OK, here goes...
(Don't know if I am going to regret this or not.)
As it has been hinted at on the Sprite thread, I am currently working on an Ancient Age Mod. This mod is intended to be eventually used as a foundation for Ancient Scenarios, if anyone is interested in using it that way. I am also structuring this mod as playable in a random single-game setup. As it falls now, the science cost of the Advances, up to the Age of Reason, are approximately the same as the cost of the Advances up to Mid-Genetic in a default game.
Currently, the Tech Tree is pretty well established up to the beginning of the Dark Ages. There are are few things that I want to tweak in terms of the Tech Tree up to that point (mostly in terms of historical order), but from a playability standpoint, I believe it is ready to go for test purposes. I would like to add some more post-Dark Ages Advances though and flesh out that era more.
To give you an idea, what is happening, I have added 38 additional Advances up to the Dark ages. From a playability standpoint, the Ancient Age will take you to the Mid - Modern Age it terms of turns. It is eventually my intent for the Medieval/Renassaince Advances to take you to the end of a normal game.
I have also added 14 Ancient Age military units, 3 Ancient stealth units, 13 City Improvements and 8 Wonders in addition to what is already in place (the exception is the Wonders, some which have been either removed or renamed)
This will be a rather eurocentric Mod too. The Tech tree is built around what was happening in Europe and the Middle East from a historical standpoint.
I have also been adding the various tweaks that have been posted onsite for things such as Happiness, AI production and attack capabilities too.
Concernng units, it was my goal to have a vey gradual transition from unit to unit in terms of capabilities. This, I hope, will make combat a little tougher. I used up just about every sprite available for that time period too. I followed the following order in terms of availability, and there is generally some overlap.
Defensive
Offensive
Ranged
Flanker
Ranged/Bombard
Elite
I also hope this will work with the AI Frenzy/Diplomod, but really haven't extensively tested this yet, as I have been more concerned about entering the data, and making sure the game doesn't crash. (though I have an early version of the Frenzy Mod on my default setup) Does anyone know if I need to have that as part of the Scenario pack, or does the Mod read that slic file, since I do not have a special slic file for the Mod?
Initially the ideas I had floating around in my head were going to be implemented once the final MedMod came out for my personal use (at least in terms of concentrating on only the Ancient Age), but since one of my goals was to greatly extend the playtime of the Ancient Age, I decided to start building my own tech tree and unit lists, and it grew from that point.
I hope to be able to send an Alpha test to OmniGod tomorrow to post and for players to try. This is, however, a work in process. I do need to see how it plays, and more importantly, how it balances out. There are so many variables to take into account, and trying to accomplish one thing often will throw something else out of whack. And if anyone has followed what Wes and others have done with MedMod, they will have a greater understanding of those issues.
Finally, I am open to suggestions as to what needs to be fixed - this is why I will be posting the Mod at this point in time. I have run the game several times through the cheat mode for 150 turns or so without a problem, but in a game, there are so many events that can occur that can cause a crash - and those events often do not happen in every game.
If you playtest, I ask you to do the following
- Keep an eye on Gold, Pollution and Unhappiness. I especially want the game to take Unhappiness and make it a bigger issue for the player.
- Keep an eye on Combat inbalances, and tell me if there is a unit you end up favoring to the virtual exclusion of others.
- Do additional City Improvements need to be added?
- Follow the timeline and see if it coincides with what is occuring in the game.
- Make suggestions regarding how to flesh out the Medieval Age in terms of Advances.
There will be a Tech Tree and Units chart in the readme file to evaluate, but it requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.
[This message has been edited by hexagonian (edited January 31, 2001).]
(Don't know if I am going to regret this or not.)
As it has been hinted at on the Sprite thread, I am currently working on an Ancient Age Mod. This mod is intended to be eventually used as a foundation for Ancient Scenarios, if anyone is interested in using it that way. I am also structuring this mod as playable in a random single-game setup. As it falls now, the science cost of the Advances, up to the Age of Reason, are approximately the same as the cost of the Advances up to Mid-Genetic in a default game.
Currently, the Tech Tree is pretty well established up to the beginning of the Dark Ages. There are are few things that I want to tweak in terms of the Tech Tree up to that point (mostly in terms of historical order), but from a playability standpoint, I believe it is ready to go for test purposes. I would like to add some more post-Dark Ages Advances though and flesh out that era more.
To give you an idea, what is happening, I have added 38 additional Advances up to the Dark ages. From a playability standpoint, the Ancient Age will take you to the Mid - Modern Age it terms of turns. It is eventually my intent for the Medieval/Renassaince Advances to take you to the end of a normal game.
I have also added 14 Ancient Age military units, 3 Ancient stealth units, 13 City Improvements and 8 Wonders in addition to what is already in place (the exception is the Wonders, some which have been either removed or renamed)
This will be a rather eurocentric Mod too. The Tech tree is built around what was happening in Europe and the Middle East from a historical standpoint.
I have also been adding the various tweaks that have been posted onsite for things such as Happiness, AI production and attack capabilities too.
Concernng units, it was my goal to have a vey gradual transition from unit to unit in terms of capabilities. This, I hope, will make combat a little tougher. I used up just about every sprite available for that time period too. I followed the following order in terms of availability, and there is generally some overlap.
Defensive
Offensive
Ranged
Flanker
Ranged/Bombard
Elite
I also hope this will work with the AI Frenzy/Diplomod, but really haven't extensively tested this yet, as I have been more concerned about entering the data, and making sure the game doesn't crash. (though I have an early version of the Frenzy Mod on my default setup) Does anyone know if I need to have that as part of the Scenario pack, or does the Mod read that slic file, since I do not have a special slic file for the Mod?
Initially the ideas I had floating around in my head were going to be implemented once the final MedMod came out for my personal use (at least in terms of concentrating on only the Ancient Age), but since one of my goals was to greatly extend the playtime of the Ancient Age, I decided to start building my own tech tree and unit lists, and it grew from that point.
I hope to be able to send an Alpha test to OmniGod tomorrow to post and for players to try. This is, however, a work in process. I do need to see how it plays, and more importantly, how it balances out. There are so many variables to take into account, and trying to accomplish one thing often will throw something else out of whack. And if anyone has followed what Wes and others have done with MedMod, they will have a greater understanding of those issues.
Finally, I am open to suggestions as to what needs to be fixed - this is why I will be posting the Mod at this point in time. I have run the game several times through the cheat mode for 150 turns or so without a problem, but in a game, there are so many events that can occur that can cause a crash - and those events often do not happen in every game.
If you playtest, I ask you to do the following
- Keep an eye on Gold, Pollution and Unhappiness. I especially want the game to take Unhappiness and make it a bigger issue for the player.
- Keep an eye on Combat inbalances, and tell me if there is a unit you end up favoring to the virtual exclusion of others.
- Do additional City Improvements need to be added?
- Follow the timeline and see if it coincides with what is occuring in the game.
- Make suggestions regarding how to flesh out the Medieval Age in terms of Advances.
There will be a Tech Tree and Units chart in the readme file to evaluate, but it requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.
[This message has been edited by hexagonian (edited January 31, 2001).]
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