MOD: The BALANCER

[Desert Dog]

wierd?

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Elucidus
Desert Dog,

I checked your save file and had no problems. How many turns did it take for you to experience the crash? I played about ten.

It crashed 1200 ad about midway. I reloaded the game and played for about 10 turns myself. When I quit I received and error report that civ3 caused.
Sorry I should have tried to reload, every other situation it never worked reloading the crashed game? I will start another game on higher level to test it better now that I know what your mod does basically.

[Elucidus]

About that error after you exit, it will take a lot of work to fix that, probably what I will be doing all of next week. Right now I would like to finish up 2.11 so I can release it by tomorrow.

Since you've played it through quite a ways, any suggestions? Other than the crossbowman thing you mentioned. Any kind of feedback would be appreciated.

Oh and about restarting, maybe you should finish up what you have now, as tomorrow's release won't be compatible with the saves from the previous version.

[Elucidus]

Well this is interesting. I did some more modding and added a couple of things, and when I tested some of it out and exited the game it did not crash on exit. After adding some things I used Graphos multitool to reorg some units, maybe his tool fixed the problem.

Although this may have just been a fluke I don't know.

[Tori]

Originally posted by Elucidus
Oh and about restarting, maybe you should finish up what you have now, as tomorrow's release won't be compatible with the saves from the previous version.

I need two weeks to play a single save.

[Desert Dog]

Testing

Originally posted by Elucidus
Well this is interesting. I did some more modding and added a couple of things, and when I tested some of it out and exited the game it did not crash on exit. After adding some things I used Graphos multitool to reorg some units, maybe his tool fixed the problem.

Although this may have just been a fluke I don't know.

That is wierd but with patches still coming I suspect many wierd things have cropped up with everyone doing mods.
If you want to pre-test your mod before posting let me know. I am here 24/7. Sometimes sick as hell but most of the time I am doing something on my PC.

I still want to see the Privateer have a modern upgrade. I like the name Corporate Raider. It is a term from wall street. It is an investor that force buys out a company and dismantles it peice by peice selling all they can. I use my Privateer's to mess with the AI preventing them from expanding. I set my Privateer's at 5/3/5 they upgrade should be only a slight increase in fire power maybe 7/3/6 or 7/4/6. Maybe you can come up with a nice graphic for this purpose. I used the Frigate before it worked fine. I really love the Ship of line unit. I like all of the units so far.

One more thing - The Carrier should have ability to transport 8-10 aircraft. Real carriers hold a bunch of planes. Having only 4 per carrier is silly.

I think the helicopter should be able to carry 2-3 units with at least a 2/1/6 fire ability. I have never seen a combat helicopter that did not have some offense ability.

All ships should have extra move points for those Hugh 240x240 worlds you implemented. It took me almost 1000 years to travel across a world this size. Galley is fine at 3, caravel should be around 4-5 and increase each new ship by one until all new ships are researched. Small worlds this may be a problem but playing on large and Hugh worlds this has to be done.

I really like the units but they still do not progress through the ages properly, I mean some units advance to fast others too slow. If that makes any sense at all.

I think they difficulty levels need to be more gradual. I play chieftain to regent only. Warlord and regent levels are very tough if you have restless tribes checked. I have the difficulty levels 5 born happy chieftain, 4 warlord, and so on up to top level. I know that many of you are excellent players and are trying to make the game even harder. I think most players are not this good. My opinion maybe I am alone. Later.

[Elucidus]

Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't have the foresight to realize we would need to add dummy units and buildings so it wouldn't invalidate the save games. This newer version has an extra 9 units and 9 buildings to allow for growth.

Hopefully that will be enough for a while. So ignore entries for bldgs/units ZZ1-9 in the civiliopedia.

[Elucidus]

DD,

The one unit I have not added yet is a possible upgrade for the privateer. I like the concept, but haven't gotten to it yet.

I haven't had a lot of Modern Unit experience as before I get that far I am up to another release that nullifies my save. So I am not sure about the carrier, we'll see.


The helicopter remains as is, I belive it is to represent a tranport heleicopter and not an attack helicopter. However we have added an attack helicopter.

I believe you will be happy with the new ship movement. I agree with what you said and have already made the changes...I was finishing up the new settings yesterday. If there are problems with smaller maps and these new settings I need someone to let me know.

As far as unit progression if you could give me some examples, that would help.

[Desert Dog]

one more thing

Whenever I get an error on exit the game will crash fatally either industrial or modern times. I should enter modern times sometime this morning to test my theory.

Korn did an excellent job with most of the military units with HP etc. I agree about the helicopter not being an attack helicopter. Having only a 2 rating it nothing compared to the heavy units available by this time. Being able to carry 2-3 units is a needed thing. Just one is not realistic in my opinion.

The unit progression just needs some tweaking that is all. Example the warrior stays around way to long. I mean he is cave age type of man. He should disappear very early in the game. maybe middle ages. Regular ancient spearmen should not be built at all after Industrial times or maybe earlier. Not very good examples but I hope you see what I mean.
Some of the techs are the same way. Not to mention the AI does not seem to build wonders very much at all in most of my games.

Everyone's mods have helped these issues to one degree or another. Maybe I am just trying to be too picky

[Elucidus]

Being picky is good. We are working on a theory with the combat values. I spoke to Korn a while back about his method. He doesn't mind if we adopt his method, but I would like to try something else first. If you do want to become a tester you would be involved in this.

Also I understand what you are saying about the helicopter, but let's see how the Apache works out. It has a decent attack and defense and can transport 1 unit (the other helicopter is two or three, I don't remember).

I know for a fact that the spearman disappears rather early and the warrior is only around when there are no resources available to a new city. I agree with you though.


BTW, the AI builds wonders like mad in my game. What level are you playing at?

[Desert Dog]

level of play

Originally posted by Elucidus
Being picky is good. We are working on a theory with the combat values. I spoke to Korn a while back about his method. He doesn't mind if we adopt his method, but I would like to try something else first. If you do want to become a tester you would be involved in this.

Cool looking forward to this since the biggest flaw is military imbalance
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Also I understand what you are saying about the helicopter, but let's see how the Apache works out. It has a decent attack and defense and can transport 1 unit (the other helicopter is two or three, I don't remember).

Okay I still think there should be some offense maybe only 1/1 and whatever for the Apache. Cool you are adding that. I love the units in the mod so far great job
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I know for a fact that the spearman disappears rather early and the warrior is only around when there are no resources available to a new city. I agree with you though.

It may just be me looking at it wrong or maybe not upgrading when I actually can?
********************************************

BTW, the AI builds wonders like mad in my game. What level are you playing at?

I play Warlord the most, sometimes Regent. I test mods on Chieftain first then go back start another game on warlord or regent. (Korn's mod on chieftain I am a whimp) On warlord there are some wonders they seem to delay building when they could. The Great Library is one that the AI can build but I always beat them. I bet most play at Regent level at least. I am pathetic I guess Peace

[Tori]

I play regent, usually with 12 AIs.

Actually, I'm very lucky if I'm able to get two or more wonders in each era, because in this mod you can't switch to the palace or the forbidden palace anymore (they are too cheap ... but I like it).

If anyone builds my wonder and there is no other wonder to build, I loose all my shields and can start again a few turns later.

[Elucidus]

On Chieftan and Warlord the AI is less agressive with the wonders, but with Regent and up I find it hard to turn out a few wonders unless I have an excellent starting location.

It also depends on how many civs you play with like Tori said (well insinuated by stated how many she plays with).

[Elucidus]

2.11 is here

Just to let everyone know the new version is out. I hope I didn't let anything slip by, as I have a tremendous headache that won't quite and I am having a hard time concentrating today.

Well, if there are any problems let me know and I will fix 'em right away.

Since I added Mizaq's New Wonder Splashes the file has about doubled in size. If someone would like to have a copy of the mod without the extra wondersplashes, send me an email. Also because of the size of the file I have uploaded two different formats. If you have a program that can read .rar format, like Winrar, then you can download the smaller rar file.

Zip (8.2MB)

Rar (6.8MB)


Also for anyone who wants to uninstall I have a copy of the original files that this mod overwrites. It does not remove additional files or anything though. Get it here.



Here is the current readme (Again, I hope I didn't miss anything as I updated this today with my massive headache):


------------------------------
The Balancer

2.11(000)

22-Mar-2002

Creators:
Elucidus
Rhuarc
------------

Questions? Comments? contact me at elucidus_healfire@yahoo.com

(Note: Not all graphics for the new items have been finished. Some units reuse older graphics. Mostly the missing graphics are Wonder Splashes and building queue icons, maybe a few civilipedia icons. If you see a generic pic with "To Be Added" or just a generic building icon then that is something we are working on. If it shows up as a blank picture, let us know as that is a glich. As I release the graphics patches they will be numbered (001, 002, etc...) I will also update the full install with them and anotate the latest files included in it. 2.1 beta (003) for example. If you have a better way for us to track this, please let me know.



NOTE: BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, EXTRACT THESE FILES TO THE ROOT DIRECTORY OF YOUR CIVILIZATION III FOLDER

Also note: An in-game known issues list was included in the civilopedia for your convenience. If you are unsure of weather we are aware of a possible issue you are having, please check there first. In the civilopedia go to the "Concepts" area. In there you will see a tab named Balancer Mod (the only tab with it's own icon). In that tab we will list any known issues with the mod. As of now there are no known game-breaking issues, just graphics and such.

First, I have to say that this mod was started by Monkspider. He created it, but since I haven't heard from him in a long while (read: months), and I was working on it with him regularly, I took it over. Also, we need to thank others who have had an impact as well. Special Thanks to Anunikoba, Korn469, Chegitz Guevara, Yaga, Pydodrew, Cian, d-audi, SilentBob, Kromwel, java4me, Wite Rabbit, thomsonlau, Desert Dog, Tori Synthetik, Mizaq and Harlan for the help or inspiration that they have provided.

*WesW has contributed a great deal and special thanks go out to him for that. If it weren't for him this mod would not be as well developed as it is. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us.

The biggest thanks I have to give are to other modders whose mods I have included in this version, including graphics mods. If any of them wish me to remove their files or the information I have listed is incorrect simply let me know and I will fix the problem. If I forgot to mention anyone, let me know. Thanks go out to all of you:

Sevorak's More City Names mod
Mizaq's Wonder Splash Upgrade/Mod
TVA1's Battlewagon Unit Graphics (We used it for the Dreadnaught)
Bonedoc's Apache Unit Graphics (We used it for the Attack Helicopter)
Pesoloco's Engineer Unit Graphics
Darksheer's Crossbowman and Modern Frigate Unit Graphics (We used this for the Missile Frigate)
Kryten's Horse Archer
SpencerH's New Catapult Attack Animation and Fire Galley Unit Graphics
Kal-el's Grunt Unit Graphics (We used it for the US Ranger)

Thank you for all for your great work, it helped make this mod what it is today.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed making it.
Have fun!



For version history, see History.txt

2.11 changes: (My notes from 2.1 and 2.11 got mixed together, so I hope I have everything updated here).
- General Change
-- Added place holders for future units, techs, buildings, resources, etc... named ZZ1-20, these items should not appear
in the game other than the civilopedia. If they do, contact me immidately and send me the save game
-- All civs get a colonist starting unit. This is to help the human player (computers plop down where they start) find a
good spot. This is the only colonist they get, unless they are expansionist.
-- Golden Age changed to 25 Years, I don't know maybe I'm just greedy.
-- Shield value in gold up from 4 to 6 gold. This is because with capitalization it reduces it to half, and I think 2 is
too much. This was changed long ago from 8 to 4.
-- Raise the turn penalty for rushing from 20 to 30 turns; this is to help against pop-rushing


- Governments

-- Fascism
--- Free units reduced from 3/5/8 to 2/3/5, but they get 25 free units. This is to make fascism great for smaller
civs, but not for larger ones.
--- Assimilation % reduced to 0%, Fascists don't assimilate they get rid of those that aren't like them
--- Rate cap reduced to 6 (from 7), this is to help detract prolonged use

-- Communism
--- Rate cap raised to 7 (from 6), give communism a more prolonged life
--- Free units raised from 2/4/6 to 3/5/8, they get 10 free units. This is to allow them to be better with larger
nations

-- Democracy
--- Free units raised to 1/1/1, this is to help the balancing of democracy. As it stands most don't like it

-- Despotism
--- Worker rate reduced to 1 (workers are only 50% effective)

-- City State
--- Changed from values at 2/4/6 to 1/2/3, they get 10 free units. If this is supposed to be for smaller nations (as
city states were) it makes more sense to have lower values.

-- Theocracy (this is where I tried something completely new)
--- Doesn't require building maintenance (meaning all buildings are free).
--- Free units reduced to 0/0/0, they get 0 free units
--- Units costs raised to 3/unit

-- Anarchy
--- Removed the Standard Tile Penalty, hopefully this will convince people to try switching gov'ts more often


- Units

-- Added
--- Prisoner (I was going to make it the POW, but didn't want to offend anyone), this is the unit that is captured, it
can do anything a worker can do and can build a city as well. You cannot get this unit any other way.
--- Engineer, this is an upgrade to the settler and the worker. It is like a prisoner but buildable and with 2 moves
--- Fire Galley, this is a normal galley, but with a 2 attack and defense and can only carry one unit
--- Dreadnaught, a precursor to the battleship, this unit upgrades from the destroyer and to the battleship
--- Missile Frigate, this is a weaker version of the battleship, but it is the only naval unit with ZOC
--- Attack Helicopter, this is a fighter helicopter as opposed to a transport

-- Changed
--- Renamed the Scout to Explorer, available to non-expansionist civs, removed All-terrain-as-roads, 2 Moves
--- Renamed the Explorer to Pioneer, available to Expansionists only, All-terrain-as-roads, 1 move
--- Hoplite reduced to 1/3/1 from 2/3/1

-- Naval Units
--- I have upped all naval movement, the modern ones now have double what they were


- Wonders

-- Added
--- Einstein's Lab (2x research output)
--- Arc de Triumph (Replaces Statue of Liberty as the Reduces War-Weariness for Democracies wonder)
--- Internet (A modern day great library)

-- Changed
--- Statue of Liberty (Doubles City Defenses, Gain an Aqueduct in every city)

[Desert Dog]

problem maybe?

Hey man I was checking out your latest mod 2.11. I noticed that you have captured units set to tactical nukes? I am sure you did not mean to allow this?

[Tori]

Yes, I have noticed that too a few moments ago, could be a funny game to play