Fantasy Empires Mod Discussion

[spoon]

Allright, fix it I will. And THEN, there will be much suffering!

(on a side note, if any of you had any ideas for other stuff to add/delete/tweak, now would be a good time to bring it up!)

[Stryke]

Hey Spoon,

any news on the progress with updating those files...? The Iron Claws are a bit impatient by now. They want to collect a few Undead heads and elven ears....

Warlord Stryke

[spoon]

Not yet (If you can believe it, I haven't had more than an hour's free time since Last Friday. (Well, free time that coincided with access to a computer! (Well, not counting that hour that I spent playing my turns for the too-many SE4 games that I am in... )))

My hope is to make the changes tonight, and get them tested and uploaded by tomorrow...

Last thing I want to do is have an under-fed, over-eager Orc on my hands!

[ April 28, 2004, 23:55: Message edited by: spoon ]

[spoon]

Finally finished the patch -- you can download it from the PBW mods library for now (named Fantasy Empires Mod Patch v1.01). I'll put in a request to have this Version supported on PBW, then we can start. Sorry for all the delays - and thanks for being patient!

The zip file is small (57k) and should be extracted to your Space Empires IV Gold folder. There are 6 files in it (facilities, TechArea, Components, VehicleSize, Readme, and ModInfo) that will replace your existing files (so click Yes to overwrite). If you have any questions, lemme know!

[Stryke]

Great work spoon !

The Iron Claws are ready to conquer the realm.

Warlord Stryke

[Rasorow]

is intrigued and wonders how the game goes

[ June 23, 2004, 00:06: Message edited by: Rasorow ]

[spoon]

Month 13. The treacherous demon eared elves to the East have began spreading like vermin, threatening our way of life by protecting the forests we like to burn. And to the North, the foul presence of an undead lich queen has us worried. One of our rogue imps burned out the zombie infestation in Vaulttower, and we are expecting retaliation even as we begs and asks for forgiveness.
- Warmaster Stench of the Foot Clan goblinhorde

(In other words, it's pretty early in the game, but it is shaping up to be fun!)

[Alneyan]

"The Tales of the Alabaster Tower Nestled in the Evergreen Valley by the Sea Side, or ALastara in short.

Very little happened during the Last two cycles, and the newly-founded Alliance has yet to encounter any resistance. There have been rumours of other sapient life, roaming in the lands; beings called... orcs are said to dwell near our cities. Let it be known that there is no such thing as sapience lying therein. Any proper life form would have expressed interest in knowning about the Elvi'Thna, or at least polite curiosity; instead, these... things have expressed naught but contempt towards our people, and all that we hold dear in our hearts.

Let no doubt shroud your beliefs; saying that those orcs are primitive would be a marvel of understatement. The most courteous conversation we had with these creatures have been so enlightening that words fail me, for the meaning of "Scrumph, Gropmp, Trer" are hard to convey with mere sentences alone. All the richness of such a statement speaks figures about the cultural development of these beings, and for a surety it explains why they have no interest in establishing formal relationships with the Elvi'Thnis.

As of yet, their... diplomacy remained a mixture of threats, greetings and despite. One of us have been held prisoner for a couple of cycles, and served as translator. How craven one has to be for accepting slavery in the midst of those barbarians; taking his own life, and a few of his captors with them, was the path a proper Elvi'Thna was to follow. Nonetheless, we shall not delve into such matters. So, this renegade served as interpreter, or so we believe, for his knowledge of his own mothertongue was far from being irreproachable.

After having received one insult too many, the Elvi'Thnis have withdrawn from any formal negociation with such lifeforms. Ignoring was the most diplomatic answer at our disposal, and fate itself helped us by... removing the turncoat. Rumour has it that he overheard secrets belonging to the Elvi'Thnis; such is only gossip, and does not the slightest grain of truth in it. Likewise, a few dissidents consider that those orcs do not belong to the same group; some of them are said to follow one leader, while the other ones belong to another pack. Idle speculation regarding any creature shall not be tolerated; all mountains may be different from one another, but they remain mountains for all relevant purposes.

Lastly, a word of warning to all wardens of the Elvi'Thnis: treachery does not require civilization. Therefore, all soldiers are to remain ready to defend their city at a moment's notice. We shall not take any chance when dealing with these savage hordes, lest carelessness should herald the end of the days of the Elvi'Thnis.

Weaver Shahrizai, for the Elvi'Thna Alliance."

Now without all the propaganda from these arrogant, isolationist and sneaky Elves: we are at turn 20 or so, and two Orc tribes have already been encountered (one to the north, and the other one to the south). The current focus has been colonization, but a small standing army is being built for now. Besides this, not much is going on, save for the... ahem... tense relationships on the border between Elves and Orcs.

[madkillercat]

First, neat mod. And where can I find that patch?
Next are some patchables I noticed.


No results/useless:

Chaos Rift
Item Creation
Alchemy 4 & 5
Weaponcraft (for Undead)
Undead ferocity


Easy fixes:

Name := Ghost
Tonnage := 2900

Name := Wizard
Name := Mage
Name := Archmage
Ability 2 Descr := A wizard never travels without a shield spell: [%ShieldPointsGenerated] phased shield points.

Name := Mobility I
Restrictions := One Per Vehicle

Name := Vampire (Dire)
Tech Level Req 1 := 2

High commander
Commander General
Sorcerer General
Pic Num := 10


"Family" issues:

Fear is an armor like Undead Tenacity?
Family := 2222

Gringotts Vault & Mana Matrix's
Facility Family := 9

Cavalry Stables & Crossbowman Barracks
Family := 1304

Name := Conjurer's Tower I & II
Name := Dark Tower I & II
Name := Celestial Tower I & II
Family := 1306


Is it an engine? What is supposed to do?:

Name := Resistance I
Number of Abilities := 1
Ability 1 Type := Standard Ship Movement
Ability 1 Descr :=
Ability 1 Val 1 := 0
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0


Inconsistent/Incomplete:

Name := Caravan I
Tonnage Space Taken := 4
Tonnage Structure := 40
Name := Caravan II
Tonnage Space Taken := 20
Tonnage Structure := 20
Name := Caravan III
Tonnage Space Taken := 20
Tonnage Structure := 20


Play balance:

Early game "trade kings" with "Marketplace cities" are decidely more advantageous than those waiting on long leadtime Miners/Farmers/Mana Guild researchers. The Marketplace with 1500 total resource generation rivals the long leadtime Capitol City Resources.


Undead seem...not-so-dead:

Things don't seem riht unless, "Undead" are actually necromatic humans. The undead have no cheap "Medical Bay." Since Undead do not have specialized facilities, how about every undead "ship" has built in medical bay? Also, some inherent "Boarding Defense" ability. Too bad an undead killing cleric "bridge" isn't possible.

[Alneyan]

The current patch is 1.1, but a 1.2 patch is in the plannings (some of the bugs you mentioned will be corrected; others slipped past my attention though, such as the size of the Caravan, not to mention the Ghost problem)

Mobility is the ship equivalent of Afterburners in the stock game, and not a proper engine (Movement is). So it is, and should indeed, be limited to one per vehicle.

The Resistance component works as an "armour" against Runes of Petrification (Engine Damage) and the various fear weapons (Weapon Damage). Resistance has a very high structure, which makes it much more likely to be hit when these special weapons make an appearance. But since it is also an engine, every Resistance component you put will lower your maximum speed; so you cannot use this component to become completely immune to Engine/Weapon damage, or to gain "cheap" hitpoints.