Wishlist: The Modder's Wishlist

[Endoperez]

Ability to remove an existing nation

As an example, a new, empty era into which unwanted nations can be moved, or a command to make a nation unselectable. Currently, it's complicated to move e.g. LA C'tis Desert Tombs into Middle Age.

[Tortanick]

Thanks Endoperez, I was just going to post that

I'd also like to add: some way of controling the maximum number of infinite heroes you can have. I want one hero where you can only have one at a time

[DrPraetorious]

I've got some requests regarding pretender design.

Firstly, I'd like to add additional options under the pretender design (in the toolkit) and under the check-for-cheaters control.

For example - four types of pretenders, normal (as it is now), weak, strong and devastating.

Weak pretenders are built on 200 points. Scales cost 20 points each, and the dominion cost multiplier is 3. Dormancy is only worth 100 points, and imprisoned is worth 175 (which gives you a slight boost for those choices.)

Strong prenteders are built on 600 points, scales cost 30, the dominion cost multiplier is 10. Dormancy is worth 225 points, imprisoned is worth 375 points.

Devastating, 800, 40, 15, worth 300 or 500.

My suggestion is an #add_scheme command, with the following child commands.

#base_points <num>
#dominion_multiplier <num>
#magic_multiplier <num>
#scale_multiplier <num>
#points_dormant <num>
#points_imprisoned <num>
#end

The game should automatically add the option to cycle through all existing schema in the Design Pretender God dialogue, and in the game creation dialogue "cheat prevention" should scroll through all available design schema.
Of course, there are other ways to achieve the same result (replacing all the national pretender lists, say,) but I think this ought to be achievable directly.
It'd also be nice if the AI could read these schema when making pretenders (assuming it spends points and doesn't pick them from a pre-compiled list.)

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My second request may be completely infeasibl - but I'd like to be able to bring back themes.

I'd like to add another entire panel to pretender design. In that panel, I'd like to add a host of options, which either cost or give you points, and which modify your national characteristics. This is the logical way in which I think it'd be structured. I've got an entire list of ten sets of these, I'd like to put them under a pretender design section called "Commandments". I'm sure everyone could see how this would be cool.
The underlying idea is that I'd like to be able to take any position and "twiddle" it into a (second-rate, like vanheim, say) blood position (or necromancer position, or amphibious position, etc.). Concept is - I'm the new God, if I start demanding blood sacrifices, I expect Timmy the Archtheurg to get with the program.
I expect a lot of people wouldn't like this - and it'll be hell to game-balance it - but

#add_misc_option
#option_type 1
-- You can't have more than one option from the same "type".
#option_name "Make me an altar of splintered bones and rotting flesh!"
-- If possible, load these dynamically into the sub-menu.
#option_requires_mdeath 5
#option_requires_sdeath 0
-- Likewise for each magic path and scale. "Require death 0" means doesn't allow growth.
#option_nation 29
-- Now we have a block of mod commands which it runs if you are Pythium. All the same mod commands should be available as when modding a faction from scratch, in addition...
#option_cost_fixed 3
#option_cost_cumulative 2
-- Cost in pretender design points. Fixed points are multiplied by the cost of a scale - cumulative points are added together and then priced as an equivalent dominion increase, so discourage people from piling on lots of options.
#remrecunit <nbr>
#remreccom <nbr>
-- Ideally, this should pull all instances of a given unit number from the national recruit list. If the only commands you can support clear the list entirely - then just add this one.
#clearcapitalsites
-- So that you can change the list of capital-only units.
#end_nation
-- And a list for each nation that can take the mod.
#end

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And, thirdly, I'd like some more nation modding commands, but I'll compile that list later.

[FrankTrollman]

Where do your point totals come from? I am unclear as to how making Dominion 10 (and the associated Awe effect) cost more makes pretenders stronger.

Heck, if anything the reverse seems to be true. If going for a standard super-combatant great kraken as Atlantis, you're looking at the cost to get a Dominion of 10 dropped down to 108 for "weak pretenders". It previously cost 252 under the normal rules, so the number of free points an awake god with Dominion 10 has is virtually unchanged save that scales are cheaper.

In short, while I agree that there should be an option for giving people more or less starting points, changing the relative cost of starting choices willy nlly is a terrible idea.

-Frank

[Tortanick]

I agree with Frank on that one.

I'd also like to see themes back.

[Foodstamp]

I would like to see the following commands added to the game for modding...

#skeptic (Allows a unit to lower an enemy's dominion, just like the skeptic unit from Arco.)

#seduce (Like the Oreiads from Arco and maybe the succubus version?)

#lure (The lure ability the Oceania Sirens have)

I apologize if any of these are already in the game. I checked the mod.pdf for them and could not find them.

[Twan]

Yes I would find better to have just a multiplier for starting points as a start option (but a screen before pretender design/loading would become needed) or a simple #dpmultiplier [x] as a mod command (with possible values in the 50-250% range).

[Endoperez]

Foodstamp said:
I would like to see the following commands added to the game for modding...

#skeptic (Allows a unit to lower an enemy's dominion, just like the skeptic unit from Arco.)

#seduce (Like the Oreiads from Arco and maybe the succubus version?)

#lure (The lure ability the Oceania Sirens have)

I apologize if any of these are already in the game. I checked the mod.pdf for them and could not find them.

Good suggestions. For now, you can use #copystats to copy a Skeptic, perhaps an Oreiad, and change or remove the abilities you don't want.

[DrPraetorious]

I mean "stronger pretender" in the specific sense of the pretender itself, as opposed to the benefits it gives to the nation.

Firstly, I made an error - you have 350 points to customize your pretender, not 400.

Okay, the points cost for each physical form are, I believe, either a function of the unit itself or of the nation(s) to which it is available - I didn't see a way to mod this in the manual, which obviously needs fixin'. Either way, dynamically changing those prices is essentially impossible.

So, how do you halve the cost of being a dragon with earth and fire, across all nations? Well, you double the total amount of points available, and double the cost of everything else on which you spend points (scales and dominion.)

If I have 350 points total, and I want to spend 160 on dominion and scales, I have 190 left to make my pretender Himself. This will buy me a dragon with fire-4 and earth-2.

If I have 700 points total, and I want to spend 360 on dominion and scales (which buys the same thing if prices are doubled), I have 340 left to maky my pretender Himself. This will buy me a dragon with fire-5 and earth-5. Yeah?

[FrankTrollman]

Physical Form costs are moddable. The "#gcost" of the form is its base cost a a pretender. So if you don't think te new non-ehereal VQ is worth 175 frickin points, you can simply set a new gcost for her of something more reasonable like 125 and she'd appear with the new cost.

As for he rest, I don't think it's practical. Dominion scales of about 1-8 are an empire toggle, but dominion scores in the 9-10 range are a combat buff to your god. There's no way to regulate with cost multiples what people are doing by purchasing dominion scores.

That being said, I would like to see a "magic pretenders" option where purchasing picks is flatter. Path increase * 8 gets really expensive really fast, and I'd like just once to have the kind of powerful rainbow god that the computer is always running around with on a good AI scheme.

-Frank