Vokarya's Workshop: Units

[Vokarya]

Here's an art definition to fill a gap in the art styles. This is an African Adventurer. There is a separate Great Merchant for the African art style, which is just a reskin of the normal Great Merchant. The Adventurer is a Great Merchant on a horse, so I just applied the reskin of the African Merchant to the Adventurer. I think it comes out pretty well.

 

[Noyyau]

Can't wait the mega-update when all this will be active in the game.

 

[<Nexus>]

Can't wait the mega-update when all this will be active in the game.

+1


BTW:
Will there be a full-installer release too? Would be nice to have one with so many changes.
...and since dbkblk is gone (and haven't fixed the off-line patcher) I cannot update the game from the last full release (1003).

 

[45°38'N-13°47'E]

+1


BTW:
Will there be a full-installer release too? Would be nice to have one with so many changes.
...and since dbkblk is gone (and haven't fixed the off-line patcher) I cannot update the game from the last full release (1003).

I'm not able to fix the offline patcher but there will be a full installer.

 

[<Nexus>]

I'm not able to fix the offline patcher but there will be a full installer.

Oh, I didn't expect you to do it.
Dbkblk promised he will do it when he has time...
In the meantime I am quite okay with Cities Skylines

 

[Vokarya]

I don't know if this bothered anyone else, but I noticed that a lot of the nukes that were based on the ICBM (using the ICBM NIF and KFM files) were "floating" in midair. This is because most of them are DOMAIN_AIR, while the ICBM itself is DOMAIN_IMMOBILE, and apparently IMMOBILE is treated as a land unit. Air units can be put on the ground by setting <bActAsLand> to 1 in their art definitions. So I am going to do this for several art animations so it looks better. It doesn't work for units based off the Guided Missile. That unit has a horizontal position that looks strange on the ground, and that applies to units based off it as well.

 

[45°38'N-13°47'E]

I don't know if this bothered anyone else, but I noticed that a lot of the nukes that were based on the ICBM (using the ICBM NIF and KFM files) were "floating" in midair. This is because most of them are DOMAIN_AIR, while the ICBM itself is DOMAIN_IMMOBILE, and apparently IMMOBILE is treated as a land unit. Air units can be put on the ground by setting <bActAsLand> to 1 in their art definitions. So I am going to do this for several art animations so it looks better. It doesn't work for units based off the Guided Missile. That unit has a horizontal position that looks strange on the ground, and that applies to units based off it as well.

Never noticed but sounds good to me. Just make sure that changing that boolean doesn't interfere with animation when the missile is actually used.

 

[Vokarya]

Never noticed but sounds good to me. Just make sure that changing that boolean doesn't interfere with animation when the missile is actually used.

I just tested all the animations. They work fine. Most of these units use the ICBM kfm files, so I think they were meant to be used from the ground anyway.

 

[45°38'N-13°47'E]

I just tested all the animations. They work fine. Most of these units use the ICBM kfm files, so I think they were meant to be used from the ground anyway.

Since we're talking about nukes, do you know perhaps what's causing our a-bomb to behave like an airplane dropping a bomb? I mean, it might be something in the dll but I couldn't find anything, but I've tried in the past to copy our nuclear bomber in another mod but the result was the bomber dropping down from the sky like an ICBM instead of flying and dropping the bomb. That was weird and I couldn't find a solution.

 

[Vokarya]

Since we're talking about nukes, do you know perhaps what's causing our a-bomb to behave like an airplane dropping a bomb? I mean, it might be something in the dll but I couldn't find anything, but I've tried in the past to copy our nuclear bomber in another mod but the result was the bomber dropping down from the sky like an ICBM instead of flying and dropping the bomb. That was weird and I couldn't find a solution.

What files did you edit, and what KFM were you using? It looks to me like you need all the files from the A-Bomb folder and use its KFM, because the KFM for the A-Bomb is edited to specifically create the nuke animations, which also requires editing CIV4EffectInfos.xml.

Sometimes when you have a unit that is a reskin of a regular BTS unit, you can use the original's KFM, but this is not one of those times.

 

[dbkblk]

Will there be a full-installer release too? Would be nice to have one with so many changes.

I've just seen your message. I can generate one when it's done! No problem!

 

[45°38'N-13°47'E]

What files did you edit, and what KFM were you using? It looks to me like you need all the files from the A-Bomb folder and use its KFM, because the KFM for the A-Bomb is edited to specifically create the nuke animations, which also requires editing CIV4EffectInfos.xml.

Sometimes when you have a unit that is a reskin of a regular BTS unit, you can use the original's KFM, but this is not one of those times.

To tell the truth I don't remember and I can't check now. I think I've only copied the whole nuke bomber folder (or a-bomb, I don't remember the name) and changed unit and art XML files accordingly, using the same definitions we use in AND. I don't remember if I've changed anything in Effects, I'll have a look when I can. Thanks for the advice.

 

[45°38'N-13°47'E]

I've just seen your message. I can generate one when it's done! No problem!

I also suggest we wait until I fix Free Trade Agreement since this it's currently affected by a very annoying bug.

 

[dbkblk]

Ok. No problem. I'll wait for the green light!

 

[Vokarya]

Here's a minor cleanup. Two of the Missile promotions (Laser Guidance and Global Positioning System) have bonuses granted by the <DomainMods> tag. These grant a % combat bonus against any unit of the appropriate domain.

These two promotions grant the same bonus against DOMAIN_AIR, DOMAIN_LAND, and DOMAIN_SEA. These covers every single unit in the game except ICBM, which is DOMAIN_IMMOBILE and I don't think ever uses its Strength for any reason. The ICBM just nukes tiles.

So the cleanup is to simply replace these bonuses with a flat +% bonus like Combat I. It saves a little bit of space and makes it more intuitive. You don't have to wonder what might be missing.

 

[Vokarya]

And another cleanup. We currently have separate art definitions for GALLEON_ASIAN and GALLEON_CHINA, but both are using the exact same NIF file. I ran the file through Winmerge and it turned out to be identical. So I'm going to delete the Chinese definition and have China and Japan use the Asian definition instead. There is a small difference in the skin between the China/Japan (upper) and the Asian (lower), but I think the Asian is better because it's brighter.

View attachment 408050

It won't mean any difference in gameplay, but it will mean one less art definition and that makes for a tiny bit more stability. There is a limit to what the Civ4 engine will let us do, and I'd rather back off from that without compromising too much. I'd like to have a mod that is as open to modmods as possible, and that means looking for opportunities to cut out things that don't seem like they are worth the inclusion.

 

[Vokarya]

A couple more art things.

First, we have three art styles for the various Middle Eastern civilizations. UNIT_ARTSTYLE_MIDDLE_EAST is currently used for Egypt, Persia, Ottomans, Sumer, and Hittites. UNIT_ARTSTYLE_BABYLON is currently used for Assyria and Babylon. UNIT_ARTSTYLE_ARABIA is used for Arabia only. I'm going to change Hittites and Sumer over to the BABYLON style. This will unify the early Middle Eastern civilizations together.

Second, we have Yamato as a <CivilizationName> (special name for this unit in a particular civilization, but no other bonuses) and alternate art definition for the Japanese UNIT_BATTLESHIP. The problem is that this is not the right battleship. UNIT_BATTLESHIP is actually what is known in-game as the Fast Battleship - the Modern Era ship. The proper ship is the UNIT_WW2_BATTLESHIP. So I would like to switch this as well.

 

[Vokarya]

Something else I noticed and I don't know if anyone else has.

Destroyer needs the ability to defend first against Submarine and Attack Submarine. Otherwise, there is no way to protect Transports against Subs until the Missile Destroyer and Missile Cruiser show up, which do have this ability. I don't mind this ability being unique to Destroyer units; it gives them a use and means you can't just build the most powerful ships.

 

[Rezca]

I don't mind this ability being unique to Destroyer units; it gives them a use and means you can't just build the most powerful ships.

I agree with is - it'd give reason to build the faster but weaker ships for something other than scouting and/or pillaging

 

[nionios]

Something else I noticed and I don't know if anyone else has.

Destroyer needs the ability to defend first against Submarine and Attack Submarine. Otherwise, there is no way to protect Transports against Subs until the Missile Destroyer and Missile Cruiser show up, which do have this ability. I don't mind this ability being unique to Destroyer units; it gives them a use and means you can't just build the most powerful ships.

I agree although destroyers still have the ability to detect subs which is unique for surface units until the Missile Destroyer and Missile Cruiser show up.