I've been experimenting with the modding features in Civilization 4, and was a bit surprised at just how easy it is. And seeing as I have some time free soon, I've decided I want to start a mod project. In the following posts, I'm going to explain my idea, what work I think it requires, what details need to be considered, and what help I am looking for from interested individuals.
It's always been widely held that Civilization 2 was the pinnacle of the Civ series (arguably now bested by Civ 4,) and I think it would be interesting to create a Civilization 2 mod for Civilization 4. I envision it as being possible to have a mod appliable in modules, depending on exactly how much of the Civ 2 flavour the player wants to transfer over to Civ 4. This also has the advantages that the mod team, when assembled, can work on the mod in sections, so as to not hold up a release of one "module" of the Civ 2 mod while another, deeper layer is still being developed. It also means that we can release earlier versions of the mod that are fully playable and functional, and then later release additional modules for things such as altered graphics and audio.
The Core module will involve alteration of the basic unit, building, civ and tech XML information, ensuring that the same units are in the mod as Civ 2, with the same costs, statistics and abilities, the same civilizations are available with the same leaders, the same technologies are available, in the same order, offering the same advances, and the same buildings can be made, with the same benefits. This will, as the name suggests, be the core basic mod.
The Civilopedia module will alter all related Civilopedia entries to the above to the older Civ 2 entries. This module will require a lot of basic work.
The Sound module will substitute all applicable sounds in the game for the Civ 2 sounds and music. I haven't yet looked into the way audio is stored in the game, although I suspect audio is packed together in a single file or several related files. It is possible work on this will need to wait until the SDK is released. This is possibly the module that will require the least work in the sense of altering XML or Python files... Potentially, it will simply be a case of having the correctly-named files in the correct folder, perhaps packed together.
The Graphics module will substitute unit art, leader art and related files for Civ 2 art. This will definately require waiting until the SDK to be done. This also is the module that will perhaps require the most debate on how it should be handled, for reasons I will go into below.
The Rules module will substitute the core rules of the game for Civ 2 style. The will include the re-introduction of Civ 2 game concepts like Civil Disorder, the removal of newer concepts like Great People, alteration of the battle system etc. This may be integrated into the Core module, dependant on whether changes in the Core module (IE changes of unit costs etc) create balance issues with the Civ 4 rules that only matching changes in the rules will allow.
Finally, there may (if possible) be a GUI module, in order to alter the look and feel of the game to match Civ 2. This is probably the module that will require the most technical knowledge to create.
Ideally, the team will comprise of at least two individuals skilled in Python for the rules/GUI modules, at least one individual with basic knowledge of 3D modelling (although depending on the route we take, more in-depth knowledge may be required), at least one individual with 2D art knowledge, including creation of textures for 3D models... there is obviously some potential overlap with the 3D modeller here, and we may end up with one individual with everything we need, or 3 people with differing skills. We will also need probably at least 2 individuals excepting myself, hopefully more, to deal with the XML alteration... This is simple enough that no special experience will be needed, so anyone willing to help is encouraged to come forward.
We'll also need someone with the skill to come up with a simple webpage (and preferably small forum) while the project is being created. Also, whilst I have a limited amount of hosting space that should be more than adequate for the project team to use whilst the mod is in creation, we'll probably need something more useful and permanent when the mod is made public.
In the following posts, I'll go over the details of what each module will entail. Anyone who is interested in helping on any part of the project is encouraged to contact me through e-mail of PM on this forum.
It's always been widely held that Civilization 2 was the pinnacle of the Civ series (arguably now bested by Civ 4,) and I think it would be interesting to create a Civilization 2 mod for Civilization 4. I envision it as being possible to have a mod appliable in modules, depending on exactly how much of the Civ 2 flavour the player wants to transfer over to Civ 4. This also has the advantages that the mod team, when assembled, can work on the mod in sections, so as to not hold up a release of one "module" of the Civ 2 mod while another, deeper layer is still being developed. It also means that we can release earlier versions of the mod that are fully playable and functional, and then later release additional modules for things such as altered graphics and audio.
The Core module will involve alteration of the basic unit, building, civ and tech XML information, ensuring that the same units are in the mod as Civ 2, with the same costs, statistics and abilities, the same civilizations are available with the same leaders, the same technologies are available, in the same order, offering the same advances, and the same buildings can be made, with the same benefits. This will, as the name suggests, be the core basic mod.
The Civilopedia module will alter all related Civilopedia entries to the above to the older Civ 2 entries. This module will require a lot of basic work.
The Sound module will substitute all applicable sounds in the game for the Civ 2 sounds and music. I haven't yet looked into the way audio is stored in the game, although I suspect audio is packed together in a single file or several related files. It is possible work on this will need to wait until the SDK is released. This is possibly the module that will require the least work in the sense of altering XML or Python files... Potentially, it will simply be a case of having the correctly-named files in the correct folder, perhaps packed together.
The Graphics module will substitute unit art, leader art and related files for Civ 2 art. This will definately require waiting until the SDK to be done. This also is the module that will perhaps require the most debate on how it should be handled, for reasons I will go into below.
The Rules module will substitute the core rules of the game for Civ 2 style. The will include the re-introduction of Civ 2 game concepts like Civil Disorder, the removal of newer concepts like Great People, alteration of the battle system etc. This may be integrated into the Core module, dependant on whether changes in the Core module (IE changes of unit costs etc) create balance issues with the Civ 4 rules that only matching changes in the rules will allow.
Finally, there may (if possible) be a GUI module, in order to alter the look and feel of the game to match Civ 2. This is probably the module that will require the most technical knowledge to create.
Ideally, the team will comprise of at least two individuals skilled in Python for the rules/GUI modules, at least one individual with basic knowledge of 3D modelling (although depending on the route we take, more in-depth knowledge may be required), at least one individual with 2D art knowledge, including creation of textures for 3D models... there is obviously some potential overlap with the 3D modeller here, and we may end up with one individual with everything we need, or 3 people with differing skills. We will also need probably at least 2 individuals excepting myself, hopefully more, to deal with the XML alteration... This is simple enough that no special experience will be needed, so anyone willing to help is encouraged to come forward.
We'll also need someone with the skill to come up with a simple webpage (and preferably small forum) while the project is being created. Also, whilst I have a limited amount of hosting space that should be more than adequate for the project team to use whilst the mod is in creation, we'll probably need something more useful and permanent when the mod is made public.
In the following posts, I'll go over the details of what each module will entail. Anyone who is interested in helping on any part of the project is encouraged to contact me through e-mail of PM on this forum.
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