Cepha Development Thread

[Timor_Leste]

So I've been working on this scenario, off and on, for some time now: cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish and octopods) become sentient, not hominids. I've been posting possible units here and there and provided the last map I playtested (back when my computer would let me playtest) here.
There was going to be an attachment, but it didn't appear correctly- so, it is supposed to be 87a non-interlaced, right?

[curtsibling]

Zips work best!

And this scen sounds quite intriquing, please tell more!

[techumseh]

Giant Squid would be so pleased!

[fairline]

Sounds interesting. What are you going to do for cuttlefish cities?

[Timor_Leste]

Thanks! Well, making this scenario has required alot of research. One of the main theories of hominid evolution is that a global cooling period encouraged them to move out into the savanna. But, I read elsewhere that eventually the Great Rift Valley in Kenya will rip East Africa away and form a massive new island. Elsewhere, I read that another rift valley from the south nearly merged with the Kenyan Rift Valley and caused East Africa to become an island thousands of years before the spread of hominds.
I theorize that this does happen, and that the warm Indian Ocean waters rush into the newly-created East Africa Sea, retarding or eliminating the environmental inducement for hominids to evolve sentience.

So with that decided, I needed to learn more about cephalopods. I'm mainly thinking about squid, not cuttlefish or octopods. Squid are more group-based, but octopods are more solitary creatures. Cuttlefish are a marginal interest at best. I've seen some interesting things said about this group. There was a scientific group that went to study some squid off Australia because they wanted to test a theory that the squids' bioluminescence was a form of communication. Unfortunately, we don't know much about squids, and the predominant theory is that the males die after copulation. There have been several reports that some fishermen have been attacked by octopods with stingers attached to their sunction cups that the animals had taken from jellyfish. One of the most interesting statements I read was a theory that, if octopods lived beyond their mere 9-to-14-year lifespan, they would have the ability to eventually become sentient.

Originally posted by fairline
Sounds interesting. What are you going to do for cuttlefish cities?

Actually, that and figuring out what melee weapons to use took me quite some time. But, all the sudden, I've made a couple of (conceptual) unit graphics breakthroughs.

They will still have cities (though renamed- I'm currently leaning towards "tels"). They'll be just like hominid cities- built on the ground. I already have the ages set up (chromolithic, polytechnic, hierarchic), but the city graphics are further developed in my head than in my computer.

[Timor_Leste]

I've managed to get my attachments to work again, so here's some of the units I'm strongly considering using for the scenario.

[Timor_Leste]

I want the Cepha to encounter hominids in a semi-developed state: clearly not human, but more like advanced animals. Looking at the attachment, I intend the first unit to be foragers and the second hunters. Attacking these would be one of the primary ways (initially) to get money. I was going to use events to repeatedly spawn them: until I read a comment someone had made that you can't event in sea units, which is what these would be.
The way I hope to get around this is to have the sea barbarians' ships be the hominids themselves (say, replace the trireme with the second of the attached hominids). The land units inside would have no moves. Since I haven't yet regained the ability to playtest, I don't know if creating an event of "If Civ A destroys Unit A, Civ A receives x gold" would override the end result of destroying a barbarian ship with the leader inside- no money at all. Has anyone experimented with this before?

Also, regarding Anarchy: It's possible to force a civ into Anarchy (I presume), but how do I provide them the chance to switch to Despotism?

[Timor_Leste]

delete

[Timor_Leste]

So I was trying to make an advanced hovercraft for these Cepha. I created a whole series (the first row) when I decided they were all too human-inspired-looking to meet my needs. I tried again- and the image in the second row is the result. If anyone is up for it, I would much appreciate you trying to make the unit. I made a small schematic of the unit from the top and side, with the blue things as the weapons.

[Boco]

Originally posted by Timor_Leste
Also, regarding Anarchy: It's possible to force a civ into Anarchy (I presume), but how do I provide them the chance to switch to Despotism?

I think the AI will switch them on the first Oedo year. AFAIK, the human player can switch gov't on the first turn, providing it's enabled in the scenario.

[Timor_Leste]

Originally posted by Boco

I think the AI will switch them on the first Oedo year. AFAIK, the human player can switch gov't on the first turn, providing it's enabled in the scenario.

Thanks Boco! That may be exactly what I need! But, what's Oedo?

[Boco]

xxxo xxxo xxxo ... by oedo — IIRC, these are the years that end the anarchy that occurs when you switch gov'ts. Oedo, the guy who figured this out, achieved reverential awe many years back for the discovery.

[curtsibling]

Brilliant designs, Timor!

[Tigey]

Agreed, those squid horsemen are one of the most original units I've ever seen!

[Varwnos]

Cthulu horsemen