Planetfall

[Maniac]

Requires Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword patch 3.19

DOWNLOAD HERE - both the main file and the latest patch
Mirror for the main file

Optional: the SMAC sound files
See the first question in the FAQ on where to place them. THANKS to WarKirby for providing them.

***

Earth, 2060. A small group of colonists leaves the ravages of Earth for a distant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri's primary star. Their ship, the United Nations Starship Unity, carries them on their journey to a new world and a new hope for humankind. Along the way a reactor malfunction damages the Unity, precipitating a crisis among the ship's seven most powerful leaders. As they enter the Alpha Centauri system, the crew splits into seven distinct factions, divided not by nationality, but by ideology, and their vision for the new world. After the ship breaks apart, the seven leaders guide their chosen crew down to the surface of Planet, seeking their destiny beneath an alien sky.

Planetfall is a mod for Sid Meier's Civilization 4 that uses the storyline and characters from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, combined with gameplay that takes the best from SMAC, Civilization, and the modding community.

Planetfall will not be a clone of SMAC using the Civ4 engine, but rather will incorporate the Factions, general storyline and Characters combined with the newest gameplay modifications to allow for more strategic gameplay.

***

Design & Programming: Maniac
Graphics Lead: Lord Tirian
And many other contributors. See Readme.

Besides in this thread, you can also discuss Planetfall in this forum.



***

Q: Help! I can't see any fungus on land!

A: Your computer probably has an older graphics card. Fortunately there's a solution to make all features visible. It won't look as pretty, but at least you'll be able to see where there's fungus.

The solution is like this. In Planetfall\Assets\XML\Art there's a file called CIV4ArtDefines_FeatureLoGfx.xml - rename it to CIV4ArtDefines_Feature.xml, overwriting the file currently named like that, and problem solved.


Q: Is it possible to hear the original SMAC voice quotes in Planetfall.

A: Yes it is, or at least some of the tech quotes are used. This will be expanded further into the future.

To enable the tech quotes, you should copy the SMAC fx and voices folder into the Planetfall Sounds folder, as indicated on the screenshot. If you do not do this, you'll just hear a 'ping' upon researching a technology.



Q: But I don't own SMAC, and I want to hear SMAC sounds!

A: Sucks to be you. You may be able to purchase it here though. But do hurry. Good things never last.

***

I guess some screenshots would be in order now.
(Note for the last screenshot: I play with low resolution textures, so the screenie is not representative for most of you.)

[Maniac]

The following posts detail what you can do to help Planetfall if you want to.
I'll convert this to a format which doesn't require CFC's spoiler tag later...

Quick links:

Bug List
Gameplay Task List
Graphics Task List
Documentation
Discussion List


Edit: ah frack it. Just visit the CFC thread for the task list. Will post it here too once Apolyton has upgraded to newer forum software.
Edit2: Well, the forum got upgraded, but in the meanwhile I've discontinued maintaining a public ToDo list out of lack of other people's interest.

[Maniac]

Graphics Task List


* Flags for Angels, Drones, Pirates, Caretakers, Usurpers and Native Life/Barbarians
* DDS files for all seven AX leaders

* Trench feature nif model

Spoiler:

Fungus can't grow on Trenches. I'd like Trenches to be able to exist next to land, so they can act as a barrier against fungus, just like Ridges are on land.

For that reason I tried to modify the shelf terrain textures, giving them the trench colour. The results are... bad. The coastal sand textures, necessary for terrain to look well next to land, also shows up between shelf and trench. Screenie at the bottom as illustration.

Terrain graphic generation seems to be determined by a terrain's layer order. In vanilla, land has the lowest layer order, thus are generated first. Then coast gets added on top of it, creating the coastal sand look. Then ocean gets added on top of it. Because that comes last, there is no coastal sands in the water. Unfortunately this means it's impossible to have more than one coastal terrain type.

As a consequence I was thinking to turn Trenches into a Feature. They would then require nif files though. I'm not sure if this is possible, or if I have the best idea on implementation. I'm wondering, is it possible to create nif files which are a flat coloured plane, and only of minimal height (Z-axis?), so that they would cover up the terrain textures, but still look completey flat??
One nif for all trenches would look bad though. There would be a sudden colour transition etc. I'm wondering if something like the icepack nifs is a possibility? The icepack XML can be copied for trenches. That would create some variety in trench connections, and there wouldn't be a straight line seperating trench from ocean. The dds could be the trench colour that appears in the game, including at the side of the dds some colour transition from the trench to ocean colours. Can an in-game screenshot be used to create dds textures for a nif??

* Specialist buttons

Spoiler:

Buttons needed for the Engineer, Merchant, Librarian, Empath



I'd suggest using the SMAC Engineer, Librarian and Empath graphics for Planetfall's similarly named specialists. SMAC didn't have a merchant. Perhaps the Technician graphic could be used for the merchant, unless someone has a better idea.

Two problems though which I'm not sure how to solve:

1) The SMAC source material is smaller than the Civ4 requirement of 64x64 buttons. Is it still possible to make good-looking buttons for them?

2) The SMAC source material is rectangle instead of square. This doesn't cause a big problem for the Engineer, Librarian and Merchant/Technician, as the SMAC source's background is black anyways. But it does form a problem for the Empath. Any method to create a good looking square button from the SMAC source material? If not, any other ideas for what the Empath button can look like?

* Textures for the Spartan and Believer citysets

Should explain more...

* Angel & Drone citysets

Should explain more...

* Mag Tube graphics based on the Final Frontier jumplanes and/or warp-lanes, which adapt to terrain height

* Locust of Chiron unit model

Should explain more...

* Fungal Tower unit model

Example images available on request if you don't have them nearby yourself.

* Spore Launcher & Sealurk textures

Refinements, animations etc for these unit models also always welcome.

* Spawning Spot improvement model

A geological structure as on the right of the Cult of Planet wallpaper. Gaian cityset nifs could probably partially be recycled for this.

* Cloudbase unit model

See Cloudbase Academy secret project movie

* Spartan HQ building model

Let's hope woodelf re-appears...

* Subspace Generator building model

Example image: subgen_sm.pcx

* Nif of a leafy tree

For use in the Believer cityset as a generic building

* Add glow to the center of the Psi Gate building

After that building model has been made. Something similar to the FfH Inspiration spell building.

* Unity Library, Unity Cryobay, Unity Hydroponics Bay building models

Spoiler:

The current Headquarters nif model with different textures?
Instead of the faction symbols:
For the Library: the Information Networks icon.
For the Hydroponics Bay, perhaps the leaf with water inside (x1,y2) as on logo_thumbnails_v2.png
For the Cryobay, the medicine icon (x3,y3) as on logo_thumbnails_v2.png

To do: upload logo_thumbnails_v2.png

* Unity Observation Bay building model

Perhaps a slightly damaged disc as on the button for this project, together with a small side-building for control, and a windmill for energy.

* Make the Morganic cityset use Art/Structures/Cities/all_mod_lots.dds as underground

No idea how the following should look like myself:

* Centauri Preserve improvement model
* Sea Spawning Spot improvement model
* Nif models, buttons and gamefont icons for the bonus resources which don't yet have any (precise list can be made if anyone is interested in doing this)
* Models for all five religions' Missionaries
* Buttons for the Missionaries of the Consciousness, Edenism and Homo Superior
* Building models for the shrines of the Edenism, Ascetic Virtues and Homo Superior religions
* Planetary Council building model
* Unity Mining Laser building model

[Maniac]

SDK/Python task list

[Maniac]

bug list

Sorry! The administrator has specified that users can only post one message every 30 seconds.

[Maniac]

documentation

[Maniac]

discussion list

that's about it

[wangyushi]

Great!

[Main_Brain]

Wow. I thought all hope for a Civ4-Smac Mod died long ago..

[Maniac]

Rubin's Planetfall terrain for the next version

[Murg]

Looks good!

[Maniac]

I uploaded version two of Planetfall. It's mainly a graphical update. Gameplay changes to follow in the third version! Though one thing of note: as a test I've halved research costs to see if the game flows better then.


Planetfall is brought to you by:

[Maniac]

Version three of Planetfall is now available for download.

Major changes:

Ellestar has been very productive this month. As a result the mod now includes a Unit Workshop and Psi Combat. Not yet perfected, but very much functional!

The Unit Workshop screen is opened by pressing Ctrl-U.

Psi combat attack value will often not be as you'd expect judging from the combat modifiers, but it should be stable. If you do get crashes, please report!

Progress on graphics includes a new interface look by Rubin, and units by The_Reckoning.

Planetfall is brought to you by:

[Kinjiru]

[Murg]

Great work Maniac. You should see about appearing on the modcast to let everyone know about this project.

[Maniac]

Patch a for Planetfall version 3 is ready. Download link:

http://planetfall.apolyton.net/Planetfall_v3a.exe

[Maniac]

Patch b for Planetfall version 3 is ready. Download link:

http://planetfall.apolyton.net/Planetfall_v3b.exe

Version 3 Patch b:

1. Chopping Forests only provides 10 minerals.
2. Forest can be planted.
3. Gold and Silver can be connected to the trade network.
4. It's possible to trade over Coast and Ocean with Doctrine: Initiative and Ocean Colonization.
5. Fort provides 3 nutrients. Let's assume it comes coupled with a Greenhouse to survive long sieges. Build time increased to ten turns.
6. Archeological Dig and Genetics Lab removed. The Field Lab can now connect Monoliths, Artifacts, Rare DNA and Uranium to the trade network provided the required TechCityTrade is researched.
7. Planet Buster added - just a nuke with a bigger effect.
8. ECM, Nanometal Armour and Photon Wall special abilities added which provide a +25% combat bonus against respectively Missile, Kinetic and Beam weapons.
9. Silksteel Armour special ability added which heals the unit 10% per turn.
10. Wild native life gets a combat bonus equal to 50% of the Flowering Counter.
11. Flanking promotions re-added.
12. Unity Foil now only has two movement points and one cargo space.
13. Activated previously made unit models (which I didn't know yet how to do when they were made). Updated former and CP graphics.
14. New DLL, enabling stuff mentioned above. Haven't got a complete overview.

[Maniac]

Patch 3d for Planetfall is now available for download.

A not all-inclusive changelog:

Version 3 Patch d:

1. New gamefont.tga with nutrient/mineral/energy icons.
2. Extra foil movement with Nanoconstruction fixed.
3. Great Doctor specialists now gives +2 Nutrients, +2 Health and +1 Science.
4. Tech level one buildings cost decreased to 40 Minerals.
5. Rec Commons, Rejuvenation Tanks and Hologram Theatre now provide +2 Happy. Please suggest additional sources of happiness for Planetfall.
6. Nerve Staplers Special Ability added. No matter what civic you're running, it gives +1 Happy for the first unit with this special ability stationed in a base. Under Police State, each Nerve Stapler provides +1 Happy.
7. Under Police State, the Command Center provides +1 Happy.
8. Planned now gives +10% Minerals in all Bases, +25 Minerals and +35% Energy to the Headquarters.
9. Power becomes available with Cloning. It allows unit conscription. Though completely unprofitable right now, as you can only get Gun Infantry.
10. Rare Desert DNA, Brown/Cyan/Green/Red Algae, Grenade Fruits, Fungal Gin, Ski Vacation and Geothermal Spa resources added.
11. Terrain/Improvement/Feature yields have been given a complete overhaul. Instead of listing the changes, I'd suggest to look at it as something entirely new. It's now closer to default Civ4 though, so it should be familiar.
12. Three Ecology Civics added. Unfortunately many things don't show up on the civics screen. Therefore: Fungus produces +1 mineral under Hybrid Ecology. Under Enclosed Biosphere a whole bunch of terrain improvements and features produce one less food. I'd prefer it to be "-1 food on all Flat Moist & Rainy terrain", but that's not possible currently. Also features don't produce negative health. Lastly you can't plant features, nor build farms or condensers.


Planetfall is brought to you by:




Don't forget that we're always looking for help with Planetfall.

The mod could for instance at this point very much use:

• SDKers
• a graphics coordinator who understands how Afterworld unit graphics work
• a mapscripter

[Maniac]

Version 3 Patch e

1. Roads now take 2.6 turns to build.
2. Monolith gives +1 energy.
3. Free Trade civic gives +1 science per specialist.
4. Doctor specialist GPP gives Great Doctor...
5. Some malfunctional python code fixed.
6. Temporary: all infantry can provide military happiness.

[waab]

I have to install Civ4 and buy Beyond the Sword. I thought this idea was dead! Keep this stuff up!

[Maniac]

Version 3 Patch f

Version 3 Patch f:

1. Upgrading costs 2 credits per mineral.
2. Helium gives +1 energy.
3. Centauri Preserve can connect Monolith resource.
4. Roads only give a movement bonus with Reconnaissance researched. Mass Driver increases it to 1/3. Mag Tube requires Gravitonics and Rubidium resource.
5. Hydro Plant gives +1 health and no longer +2 energy.
6. Command Center now gives +2 XP for land units but reduces military production by 10% (also for land).
7. Energy Nexus becomes Factional Project/National Wonder.
8. Native life units can be produced with nutrients (like colony pods and formers).
9. Units automatically gain morale promotions (disciplined, hardened...) upon levelling up, starting from level 3.
10. Readded some default Civ4 promotions.
11. Some promotions require the Combat promotion. This promotion can be gained through winning a battle, being Spartan, or building the unit in a base with a Virtual World.
12. Cruiser requires Naval Yard to be buildable. Naval Yard no longer gives XP, but it does give a trade route.
13. Changed base defense bonus through culture.
14. New happiness resource added: Resonance Cluster.
15. Iridium and Rubidium resources added.
16. Antimatter Reactor and Singularity Reactor base facilities added.
17. Planet Buster requires Antimatter Reactor and Iridium.
18. Fungal Tower spawns more often.
19. Added some unit construction sounds.
20. Command Nexus secret project added.
21. Treaded chassis now requires Industrial Base.
22. Missile weapons give -1 movement point to the unit.
23. Tech tree changes
24. Forest provides no energy (only a mineral) and takes somewhat less time to build.
25. Religions added.
26. Uranium/Helium/Rubidium boost some units' production speed.
27. Temporary: Needlejets removed as they're causing crashes

[djpsychonaut]

Hi,
What sort of help do you need with this? I thought that this project was dead too and I've actually been playing Alpha Centauri quite a bit lately. I'd love to help resurrect it in the Civ 4 world if possible!

One quick thing to mention though, I am not able to access the screen images... I get this error: "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ',' in /home/apolyton/public_html/upload/view.php on line 184" I'm not sure if this is a problem here or on the site or if the images just no longer exist on Apolyton's server.

[Maniac]

The earlier C4:AC is dead. Or at least mostly. I believe Rubin is currently making his own SMAC mod and uses the C4:AC title.

Planetfall is a different project, taking more liberties with changed gameplay than C4AC intended to. But the goal is of course still to maintain the SMAC atmosphere and story we all love.

The mod could at this point very much use:

• SDKers
• a graphics coordinator
• a mapscripter

The images in the first post are working for me. Wouldn't know what your problem could be.
Can you download the mod and patch? (I can.)

[Maniac]

Planetfall v4

I'd suggest first deleting the version 3 Planetfall folder before installing this one.

Changelog:

1. Perimeter Defense and Tachyon Field give +1 culture.
2. Automatic morale promotions scrapped again. Can be gotten through XP. Most promotions give +10% psi strength.
3. Faction leaders given a favourite civic.
4. Can't run the Terraformed Ecology civic under the Voice of Planet religion.
5. Under the Hybrid Ecology civic, Biology Labs are not required to produce native life units.
6. Great Doctor starts with Medic I & II promotions.
7. Organic Fuels allows irrigation to spread.
8. Environmental Economics increases minerals from chopping.
9. Bioadaptive Resonance increases Greenhouse yield with +1 energy instead of +1 nutrient.
10. Police State enabled by Factionalism.
11. Cooperative Economy civic removed. Autarky now reduces distance maintenance and is enabled by Environmental Economics.
12. New Values Civic added: Empathy.
13. Religious victory added.
14. Nuclear Missile removed.
15. Hive starts with Ultraponics instead of Defense Logistics.
16. Spore Launcher and Fungal Tower now should do ranged strikes.
17. Two soundtracks by The_Reckoning added.
18. Civic buttons by Rubin added.
19. Choppers and gravships can't capture bases.
20. Chopper can't reveal map.
21. Ascetic Virtues religion added.
22. Changes to naval unit movement speed.
23. Navigation promotions re-added.
24. Aerospace Complex increases Fort yield.
25. Planetary Council added.
26. Gatling Laser now strength 4.
27. Tech tree changes
28. Tech costs increased.

[Lord_Icewind]

It's been a long time since I've logged in my 'poly account; but today, after a game of CIV 4, I remembered that there was this project to do a SMAC mod for it.

After reading about its death ( ) I bumped into this and...well, gotta buy the expansion in order to install this! I'll look it up tommorrow

Keep up the good work!

Excelsior!

[Heraclitus]

Great project!

[Maniac]

Planetfall Version 4 Patch a

Changelog:

1. Nuclear Plant no longer requires Uranium.
2. Command Center no longer gives +1 Happy with Police State.
3. Unit production bonus for having a certain resource reduced.
4. Extra yield from building greenhouses, resorts and field labs on certain resources reduced.
5. The Accuracy promotion does not require the Combat promotion.
6. Nuclear Plant gives credits, not energy.
7. Rec Commons, Holo Theatre and Rejuve Tanks only give +1 happiness.
8. Punishment Sphere gives +1 happiness.
9. Boreholes produce one extra mineral on rocky terrain.
10. Sea Windmill only gives +1 energy at start. +1 energy with Kinematics.
11. Wealth now gives +100% trade yield.
12. Homo Superior now founded by Gene Splicing.
13. Barbarian spore launchers on a unity pod turn into fungal towers.
14. Democratic civic now requires Polymorphic Software.
15. Planned civic now requires Neural Grafting.
16. Dimensional Gate bonus doubles Dimensional Gate building production.
17. Military Academy re-added.
18. Chopper chassis starts with three movement points. Increased by two with Nanominiaturization.
19. Native Life starts with extra XP equal to the positive Planet value of the base that builds it. Maximum starting XP this way can't exceed 10.
20. Native Life automatically and gradually gains XP until it reaches 10 XP.
21. Native Life cost increased by 50%. Needs testing of course.
22. Hybrid Ecology tech removed.
23. Gold hurrying can be done for two gold per mineral.
24. The Nanites tech allows gold hurrying. (Hopefully temporary) this requires switching to the Nanites civic in the 'Temporary' category.
25. Forts are now units similar to Final Frontier starbases.
26. Spore Launchers can Evolve into Fungal Towers (a build order similar to the way forts are handled)
27. Overseas trade route modifier removed.
28. Solar Power Transmitter is now a unit which automatically gives the building of same name to the base its in.
29. White Pines council added. Membership through running the Hybrid Ecology civic. Ideas for better name appreciated.
30. Prototype/test victory added: if the Flowering Counter reaches 100, and you're part of the White Pines council, you win.
31. Non-state religions cause -1 happiness.
32. Some buildings allow an extra bonus when a specific religion is present.
33. Some civics give extra happiness to the religious buildings mentioned in the previous point.
34. Coast renamed to Shelf.
35. Trench water terrain type added. No fitting graphics yet though.
36. Sea Borehole terrain improvement added.
37. Submarines get a 25% combat bonus in trenches.
38. Foils get a 10% combat bonus in shelfs.
39. Resources have an inherent hap/health benefit. Let's see if this improves AI performance.

[XplorR]

Very well done mod. Even tho it's a work in progress, it's still fun to play. Thanks!

[jackal@ns]

nice one i must try this out ... i miss smac/x... just happened to wander into this section today

[Heraclitus]

Will have to try out the new patch.