somewhat unbalanced in the player favour

I think Im just a really slow player., but a game can take weeks for me. Though having 2 kids certainly reduces effective playtime Also testing, debugging, modding and planning/considering new changes takes some time.
But take f.ex. my last game. It ended in a stalemate well into modern era. The biggest opponents had grown so big and powerful, that a war was more or less impossible to win.
I could have taken out some of the smaller AIs, but with the penalty system, declaring war on popular civs, will give a heavy negative impact on relations with other civs, which eventually would have resulted in mass declaring against myself.

edit: Changed it so barbs give GG points

 

[Pepo]

Okay so from what I have played I quite like what you have done Unfortunetly I'am experiencing a CTD , I'll attach the save so you can have a look
Also something that bothers me is that there isn't music on the Neolithic! Honestly Civ IV without music feels bland. Adding some tracks will help make the early game, specially on slower speeds, more enjoyable.
Finally you need to move chopping to a much earlier date. It doesn't really make sense that if I want to remove a forest I need to build a workshop or a mine...

 

[vincentz]

Okay so from what I have played I quite like what you have done Unfortunetly I'am experiencing a CTD , I'll attach the save so you can have a look
Also something that bothers me is that there isn't music on the Neolithic! Honestly Civ IV without music feels bland. Adding some tracks will help make the early game, specially on slower speeds, more enjoyable.
Finally you need to move chopping to a much earlier date. It doesn't really make sense that if I want to remove a forest I need to build a workshop or a mine...

CTD? Yes please let me have the savegame. I have experienced CTD myself but that was in modern era while swapping in and out of windows and the game on a giant map, so I took it as some sort of CIV memory leak.
I'll see if I can find some primeval music to add Personally I never listen to game music, so I never thought about it.

 

[Pepo]

Aparently I posted before the save was uploaded, and it was an autosave so it has been lost , my mistake Anyways i'm going to give it another try this afternoon, I'll save this time in a real save if i find a ctd. Also what's up with the SW units? I took a look at the civpedia and found it a bit strange...

 

[<Nexus>]

I'll see if I can find some primeval music to add Personally I never listen to game music, so I never thought about it.

Take a look at my MoreMusic modmod for AND2. Maybe you find something for your liking

 

[vincentz]

Will do. I have however an issue when adding more songs to the Neolithic era soundtrack list. It only plays the first one on repeat. I dont think its a general problem for all eras though

 

[vincentz]

...to remove a forest I need to build a workshop or a mine...

Changed BUILD_REMOVE_FOREST from TECH_MACHINERY to TECH_BRONZE_WORKING.
Cant remember why i changed it in the first place.

 

[Pepo]

I'am currently playing another game, currently around turn 500 and I haven't had any CTD. I'm going to finish the game before giving feedback, but the tech gathering projects (enciclopedia civilization for example) do make research go much faster. Also in my game I am having a lot of trouble keeping up to research even though I'm the top score. I really like how close the game is, with three or four powers on the lead but the others close behind

 

[vincentz]

Nice to hear

Did a bunch on the plotlist info bar on the left side. Some I wanted to do since I changed the movement system, so it was a long time coming, but not very long time making...
Now it:

• Shows movement points
• Show road movement points in () when have road
• Changed "Units" to symbol of a unit/man
• Changed "Defense Bonus" to symbol of fort
• Changed "Fresh water" text to blue symbol, which comes after food/prod/commerce
• Removed the 100% if tile is 100% owned
• Changed icon order of Terrain/Hill/Feature/Road/Improvement to that order

I also changed the entire movement system when it comes to features.
Before the feature (forest/jungle/oasis etc) decided the movement cost of a tile no matter the terrain, so a forest on grass cost the same as a forest in a swamp.
Now it adds on top instead.

EDIT:
Also considering making roads cost either *1.5 or half hill cost (2) when going over hills,

Added NE SE SW NW Diagonal extra cost (c2 = a2+b2) with a bit of rounding it will be *1.5

EDIT:
Crossing a river now cost extra movementpoints
if its before bridge building OR there isnt a road on each side and doesnt have bridgebuilding
Extra cost is atm 3.
amphibious ignores the extra cost

 

[vincentz]

Uploaded 1.61b
looks like AI took quite a hit from both the extra ring as well as new movement rules, so maybe one or two difficulty levels above normal

https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/vincentz-infinite-projects-vip-mod.25053/

 

[Pepo]

Before entering on the actual feedback, I really love your movement system Althougth it sometimes feels a bit counterintuitive, specially at the start, I really like the flow it gives to the game. I also really like that corporations are nerfed in the game, as they were quite broken in vanilla. Then there are many features like great coronels that ,while I like the idea, I feel they could be better balanced ( in this case that you can farm the Ai). Another example is limited combat rounds, that while it works really well on situations were the forces are even, it makes offensive warfare either much less costly if bringing enough troops as you don't loss as many troops or almost impossible as you don't manage to break the defenders and you end up being completely destroyed ( more of an issue of the Ai when it decides to use suicide charges). Overall I liked the changes on combat ( except xUPT, specially when your friend airforce occupies your cities ) with the change on healing being also a great feature, but i got the feeling that it hurt the AI more than it helped. One thing i would change is that air units should use their own xUPT, so that they don't compete with the ground troops for the same space. Also some changes on the AI so that it focuses less on cavalry and militia suicidal charges would make the game more challenging. Overall ground combat felt really nice , and I believe that with some tweaks and better AI it could be better

Before moving to the two big topics , i just want to write about some minor issues. Espionage missions need to be looked at, as some of then were unavatible ( city visibility and research ) and others need to scale better with the mod ( poison water). Also I don't know why you change the way espionage work's, as i feel vanilla does it better. Moving on promotions could be more simple and streamlined as anyways city raider/city garrison are a must pick for 90% of your army, and having obligatory picks for navy and airforce seems unneeded . In addition, fanatic doesn't seem to work well with the limited combat round. Finally some balance changes needs to be done as some of then give much better bonuses than the others ( city garrison for example grow much better than city raider).

Moving with the issues i have with your mod the first one is increasing cost for units in play in a linear fasion. RI do this as well, but i think that is such a bad mechanic that it hurts my heart every time I see it . There are other ways to control unit spawns. For example you could do something similar as to what civ4 reinmagined does with resources and cities. Maybe even tie units with population to represent conscription, and make unit cost grow exponentially after a limit is reached as you run out of people . What i find illogical is that for having an specific type of unit I need to pay more for it, while it runs contrary to any real life experience. If you keep increasing cost, make it so that it affects whole categories so that upgrade cost are keep reasonable. If you want to keep things as they are, at least have the increase cost for main units (rifleman, musketman) be lower so that it doesn't end up punishing civs without access to resouces (which is punishing enough)

Now as for the big issue: the tech tree needs an overhaul. While in the early ages it is okayish, as you move on there are way to many filler techs that only adds effects or give a GP to the first to research it (which means that the tech becomes useless for others players). There also seem to be a lot of strange placements, like gunpowder militia being on marxism ( a tech that the ai doesn't research , so it end up with medieval militias against machine guns) or techs giving bonuses to improvements that haven't been researched yet. Transhuman era is the worst offender, with a lot of empty techs, and maybe removing it althogether for the time being may not be a bad idea to keep games shorter. I would rework the entire tree, and here I could be of help if you want, as it is one of the few things I know how to mod

Finally, general balance of the mod could take a look. Civics for example have a few clearly optimal choices (technocracy , state property, serfdom,religious fundamentalism) that make the section less interesting. You are also more or less interested into building as many buildings as possible in each cities, and while specialization is still a thing,I felt much less invested into making decions about building orders. Also the lack of buildings compare to the length of the game makes spamming military units or building wealth/science the only optios ( also they shouldn't be traded at a 100% ratio). Specially for civics, i would try to make it an interesting choice between three or four and try to get away from no brainers. Here is a more concrete suggestion for each section
Goverment:
- Despotism moved to masonry, gives the ability to build warlord units, low upkeep. It currently sits in an strange position and it is perfectly possible to get monarchy before it. The main benefit of it should be that you can move out of tribalism, the warfare bonuses are unnecessary
- Monarchy, medium upkeep, gives one per unit in city,-25% city maintenance . Removed the noble bonuses as they fit nobility better, and replaced the comerce bonuses for reduced maintainance, as most big empires were monarchies. Go to civic for wide empires
- Republic, high upkeep, +100% number of cities maintenance, + 50% from war, +25% and in each city, + 50 % trade route yield, +2 in the capital. Make republic in return the civic for smaller empires as it fits tematically the role of the greek polis. As you grow bigger, or go on conquering sprees, you should consider moving to Monarchy to get a better economy
- Democracy low upkeep, can spend gold to hurry, +3 in the 5 biggest cities,+1& for villages + 2 & for town, +50% from war. Currently democracy is a very similar version of republic, one that probably isn't worth taking due to unhappiness. The changes improve the yields of towns ( the most powerfull improvement ) while also being the only civic with the ability to rush gold
-Technocracy: High upkeep, +3per scientist; Unlimited Scientist, Engineers in capital; +2 in each city ,-25% in all cities. Technocracy unlimited specialist while boosting their stats as well is broken, as it allows to skyrocket production and science across all your empire while swiming in GP. The changes proposed will make it a still powerfull civic, specially if running a science/ production capital , while cutting the spamming enginners everywhere part. Also a sub par choice if going cultural victory, which i think make sense on a civ run by "cold" technicians
-Fascism MEdiumUpkeep -50%from war, +2 experience for new units,+1 from each specialist ,+25 % in each city, -10% to & in each city,-2 from artist, Doesn't get cities culturally flipped. A fairly long list of changes to fascism to make it the go to civ for warmongers and 1984 fans. The changes should be fairly obvious, reducing your ability to win in ways that aren't conquest. Also getting your cities inmmune to cultural flips is something that makes sense imo

Is a it late so i'm going to stop here.I can keep this civics suggestions going tomorrow if you fell they are usefull, and i don't expect that they are implemented as they are. I also have try to keep things as simple as possible, but i do believe that maluses are necessary if you want to introduce more powerfull abilities

 

[vincentz]

Wow. Lots of good feedback, will definitely look it thoroughly through Thanks

 

[Pepo]

As promised , here are my thougths for other civics:
Legal:
-Nobility, low upkeep, +2 &2 from noble, +1 from castle, palace. Overall I would say that legal category is the one that require less changes as it mostly keep the balance of vanilla. For nobility it basically moves the bonuses from hereditary to this civic, will removing greater GPP and culture as I don't believe that they are needed. Also removed the unlimited noble slots as i believe it doesn't do that much,and noble spam isn't that optimal anyways. Low upkeep will also make it more competitive compare to patriarchy
-Vassalage: Medium Upkeep, free support for X units, +2 experience for new units, -25% unit production, can build warlord keep units. Bring it back to a more similar vanilla iteration, as currently it is too ruinous at high upkeep and more gold cost per unit. The lower unit production would make for an interesting dilema between lower maintanance costs or higher unit production
-Bureaucracy: High Upkeep, Capital gets +5% & per city settle up to 100%, +25% city maintanance cost, +50% colony cost, +2 from City hall. Currently it is a civic that doesn't work as intended as it cost more than what it saves. My idea is a twist of the original vanilla idea, mean to have a super capital at the cost of higher maintanance. The courthouse gold bonus is something that somewhat fits tematically
-Free speech: change the +2 from town to +25% . Changed the bonus as democracy already boost towns. The rest still being the same
As for nationalism, it is fine as it is, as you mainly pick this civic if you want to use drafting
Labour:
-Slavery: Medium upkeep, +1 from quarry,+1 from farm,+2 from plantation, can capture enemy units into slaves,+1 in each city. Make the civic much more focused on improvements, giving better economic yields from farms. Slaves would be a special worker type that can be sacrifice to build a mine,quarry, plantation or farm. Overall it would probably make it more interesting
-Caste system:medium upkeep, +20% in cities,+25% from population, +1 from citizen. Boosted the food bonus but make it so more population is unhappy to make it a more difficult trade off. If you can't keep your population ahppy, it can end up being a double edge sword. Also boosted the citizen specialist to make it more useful under this civic
-Serfdom low upkeep, workers build improvements 50% faster, +1 from farms. Changed the extra food for extra hammers, to make it a less obvious choice. Considering all the % bonuses, the extra food per farm was a huge deal.While hammers are still very powerfull, they aren't as important and don't take away the need to build workshops and mines
-Emancipation low upkeep +1 in each city, +5% & in each city, faster growth for improvements, require to get the statue of liberty,extra relations with other free countries. While i would say that it still come behind other civics on the category, the changes proposed would even a little bit the field. The statue of liberty is a very good wonder, so getting it migth make changing for a while an important decision. Extra industry growth can also lead to some adavantages, and better diplomatic relations could make things interesting
-Socialism, medium upkeep, +30% in each city,-15% in each city,corporations have no effect, +1 & -1 from villages, town. Changed a bit how the civic works, reducing the insanely good hammer bonus while also making the malus less painful. Corporations having no effect makes more sense here than in state property. Also give extra food on villages for the cost of commerce, as i believe a simple food bonus would be too powerful
-Corporativism, medium upkeep -50% maintanance cost for corporations ,50% cost to spread corporations, +25% ,+50% trade route yield from corporations headquarters. Boosted the civic to suit a very specific type of gameplay: that of gaining money from corporations. Corps aren't that powerfull currently( which is fine), so a lower maintanance cost isn't enough to justify picking it. However lower spread cost and boosted HQ would make it a better civic and if you can manage to spam HQ, a very powerfull one

I will try to finish tomorrow with the last two categories, see if i can start at a decent hour

 

[Pepo]

To end with the last two categories:
Economy:
Overall the civics are mostly balanced, but after futher testing merchantilism can be absolutly broken as the game progress
-Guilds: medium upkeep, foreign corporations have no effect, can build guildhall units, allows creating guilds. I do not think that free specialist should something that guilds (an intitution that try to avoid mostly that). Instead, why not tie the guilds to exactly this mechanic? If you want to use then, I fell that you should be running this civic specifically
- Mercantilism medium upkeep, +2 from merchant,+3 from each source of diamonds,gold,silver, gems. This civic doesn't currently work in the sense that it is stricly inferior to free market when it comes to trade on most situations, but as the game progress and you get more specialist it get better and better. Then you combine it with technocracy and that +1 per specialist makes you swing in money. my proposed changes still make it a good of money, specially if you can collect precious resources
-free market ,low upkeep, +1 extra trade route, -25% corporation cost. Nothing to big here, just take away the spend gold bonus but made it a low upkeep civic
-State property High upkeep, +15% in each city , +1 from medium,dense, heavy industry, watermill, +2 to engineer, foreign corps have no effect. Remove the lower maintanance cost and increased the upkeep , but in return you get powerfull production civic. State property should mainly boost production, being inferior to other economic civics when it comes to getting money. Allowed to have national corporations as socialism is the one banning then ( and make sense as some regimes used public corporations for their needs)
- Enviromentalism medium upkeep, +25% Corporation cost, +4 forest preserve, +1 to windmill, no from population. The main problem with this civic is how many sources of health you get on the modern era make it unnecesary, otherwise the no would be really powerfull. In fac a harder unhealthiness preassure at late game will make this civic a much more interesting choice. Gave it other bonuses so that forest preserve are actually worth it compare to villages, make the boost to windmill more tranversal .
-Imperial cult: Medium upkeep, no state , +1 from monument, , +50% from foreign culture, +2 from in each city, +50% wonder production,one free citizen in capital for every city. This one get a heavy rework to make it more interesting. While difficult to maintain once religions start spreading, the extra wonder production can be an interesting trade off. Free citiziens in capital isn't that OP as they also add unhealthiness, making it mostly translate to one extra hammer per city
-Organized religion: High upkeep, unlimited Priest, +2,+1 to priest, Build buildings 25% faster, +1 from state ,+1 if holding holy city, can build missionaries without monastery,+25% from religious wonder. Little bit changed from what it was already in place, but make priest stronger as even with +2 they are not that good as specialist. Building missionaries without monasteries isn't that big of a deal, so gave it a boost to religious wonder.
- Pacifism Low upkeep, +100% from war, +100% , +2 from priest , -50% unit production. Leave it mostly as it is but changed the higher support cost for a lower production , and removed the extra happiness from other religions as it makes more sense on secularism
-Theocracy Medium upkeep, -25% from war , build military units 50% faster, can build warlord keep units, no foreign religion spread, +1 from each non state, +2 if religion holy city isn't on believers hands , -25% in all cities,+2 from priest. Theocracy currently is the must pick as it have no negatives will also making warmongering much easier ( and even if staying at peace, +25% unit production is helpfull). The proposed changes will make it a better war civic but make it far worse for peace time. The extra unhappiness is also dangerous, and will make adopting the civic on multi religion empires more hurtfull
-Secularism low upkeep, no state , +1 from each city for each , can build religious buildings without state religion, +1 from temple. Not a very shiny civic, but the ability to build religious buildings can be very powerfull for a cultural victory as you spam catedrals. the other bonuses are fairly obvious
-Atheism Medium upkeep, +1 in each city, +1 from each in city, no spread, deactivates religious buildings, -1 ,, from priest, +1 from university, laboratory, +25% in each city, one free scientist in each city. Currently it is a civic that it almost no worth taking, as +10% isn't that of a big deal while you make your population unhappy. So I think it should give better science bonuses while making it much more hurtfull on the wellfare site. Not having hapiness is also a big deal. If combined with the technocracy civic that i propose earlier, it can be very powerfull if you manage to keep your cities happy

Well this is all rigth now. I also notice one thing: difficulty modify unit cost for both the ai and the player thougth all difficulty levels, reaching only 100% for the player in deity. In fact until inmortal your units are cheaper than the AI. AMybe changing it to 100% to both the ai and the player to most the game could reduce unit spam

 

[Thandor]

well, its been awhile since updating VIP and meanwhile I had a quick go at civ6. That didnt go too well. So I tried a game of vanilla bts. That wasnt the succes i remember either, so here I am back at VIP

Civ6 did have some good stuff, and one of the things I kinda liked was the "Limited attack", though the lack of RND in civ6 made it kinda boring.
So with 3 small lines I made a limit of 10 combatrounds as max:

    int iMaxCombatRounds = 0; //Vincentz MaxCombatRounds
        iMaxCombatRounds++;
        if (iMaxCombatRounds > 10) break;

Hi! I just registered because I aslo like that feature from Civ VI and I would like to add this to my games..

Could you please tell me which files should I mod to do it? Any extra info would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot!!