Re: LA Nation: Ulm Reborn - UPDATE v.085
 

Hang on, 'find' a good sprite? You mean /make/ a good sprite. That is if hastily editing a black acolyte's robes to be white and giving him a book to carry actually counts http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

I didn't know that about Linux. It sounds very annoying. I'll try to fix that stuff up in future versions of my mods, but to be honest it's likely it'll slip my mind, I'm too used to windows.

In a future version Ulm Reborn will get an all new pretender and maybe a couple extra from the vanilla ones.

The Emergent has the same attack as the penitent - he's no more skilled, just stronger and more determined. I think the anchorites are good enough to use regularly now. Those immunities are nice when the magic is flying and they are still capable of dealing damage equal to their cost.

I hope you enjoy the mod - any and all feedback is very welcome. I'll probably try that itemslots fix soon too, see if I need to apply it to a bunch of my work.

Re: LA Nation: Ulm Reborn - UPDATE v.085
 

Oops, sorry about the sprite! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Well, it shows I thought it was Kristoffer quality, at least.

The case sensitive thing is a bit annoying, I'll try to note down anything I have to fix and let you know. I can imagine it would be very hard to hunt down any problems if you don't get any error messages yourself.

Makes sense about the Emergent. The Anchorites are cool.

I think the itemslots fix is probably worthwhile, because in trying to make a solid thug, having low head protection actually makes quite a big difference (1 in 5 hits or so do 10 more damage than they should, it's quite a lot).

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

Excellent! I was playing an Ulm Reborn game when I upgraded to Dom 3 3.08, and all of a sudden I noticed my White Acolytes getting extra magic. I was planning to post a bug report on this thread ... and you beat me to it!

I can't wait to fire up a new game with v1.1. Ulm Reborn is really a quality mod. Each commander (especially each of the priests) has a distinct purpose. Each unit has a place in the army. And it's really fun to play!

Thanks for a great mod, Sombre!

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

You're welcome, thanks for the feedback.

I'm playing as Ulm Reborn in a duel against llamaneast right now - he's using Vaettihiem. So far we've only had a couple of clashes but the reborn guard were looking solid against the trolls. Be interesting to see how it plays out.

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

Whee! The faithful warriors of Ulm are smiting the heck out of the unbelievers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I'm running a new game on Edi's fixed Parganos map (thanks Edi!) and 9 AI opponents. Indies are set to 9, and site frequency is set to 75%. Those are my usual settings for every game I play....

My pretender is an imprisoned F9N4 Red Dragon with 5 candles' of dominion strength. Scales are Order 1, Productivity 3 (of course), Cold 1, Luck 3, and Drain 3. I think that's all correct, but I could be off by a point or two, because I'm doing it from memory. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

So, um, thoughts:
Hoch-Hammers make great prophets. 'Nuff said.
F9N4-blessed Black Templars tear through Shades without even slowing down. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Those li'l White Acolytes are GREAT for research. Just stockpile them one-at-a-time, and pretty soon you can have a regular research academy.
That said, Ulm Reborn still isn't the research king. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif It really pays to focus your research and beeline toward your goal. I'm about to hit Conjuration 5 to unlock the last of my lovely angels.
Speaking of angels, I got one as a multihero! Yay!

This mod rocks. Ulm Reborn is as much fun to play as any of the "stock" races in Dom3, and that's quite a compliment. Thanks again, Sombre!

(PS: Any chance of some more pretender choices in a later version?)

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

I think I spotted a wee bug in v1.1 ... The Hoch-Hammer has hand slots.

His description says that he won't use anything other than his sacred White Hammer, and previous versions enforced that rule by taking away his hand slots to prevent him from equipping any magic weaponry. However, v1.1 has given the Hoch-Hammer two hand slots, just like a regular Hochmeister, so that I can now outfit him with my choice of magic weaponry and/or shields.

Of course, I don't want to give him anything other than his White Hammer. And that actually was a problem for me when I blindly sent my Hoch-Hammer prophet into an Arena death-match. I didn't want the Trident, but I figured it was a good way to get some major XP for my mobile artillery. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Unfortunately, Mikael's first duel was against a Lich pretender. His mighty White Hammer made short work of the Lich (silly AI), and he progressed to the next stage. Unfortunately, the Lich was carrying a Rune Smasher, which Mikael foolishly grabbed. Then he tried to fight his next duel with the stupid Rune Smasher ... and without his White Hammer. Needless to say, poor Mikael met a hideous fate at the hands of a skelly-spamming Wight Mage. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

If it hadn't been the AI's pretender with that Rune Smasher, I would feel like I got suckered. Even so, I just recruited another Hoch-Hammer, waited six turns, and prophetized the New Guy. No big loss....

Oh, I also got Van Duk, the Reborn Noble. That guy is nice. Very thuggable. He's been carrying around a Flambeau for a while, and that was pretty cool. My Garnet Sorceress is about to give him a Hell Sword, and we'll see how he does with that. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

Since Sombre seems to be busy with other mods -- and good for him! -- I went ahead and fixed this bug in my own version of the mod. All you have to do is add the following line:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>#itemslots 13440</pre><hr />
... just before the #end of the Hoch-Hammer's definition. I have tested this fix, and it seems to work properly. Now my Hoch-Hammers have head, body, and two miscellaneous slots.

On the same topic, I just noticed that my Reborn Noble hero has three miscellaneous slots in addition to the other standard item slots. Cool! He can wear Precious, a Girdle of Might, and still have room to carry a Cauldron of Broth. Be afraid! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

EDIT: Um, it occurred to me that I should clarify something. I do not intend to slight Sombre's work on this mod in any way, and I certainly don't want to steal any of the credit that is rightfully his. I figure he's busy with Arga Dis right now, and he just doesn't have the time to fix such a minor bug. So I figured out how to fix it, and I thought I'd share the fix in case anyone else wants it.

No offense meant, Sombre. Ulm Reborn is a great mod and tremendous fun to play. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

I was just looking at this mod again last night (playing as it rather than against it). You know, it really is absolutely excellent, I love it. I think it's one of my favourite nations in the game, which is really saying something.

I'm going to try to get Ulm Reborn into the MP games I host (along with Vaettiheim and maybe others once I've looked into them more), ideally by default on the same footing as all the other LA nations (if I can overcome a technical snag), since I think they add a lot of interest to the game.

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

They've really grown on me too. They're probably my favourite mod nation, ahead of the others I've made and Zepath's stuff. Not sure exactly why either.

I have some ideas for minor changes to them - I think the reborn guard are a tad too expensive for example.

Next version will add another national hero, make some changes,... no new units though.

Re: Ulm Reborn v.1.1 new patch compatible FIXED
 

Cool, glad there's a new version coming out.

I've been thinking quite a lot about the balance of Ulm Reborn and Vaettiheim. I think they're well balanced against each other, but compared to the vanilla nations they've both got a major weakness in one area - they have no recruitable-anywhere mages of any strength. I've been looking through all the other LA nations, and I think all of them have a reasonably strong recruitable-anywhere mage capable of some good battle magic. Hmm, wish I had dominions here so I could give some examples. But check out any vanilla nation.

In the early game and on small maps it isn't too important, but I think playing either nation against almost any vanilla nation on a large-ish map you'd ultimately be doomed, because you'd eventually be out-magicked. Ulm Reborn in particular has the problem that your only real mages, the white priests, are not only hard to come by but also very easily killed off by Magic Duel.

I wonder if you could change the mage lineup to be something like:

Archivist: Same as current White Acolyte
White Acolyte: E2 (50%)S
White Priest: As current White Priest

If the white priest had 1 less hp than the white acolyte (as is the case I think with Pythium?), he wouldn't be targeted by magic duel until after any white acolytes with astral, I think.

I'm sorely tempted to suggest giving the White Priest a (FAES) random - that would be great, even if it was just 50%. But they're not meant to be a nation of strong mages I suppose, so that would probably be over the top.

What do you think?