Balance Mod: Newest Nation - TC

[chrispedersen]

So, I'm starting to get back into my balance mod. So I'm still testing but I'm posting up eight components.

Balance Generators: Turns off Clams, Blood Stones, and Fever Fetishes.
Balance Boosters: Makes most boosters 10 gems more expensive.This directly lengthens the mid game, where armies are relevent.
Balance Age: Removes old age from many of the weaker nations secondary units.
BalanceCBMFix: Modifies CBM. Apply after CBM.
Balance Agartha: Some improvements to Agartha
Balance Abysia: Some improvements to Abysia
Balance Yomi: Lots of new national spells for yomi; a cult of eye eaters (multihero), theme changes which make them demonic and forbidding. Still too strong, I removed the sleeth unit.
BNoGenComp: Provides compensation to Abysia, Agartha, and Oceania, when there are no gem generators.
BalanceTien: Gives TC a multihero Thug Chassis. National Spells for Master of the way makes them useful.

I'm also working on a batch file that will allow you to select what modifications you want to play with, and use (or not use) other people mods as well.

BalanceGame: Combines all these mods + CBM 1.41, mostly for the game called: Balance.

[Redeyes]

I award this mod five PETA-approved sea-kittens

Why not do away with blood stones and fever fetishes if you do away with clams?

[Sombre]

There's irc talk of all gem gens either being removed or unique in the next cbm. Nothing decided though I think.

[chrispedersen]

Originally Posted by Redeyes

I award this mod five PETA-approved sea-kittens

Why not do away with blood stones and fever fetishes if you do away with clams?

Er, actually, I did away with blood stones and clams. I just got a brain fart when I posted.

As for fever fetishes.... I'm not convinced that they are abusive. They have a cost the other mods don't: namely tons of micromanagement and at least the prospect of losing the commander.

[Frozen Lama]

Is it possible to leave bloodstone as an earth booster?

[Sombre]

Can't mod away the gem gen part of it, no. It could be replaced with another booster however.

[hEad]

Bloodstones are the only thing that gives MA Agartha any viability - take them away and they are knackered.

Same with clams. No clams = no help for Marverni Competitiveness - Golems are the only thing going for them with any bite, you take away their means to forge clams and you take away their ability to summon Golems in numbers that matter.

Why not experiment with the cost of these items rather than wholesale removal?

[Sombre]

I'd say all gem gens promote an unhealthy game state, almost regardless of cost. The fact they are more useful/attainable for certain nations should be considered, but it certainly shouldn't impede their removal. If the only thing a nation has going for it is spamming gen gems then that nation needs a change because gen hoarding kinda sucks for all involved. I'm looking at you MA Oceania.

[hEad]

Originally Posted by Sombre

I'd say all gem gens promote an unhealthy game state, almost regardless of cost. The fact they are more useful/attainable for certain nations should be considered, but it certainly shouldn't impede their removal. If the only thing a nation has going for it is spamming gen gems then that nation needs a change because gen hoarding kinda sucks for all involved. I'm looking at you MA Oceania.

Well it says nothing about the item then and every thing about national balance.

A couple of possible options to consider then:

1. Examine the nations that rely on gem gens and compensate accordingly. There is no chance for Ag to field an army of stone if they can't get the blood stones. They are not a blood nation, so getting them is the pretenders job initially, so it is hardly spam. Make the cost of a Marble Oracle 15 earth gems and the player may welcome the removal of the bloodstone headache.

MA Oceania, with out clams what else has it got? Is it really conceptually different than say Ermors ability to spam undead? Its Ermors national advantage - so why cant Oceania's national advantage be amassing Astral pearls?

2. Adjust the cost of gens. Either make them more expensive in gems to produce or increase their magic path costs so they are only forgeable by a specific pretender build.

Either way, they just can't be cut with out consequence.

[Gandalf Parker]

Any consideration for making them unique?
That way they are still in the game, useful but not abusable (or no more than any other unique)