Fixes\Patch Mod

[snoopy369]

I intend to make a mod (two, actually) to fix some of the more glaring errors in the game as well as adjust the gameplay to be more 'Col'-like rather than Civ-like, which is how I see the game now.

I intend to develop this as two separate elements, one as pure bugfixes (think Solver's patches for Civ4) and one with gameplay alterations. I'd primarily like to discuss the bugfixes here, and keep the gameplay alterations to myself at the moment, until I feel more comfortable with the game to be sure I'm right.

A good point to start with is Dale's fixes incorporated in AoD2...

[q=Dale]
FIXES:
- Cargo now takes as many berths as its size requirement (eg: treasure takes 6 berths)
- AI now assigns higher priority to picking up treasures on non-colonised islands
- AI now actually picks up treasures when transport next to it
- AI uses King's Transport for treasures if it doesn't have a free transport of the right size all through the game (was use King's Transport up to turn 90)
[/q]

These are all simple AI fixes, and quite valid. I'll either develop these myself, or if Dale wants to contribute the solutions that would be fantastic

Additional fixes I see:

• AI does not assign military units adequately
• AI acts overly aggressively
  

Feature enhancements:

• Native camps do not easily identify what they trade
• Wagons/Ships on a single trade route are not identified with that trade route's name

Let's add some more to this... Keep the feature requests light (those two are hard enough as it is, both require python adjustments and whatnot). I want to stay out of C++ as much as possible with the features, unless there's significant reason to do so; the less complex this patch/fix is the better.

[Dale]

Some other needed fixes:

- Human player non-random start Loc.

My suggested changes (not really fixes):

- Change education to same cost not rising cost (to match Indian training)

Oh, and a DLL only mod would simplify this no? Having many python hacks only slows the engine down more.

[Aerion]

Patches or Fixes

1 - There didn't seem to be any way to go back and accept a Founding Father after you turned him down - even if no other player had selected him.

2 - I could not figure out how to trade with another european colony or european power.

3 - I really miss custom houses!!!

4 - I'd like a cap on the tax rate. I hit around 65% tax rate fer christ sakes!! When it gets that high, there is no point to even selling goods anymore.

5 - I couldn't find a way to clear the specialty of a colonist like you could in Col I.

6 - No way to train a veteran soldier either.

7 - Every time I bought a warship from England, the cost went up for the next one. At some point, the cost of training a Veteran soldier started going up as well.

7 - I could not find a way to change the profession of a colonist without moving them from their existing slot on the colony screen then moving them back.

8 - On the Huge New World map/scenario, the Go To Europe spots are on the eastern edge of the map. That means South America is FAR closer to Europe than North America. The Go To Europe spots needs to be modded to be closer to NA.

9 - As mentioned in another thread, the starting locations are wrong on the Huge NW map. From the top, it should be France, England, Holland and then Spain.

Sorry, I meant this as a reply to another thread.

[snoopy369]

Fixed

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Dale
Some other needed fixes:

- Human player non-random start Loc.

My suggested changes (not really fixes):

- Change education to same cost not rising cost (to match Indian training)

Oh, and a DLL only mod would simplify this no? Having many python hacks only slows the engine down more.

I'm assuming interface changes require python coding, but if they can be done without it I'm all for it. I hate python anyway.

I am not sure about the education change being that drastic, simply because the education stuff is a bit too easy anyway. We could change it to not scale at all, but I suspect the balance point is to scale less...

[ParticleHustler]

Originally posted by Aerion
1 - There didn't seem to be any way to go back and accept a Founding Father after you turned him down - even if no other player had selected him.

3 - I really miss custom houses!!!

4 - I'd like a cap on the tax rate. I hit around 65% tax rate fer christ sakes!! When it gets that high, there is no point to even selling goods anymore.

5 - I couldn't find a way to clear the specialty of a colonist like you could in Col I.

7 - I could not find a way to change the profession of a colonist without moving them from their existing slot on the colony screen then moving them back.

1. I believe the game intends that once you turn someone down, you can never have them.

3. Me, too.

4. Me, too.

5. It's there. See my comment to 7.

7. I had the exact same frustration, but if you are outside of the settlement and the unit is active, there is a button along the bottom of the screen that lets you choose the unit's profession, including clearing their specialty.

So, if you have a free colonist that you want to make a pioneer, you're right that there doesn't appear to be a way to make him a pioneer unless you put him in a workable space, then double-clicked him and chose the new profession. However, when he's active and you are outside of the settlement, look at the bottom buttons. You can accomplish this there.

[Hety]

To change prof or clear it double click the colonist that is assigned to any job in colony. Its completely unobvious, but it works.


I REALLY hate increae in training time in schoolhouses etc. Also anyone knows how to train profs like "cotton planter"? Is it same as original Civ?

[snoopy369]

Custom houses are definitely not part of this mod - they're gone for a reason, and although I'm sure they will be available in a mod somewhere, they should not and will not be added as part of a patch-mod.

[snoopy369]

You train 'cotton planter' in indian settlements, yes.

[Vesayen]

How about the king never requests more then a 1% tax increase at a time?

Is it viable to pay money to reopen a commodity like in the original?

[snoopy369]

Wha...? Why would the king only add 1% a time. That's just silly... better to alter how often he requests than alter the percentage, I'd say, if you are concerned about the tax rate. Or alter it from 4-6% to 2-3%... 1% is just too little. In order to get to a reasonable rate (which you should) around 30%, you'd be seeing the king every 5 turns...

I don't know about the viability of reopening a commodity, I imagine it is in the late game.

[Hety]

He does add more than 1%. If u'll make him angry Seen it going from 0 to 7 when i denied his request for like 700 gold on turn 10. Seen him adding 2 % even with me giving all the mney he wanted.

2 Snoopy: is there ANY q-n-dirty way to set training time for a constant? make it bigger maybe, but w/o that global increase?

[ParticleHustler]

Originally posted by Hety
To change prof or clear it double click the colonist that is assigned to any job in colony. Its completely unobvious, but it works.

The problem is when the colonist is NOT assigned to a job. In that case, you have to assign him and then change his prof while in the settlement, or use the button from outside the settlement to assign a prof. There's no way to double-click a non-assigned colonist while in the settlement to change (or assign) a prof.

[Hety]

Ah.. well yeah. I do agree that its an utter crap. By the way - i had colonists moving from job to another one even when they had no "auto-management" on.

If u'll build a church single colonist is always assigned there. Check for yerself.

[ParticleHustler]

I understand how it works, because technically, a colonist not assigned a prof is outside of the settlement, but I'd like a way to assign them from inside the settlement screen, rather than having to go back outside the settlement to do it, or assign them a job I don't want them to have just to assign them the correct prof.