Permanent Death, City States and Wanderer Factions?

from Elemental Forums

Just how would we get these options in to the game?

I've had a look at "City States" and I've gotten 90% there,  first I added this new ability:

<AbilityBonus InternalName="CityStateAbility">
        <AbilityBonusType>Player</AbilityBonusType>
        <AbilityBonusOption InternalName="CityState">
            <DisplayName>City State</DisplayName>
            <Description>This faction can build all improvements in one settlement but cannot train Pioneers.
            <Icon>Ability_Civics_Icon.png</Icon>
            <GameModifier>
                <Provides>This faction can build all improvements in one settlement.</Provides>
            </GameModifier>
            <GameModifier>
                <Provides>Unable to build Pioneers</Provides>
            </GameModifier>
            <Cost>-1</Cost>
            <HideWhenUpgraded>0</HideWhenUpgraded>
            <Type>Army</Type>
            <AIData AIPersonality="AI_General">
                <AIPriority>5</AIPriority>
            </AIData>
        </AbilityBonusOption>
</AbilityBonus>

Then, I added a Restricted property to all pioneers when the player faction has the above ability.  And, created a new full set of Improvements that is basically a copy of the entire improvements file where all buildings require the new city state town.  This is all working fine.

What this ability really needs is auto-razing of cities when they are conquered.  Or some other, better solution that would fit the theme, ideally a conquered city would become owned by the bandit (Monsters and Ruffians) faction.  Maybe that city continually produces bandits until it is conquered by a normal faction etc.

 

"Wanderer Faction"

As the Wanderer faction you could turn EFE into a sandbox adventure game...  sort of a Mount and Blade: Warband mode but in a procedurally generated fantasy setting that lives and breathes.

I had a look at this last night.  It is possible to make a player faction that has no population or zone of control.  Wanderer sovereigns could "settle" to make a campsite where they can respawn and it should be possible to tweak the diplomacy settings for this individual faction so that it can exist side by side with the major factions.

Again though it needs to change the way the player interacts with foreign cities... you should be able to visit cities, not conquer them.  And for this mode to be rewarding it would probably need extensive scripting for custom mechanics.  I wonder if anyone here has any ideas about this.

 

"Permanent Death"

I'd like to see there be a % chance for a champion or henchman to permanently die.  This is more of a request as I have no idea where to start with this.  I think this could go a long way towards making each campaign more memorable.

3,200 views 5 replies
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Following - all sound very interesting. 

City states - would be great.  Kind of goes against the old idea of a sovereign re-invigorating the earth (i.e. you need a sov to have a faction) but would be a good addition to the dynamic of the game.  Kind of civ'ish as well - but still good.  (see those 2 minor digs.. :) )

Wandering faction - really like the idea of this - although think it would need to be a bit of a beefy Sov.   Are you thinking more in tune with the player being a wanderer or NPC wanderer?  I'm assuming both.   If player - mana/gildar generation would be the primary issue I think, and it would probably play like a roaming rpg - i.e. a core group of heroes.   As an NPC, if sufficiently beastly they could survive awhile.  Not sure what their purpose/AI would be though.. they might just protect the campsight or try to whack anything that walks by.

Perm death... needs to be a small chance :)  But also for enemy!  One of my most annoying experiences was finally cornering an enemy down to his last 2 cities, he had all his heroes with their sweet sweet loot.  I take the 2nd to last city so all the heroes spawn in the last city...which is promptly taken by another enemy.  I was sad.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting jutetrea, reply 3
Following - all sound very interesting. 

Wandering faction - really like the idea of this - although think it would need to be a bit of a beefy Sov.   Are you thinking more in tune with the player being a wanderer or NPC wanderer?  I'm assuming both.   If player - mana/gildar generation would be the primary issue I think, and it would probably play like a roaming rpg - i.e. a core group of heroes.   As an NPC, if sufficiently beastly they could survive awhile.  Not sure what their purpose/AI would be though.. they might just protect the campsight or try to whack anything that walks by.

 

Mana / resource generation is actually fine as well...  Mana regeneration can be set in the faction file to whatever we like and there is code to automatically get resource bonuses on certain triggers, a custom tech tree could also increase the mana regen rate and provide another type of progression. Beefing up / balancing wanderer factions would take some tweaking but it is entirely doable.  As to what that faction is supposed to "do" with themselves.. there are a lot of things.  All of the victory conditions should still be intact though the means of casting the spell of making would need to be different.

What I have in mind is /what I know can be done for Wanderers:

        - powerful hero, no unit production or buildings.  Easy to do.
        - Custom research tree, and research is generated through exploration, questing or trade. Easy to do.
            - Tech tree could solve the no crystals problem and provide different levels of mana regen etc.
        - No zone of control. Easy.
        - Conquered cities auto raze. Don't know if this can be done.
        - Campsite settlement auto razes when you leave?  Don't know.
        - Enlist as a champion for another faction.  Might be able to fudge with a special kind of diplomatic deal.
        - "Do you have a task for me" dialogue in the diplomacy screen
              - Generates a new quest in the territory of this faction.
              - Reward includes relationship boost.
        - Defensive bonuses when camped.  Easy.

etc

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I have also been playing with making a "campsite" out of cities, for use in a campaign. It works but the big problem is that you can only build on fertile land and if you raze the "campsite" it salts the earth.