Mod Project, request from resume of ideas.

[Cohen]

I've started a big balance mod: on the trail of Zen Concept line, I want too to do something.

I'll made a single mod however. There's an attachment in the next replies.

Now what I ask is to players (to everyone, but a quick read to the Mod Documentation is a good thing, so to avoid to post something totally undoable via Mod for now) to say there what they'd like to see.

I've read about Clams&C, new pretenders (sadly I lack of graphic skill so I can't make a Spider Queen, but a Knight for Ulm with damage multiplier against bigger guys is perhaps doable - Tujdi idea), and most of the arguments posted here, but they're spread there and there.

The Mod is going to cover:

Pretenders (most of the Zen choices are appreciated by me, but not everything, and something IMO is missing).

Scales (order 3 misfortune 2 mandatory in actual game? Why? Death too exploitable? ... I'd modify scales to make them more worthy to take positive, at least for Production, Luck and Growth).

Items (gem producing items, and drain life weapons are already in the list. I'm studying too about those items that are rarely or never used ...)

Troops and Commanders (some small balance in prices and stats)

Magic Adjustment (review some spell, changing their cost and such. Changing some summons and other stuff).

Cameo/Flavour Modifies (like giving some more efficient weapon to those Ice Devils and Arch Devils that comes out with a "magical staff" that has stats like a human-sized quarterstaff, or giving a Cyplop some boulder to throw in battle ...)

More minds thinks better than one. Even if I'll reserve to myself the right to choose what to pick and what to left here in written words only.
If someone who's graphical skills (good) and is willing to design graphically some new pretenders I'd appreciate (I'd like to give Marignon a sort of Pope or Grand Theogonist as Pretender, for example).

I thanks everyone who'll help from now, IW included (I've written already a big PM to Kristoffer plenty of questions on how to do X, and if I could do Y), and to Edi who provided me time ago for other purposes a full sheet of units stats and ID numbers.
If someone want to cooperate writing the MoD too, email me at cohen[at]libero[dot]it

[Boron]

Nice plan .

A few suggestions/ideas :

- Make maenads Need not Eat . Ryleh freespawns from castles at the coast if possible upkeepfree too .

- Clams etc. : 2 Versions : 1 without changes , 1 which removes them completely from the game ( for mp mainly , if you change them it is too hard to find a way to balance them properly cause either you just delay the hoarding a bit or they are useless as a horde item ) .

- Scales : Improving luck is tricky i guess cause you can only improve the chance for good events . A lot of free militia etc. are very annoying though .
Improving Growth is tricky too because if you give it e.g. 0,5% growth / tick it is -0,5% growth / deathlevel .
This is horrible for those themes that require Deathscales like Desert tombs .

- Unused troops like militia : I think need not eat for them would be nice then the problem with supplying them is reduced . And it is thematic too : A knight ate normally food worth as much as the food for 20-30 militia/peasants .

- With lifedrain weapons don't weaken them too much ! They make "only" most national troops useless but otherwise they are not too strong .
Making blood thorn Att 0 to 1 and damage -2 to 0 but leaving costs as they are is fine i think then it is not as desireable as lifedrain weapon but still a cheap +1 blood empower item .
Hellsword : just increase costs to 20-30 slaves and blood 3 to forge .
Wraithsword : increase cost to 15-20 deathgems and death 3 to forge .

[Cohen]

Probably WraithSword will be D3S1, Hellsword B3F1, and Blood Thorn B3 with far less damage. Wraithsword is going to be Const-6 if i can set it.
Clams for now are in programs with W3. (mostly halving their hoarding, and requiring a more skilled mage to forge.)


Meanads not need to eat probably make them too easy to accumulate, and same from Ryleh freespans without gold unkeep.

Scales: Luck means too some magic items, gold, gems gems gems. Unluck means temple and lab destroyed, and pop loss.
For Desert Tomb C'tis ... I've seen ppl playing with Undead Hordes, and Banefire Archers ...

About giving Militia "Don't need to eat" is a good idea indeed ... as they're armed peasant and are used to eat with poor stuff, but perhaps this is excessive. Giving them various survival (mountain and forest) could be good. In waste they're not used to live, nor in swamps, meanwhile they could be enlisted sheperd or woodsmen.
Same as flagellants.

[Cohen]

Here an alpha preview of Pretenders ...

I mostly kept many of the Zen changes.

I improved more the human pretenders.
Made some small change (I'ven't time to list now).
Added a Gotik Grandmaster for Marignon, a Demon for Abysya and a Steel Lord for Ulm.
I too graphic from other mods, sadly I don't even know how to use anything better than paintbrush (and I use it very poorly).

If someone want to try and tell me something.
I'll keep working on this tomorrow.

[tka]

Your .zip file seems to have all files twice?
Apostata.tga with path Cohen\ and another Apostata.tga with path Programmi\dominions2\mods\Cohen\.

About balance: I think you improved human pretenders a little bit too much. Arch Druid with 4 nature! Maybe something little more special instead of huge amounts of nature magic. Thats just my opinion...

And just to mention: Almost all graphics are from my Devil's Lair mod.

[odd_enuf]

not sure if these are possible, but change the soul contract so it works like an ivy crown, the user gets an extra 2 or 3 devils with each casting of summon devil. Change vampire lords the same way, instead of being able to summon allies they get an extra 2 vampires with each casting of the summon vampire spell.

odd_enuf

[Cohen]

Sadly for what I know, I can't make human pretenders in any other way.
I see them as powerful caster, but I can't give them a "gem cost discount" or a certain school of magic, nor I can give them a different cost for increase their paths.
So I'm trying to making them more skilled in magic, because you lose the chance to take 1 province with army and 1 with pretender in early expansion. Even they're so frail that takes the most damage by dying.

For graphics I know, I'll put in the final Version a txt with credits. If someone is willing to help me with graphics I'll be very happy.

About Vampires and Soul Contracts, I can't do this because it's something hard-coded for now, and out of the modding possibilities.
I can remove Vampire Lord chance to Summon Allies, but no more.

[Cheezeninja]

Are you going to be implementing the reduction to Abysian commander costs that you have long been lobbying for?

[Cohen]

Warlock Apprentice to 130 gold
Ant Salamander to 150 gold
Ant Dragon to 280 gold

Yes that's it. All the other Aby Pricing is the same.

[Graeme Dice]

Cohen said:
Warlock Apprentice to 130 gold

Far too cheap, considering that just about every other 2/1 mage in the game is 140 gold, even those that are capital only.

Ant Salamander to 150 gold

This might be okay, but also means that you aren't paying anything for the fire resistance.

Ant Dragon to 280 gold

This is beyond ridiculous. The base price, assuming no cost for the basic stats of the unit should be 300 gold.