Conceptual Balance Series (Mod)

[Huntsman]

Turin said:
The oracle doesn´t generate the gems, because Zen put a #clearspec command after the #gemprod command. So it gains the ability to produce gems and loses it immediately.

I do that with my kids: "Here, have a Snickers. NEVERMIND!" and yank it away as they grab for it.

[Edi]

All right people, there seems to be some annoyance about Zen's mistake regarding the Oracle.

I've attached a corrected version of the mod file (v2.21), as well as an updated readme for it to this post.

Enjoy.

Edi

[Oversway]

Thanks Edi!

[ioticus]

Huntsman said:

I do that with my kids: "Here, have a Snickers. NEVERMIND!" and yank it away as they grab for it.

That's just wrong!

[Oversway]

So I was reading one of the mp threads talking using the mods and I thought I'd post some of the ideas here that were interesting. I don't take credit for any of it.:

- make the common sc buffs (quickness, flying, and luck were mentioned) harder to obtain. Raise spell level and/or cost, as well as raise item cost.

- nerf life draining weapons less... people seem upset with -10 damage on wraith and hellswords. Would 0 damage be better compared to some other weapons? I'm not sure what is a good choice here since I don't mind the item mod as is.

[Reverend Zombie]

Oversway said:

- nerf life draining weapons less... people seem upset with -10 damage on wraith and hellswords. Would 0 damage be better compared to some other weapons? I'm not sure what is a good choice here since I don't mind the item mod as is.

The -10 damage seems wrong to me, thematically (I know everyone's sense of theme differs).

What if the swords had the base damage of a "normal" 2-hand sword, but were balanced with a *defense penalty*?

The idea here is that the swords are so bloodthirsty that they pull their wielders along recklessly as they seek more life to drink.

[Oversway]

A high defense and/or attack penalty would be interesting. Life draining swords are hard to use

So how much? -3a -3d? -6d only? It sounds like a good idea but I'm probably missing some facet...

[PDF]

Reverend Zombie said:

The -10 damage seems wrong to me, thematically (I know everyone's sense of theme differs).

What if the swords had the base damage of a "normal" 2-hand sword, but were balanced with a *defense penalty*?

The idea here is that the swords are so bloodthirsty that they pull their wielders along recklessly as they seek more life to drink.

Yep, that what I did in my small ItemBalance mod.
Ad : Available here ! http://pascal.difolco.free.fr/ItemBalancePDF_0.95.zip

[quantum_mechani]

About a month ago I talked with Zen, and he said it was unlikely he would be putting in more work on the conceptual balance mods. So, we arranged that I would take over the project, with input from him and others.

Anyway, after a lot of modding and testing, here is finally the full set of conceptual mods (naturally, there will be more versions to fix whatever problems crop up). As making readmes for all of these would be a monumental task, I have only made one for items, which are almost the only changes that are not easy to check in game. Here is highlight of what is different from previous mod versions:

Pretenders:

Oracle is fixed, divine glyph once again is immortal, and lots of human rainbow mages are improved.

Scales:

Very little different, though supplies and gold will be slightly more common.

Spells:

Many globals that are rarely used are cheaper (riches from beneath, wrath of the sea), harvester of sorrows has better stealth, some other minor tweaks to spell costs.

Items:

Almost a complete overhaul. Life drain nerf re-done, most area of effect weapons back to normal, extra cost to items like water bracelet removed, many weak items like stone sphere made cheaper. Most of what remains from the last version is the hoarding changes, and the boosts to ranged weapons.

Nations:

No earlier version to compare to. In general, troops with low armour were made cheaper, and mages/sacred units only improved for the weakest themes (BE Ermor, IF Ulm, serpent cult Pythium, etc.). Also base caelum received a nerf, remains to be seen if it is enough. In addition, Turin's hero mod is built into conceptual nations.

Complete:

For ease of use, all of the above mods have been complied into one for those who want it.

[quantum_mechani]

Pretenders.