Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Interview with Kael about his new Civ5 Mod

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  

  • Interview with Kael about his new Civ5 Mod

    Click image for larger version

Name:	legions.jpg
Views:	3
Size:	36.9 KB
ID:	9313536

    Kael, the modder behind Fall From Heaven, arguably the most famous Civ Mod ever created, has developed a modular mod for Civ5 - modular meaning it can run next to any other mod.

    It´s called "Legions - A Mod for Stacked Unit Combat in Civilization5" and is available on the ingame Mod Hub.

    I spoke to Kael about Legions and Civ5.


    Click image for larger version

Name:	ffh1.jpg
Views:	3
Size:	68.5 KB
ID:	9313537 Click image for larger version

Name:	ffh2.jpg
Views:	3
Size:	77.0 KB
ID:	9313538
    Screenshots from "Fall from Heaven II"
    Kael´s description of Legions:

    This mod makes the following changes to Civilization V:
    # Removes the 1UPT (one unit per tile) limit.
    # Legions mod is completely modular and can be run concurrently with other mods.
    # Attack I promotion- +15% when attacking.
    # Attack II promotion- +15% when attacking.
    # Attack III promotion- +15% when attacking.
    # City Defense promotion- +25% when defending a city.
    # Defense I promotion- +15% when defending.
    # Defense II promotion- +15% when defending.
    # Defense III promotion- +15% when defending.
    # Shock promotions now give a standard +10% to combat instead of +20% on open terrain.
    # Unit maintenance is reduced by 25%.
    # Units in cities no longer get additional hit points, to adjust for the ability to stack defenders in cities.
    This mod doesn't add any new UI to help manage the ability to stack units. So unit's still need to be moved individually, and there is no easy way to look at the statistics of stacked units.
    I asked Kael a couple of questions about Legions and Civ5.
    1. Which mechanics compared to the base game are different and in what way?
    Kael: Legions removes the 1UPT (One Unit Per Tile) limitation from Civilization V. Its a good mod for warmongers. To support the new mechanic cities no longer add additional life to units defending them (since multiple units can defend cities), and unit maintenance is reduced by 25%. There are also seven new promotions to select with your units when they level up.

    Legions is completely modular, meaning that it can be run concurrently with any other mod. That was an important feature for this mod, so that players can run it toegher with other mods, treating it more as a game option than a full mod.
    2. What is the goal of the "Legions" mod? What difference in gameplay are the changes supposed to make?
    Kael: It's really just for fun. I love the 1UPT mechanic and I think Firaxis was brilliant to design it. But mods are about trying out new ways to play the game. And players have different preferences. Personally I play some games with Legions, and some without.

    From a gameplay perspective Legions makes warfare easier. Your mass of troops can march together, ranged units can be directly protected. It doesn't reduce the production cost of units so units are as rare as they were before (this won't return to Civ4 style stacks), but does make moving units easier since they don't need to jostle around each other anymore.
    3. The "Legions" promotion system is orientated around bonuses for attacking / defending rather then terrain. You for example changed Shock back to Civ4´s version, providing a general +10% in combat instead of +20% in open terrain. What do you think in general about the Civ5 promotion system providing in the early parts of the game bonuses based on terrain rather than absolute combat bonuses?
    Kael: I don't like that there can be no difference between a 1st and 4th level unit, if the terrain they are on doesn't match with their promotions. I wanted players to have more variety of promotions to pick from, especially at low levels (where they can only select rough bonus, open bonus or instant heal).

    Giving them a lower bonus in all combat (the +10% option) is a cool strategic decision compared to +15% attacking, +15% defending, +20% in rough, +25% attacking cities or +25% defending cities. I like that players can specialize their units, but for specialization to be a real strategic option, you have to have a general option available too. Otherwise you are selecting to specialize your unit, only which specialization.

    And I cut the open bonus (making it into the general bonus) because being better at combat in a featureless plain doesn't make much sense to me. I like the bonus in rough terrain, but I balanced it against a smaller bonus in all situations. I thought it was a more interesting strategic choice.
    4. "Legions" reduces unit maintenance by 25%. Do you generally think unit maintenance is too demanding in Civ5 or do you just want "Legions" games to see more units?
    Kael: Yeah, I think in general unit maintenance is too high in Civ5. I wouldn't mind that change just in the general game, but it became more important in a mod that was supposed to appeal to warmongers, so it was a good place to play test the change.
    5. "Legions" allows for stacking units the way it used to be in prior civ versions. What do you think about 1-unit-per-tile in Civ5? Is combat more interesting to you? Do you find it annoying moving a bigger army or do you enjoy grouping it and finding the optimal formation based on land composition?
    Kael: I love the 1UPT mechanic in Civ5, I think it's brilliant. This mod wasn't intended to imply that I think Firaxis made a mistake, they absolutely didn't. It's just a different way to play.
    6. Following situation: You hit an opposing unit with one of your units. Both get scratched heavily. Behind your own unit you have another unit with enough movement points to hit and kill the opposing unit, but you cannot hit it because you would have to do that from the tile your other unit is standing on. Also you cannot "cover" your damaged unit. Both prevented by the 1upt system.

    Do you mind your own units limiting each others movement possibilities or do you think it adds strategic depth to the game requiring more planning of unit placement?
    Kael: I think both types of decisions are viable. In 1UPT terrain, especially bottlenecks, have more strategic importance. In Legions, your army matter more, you can punch through strong defenders, which isn't always possible in IUPT.
    7. Who´s in the front line of your army when attacking a city in Civ5? Melee, Mounted or Ranged Units?
    I'm the worst guy to ask about base Civ5. I'm nearly always playing mods, either Legions, Queen of the Iceni or some larger mods that I haven't released yet.
    8. Military Units and 1upt aside, what do you think about being able to stack civilian units like Worker, Great People or Settler, which currently are also bound by the rules of 1upt?
    I love that idea. Pazyryk was the first person who I heard of that suggested it and I think its a great idea. Although I would never suggest that Legions be checked into the core game, I do think that unlimited non-military units per tile should be the default.

      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • PolyCast Episode 216: "What's Next"
      by DanQ
      Bring it on. The two-hundred-and-sixteenth episode of PolyCast, "What's Next", features regular co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, "Makahlua", Philip "TheMeInTeam" Bellew and "MadDjinn" are joined by returning guest co-host "DarkestOnion". It carries a runtime of 59m59s.

      Recording live before a listening audience every other Saturday, PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; listeners are encouraged to follow the show on Twitter, and check out the YouTube channel for caption capability. Sibling show RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution, ModCast on Civ modding, SCivCast on Civ social gaming and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.
      December 13, 2014, 12:42
    • Steam Sale: Civ Titles up to 75% off!
      by Aeson


      If there's any games you're missing in your collection ... It's time to buy!...
      August 20, 2014, 19:33
    • Do you Ever Move Your First Settler?
      by Aeson
      An interesting article at The Escapist about Civilization and some of the goings-on behind the scenes at Firaxis:

      http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...s-Civ-V-Studio



      I have a lot of problems with the methods Firaxis tested this with. Turning off barbs, limiting AI expansion ... those are two critical factors for how big an impact waiting to found your first city will be.

      I myself like to move the other unit first, see if there's a good spot to move the Settler to in a couple of turns or less. A river hill is is hard to pass up moving to. The extra production from the hill will pay off the first move very quickly.

      How about you? In what circumstances do you feel moving the Settler is a good idea?...
      March 1, 2014, 00:41
    • Possible new expansion for Civ5: One World
      by Robert
      joystiq reports that Civilization V may get another expansion, based on a listing in the Steam Apps Database. Neither Firaxis nor 2K Games commented on this finding.

      ...
      January 16, 2013, 01:03
    • Civilization 5 Patch 1.0.2.13 has been released
      by Orange46
      Civilization 5 Patch 1.0.2.13 has been released. That is the big patch announced for this fall. It contains many fixes and tweaks and also support for Windows 8 touch screen support. Here is the list with full patch notes highlighted are the things that were not in the announcement earlier this year:

      BUG FIXES

      General

      • Mod Browser - The "Get Mods" button is now hidden if the user has disabled the steam overlay.

      Civilizations and Traits

      • Ottoman naval upkeep is now fixed. Save games that were started before the fix will not be corrected.
      • German UA and Oligarchy social policy now work together correctly.

      City States

      • Mercantile CS now only get a unique luxury for their first city (and not the cities they conquer). Unique luxury is removed upon capture (players can no longer get it by taking over a CS). Unique luxury is given back upon liberation.
      • Prevent double counting of resources when an improvement is gifted to a minor civ, then the minor civ techs up to activate the improvement.
      ...
      November 6, 2012, 18:47
    • Civilization 5 patch officially announced for this fall
      by Martin Gühmann
      A new Civilization 5 patch has been announced by 2K Greg on 2K Games Forums. Here are the Civ5 patch notes and what 2K Greg says about: Here's a fun surprise for you guys to read over the weekend: Patch notes for the upcoming "Fall Patch!" There's no ETA for this patch at the moment other than "fall" There are some popular requests in here that I bet will make some of you very happy. And so without further ado: Modding Addendum The DLL source code will be released with the fall patch, allowing modders to compile modified DLLs for their Civilization V mods. BUG FIXES General Mod Browser - The "Get Mods" button is now hidden if the user has disabled the steam overlay. ...
      September 29, 2012, 20:20
    Working...
    X