Conceptual Balance Series (Mod)

[Edi]

Another problem that I had to fix was that the Pretender mod was happily trying to use new armor types that were only specified in the nation mod. Here's a hint: If you have a series of mods that are supposed to be complementary, make sure that you have ALL the new weapons, armor and modifications to existing ones specified in EACH mod. Otherwise funny and not so funny things might happen. It makes for some more maintenance headaches, especially if using versions that were not updated at the same time, but it beats no having the mod work as intended.

I'll post the checked mods in one single zip file when I'm done, and I'll just add .01 to the version number (i.e. Pretenders 2.5 will become Pretenders 2.51 etc)

Edi

[Edi]

Caelian seraph description talks about them having both air and water magic, but they only have A2, no water at all. I'll ad W1 for them.

Edi

[quantum_mechani]

Thanks a lot, Edi, I realized they would need editing, but I didn't count on this much.

I was aware of the formating issues with making the mods in .rtf, but by the time I realized it the mods were basicly done. Good catch on the gem genearting issue, and te description is also wierd, he should be scrapped as a pretender. Water magic on the seraph is probably a good idea.

[Edi]

You're welcome.

I'm pretty anal retentive about spelling errors, formatting and documentation, so what you're basically going to get is a completely reformatted version of the mods where it is visually much easier to find everything (separator lines, allcaps header lines etc) and where everything will use the same syntax. I already had complete readmes for most of the recent stuff, so this is basically just updating those.

I would also like it if we renamed the mod files a little bit, to be like "concept<insert modname>.dm", so it'll be easier to see which file you're dealing with. E.g. "conceptpretender.dm", "conceptspell.dm" etc. Right now it's "concept<alphabetsoup>.dm" and it's another thing that annoys the hell out of me.

The nation mod readme is going to take a file, so I'll post that separately, but everything else will be in the same package (mods, readmes, the graphics files etc).

The dwarf elder and the seraphs, I'll fix those. I would also like to see the Gryphon Rider (garnet amazon sacred unit) changed to be more like the black hunters of Machaka, i.e keep the original gold cost of 125 but make them stay as gryphons after the battle if the rider is killed. Otherwise even the cost reduction to 100 gold will make them too costly due to fragility because currently the gryphons disappear after battle (it's done with the #tmpsecondshape command instead of #secondshape). That's the only change I'm planning to the nation mod, and I think it might see the gryphon riders used a bit more.

By the way, the crystal amazons are not modified at all. Is this intentional?

Edi

[quantum_mechani]

On gryphon riders; keeping them after battle seems slightly unthematic, they are supposed to be very wild and independent. I have seen them used even at 125 gold when you simply need flyers, on the other hand I don't think having the gryphons stick around would necessarily be overpowered.

I didn't see any point in editing crystal amazons as they are not in the game other than as mercs or specifically placed in a scenario. I have no problem with you re-naming the files.

[Edi]

I'll see what to do with the gryphon riders. In any case, the pretender, spell and nation mods have been checked and fixed, and there are now complete readmes for pretenders, spells and scales.

I'll post the lot tomorrow or the day after, after I've cheked everything one more time.

It might also be a good idea to make a creature mod that incorporates all the changes to the summoned creatures that the spell mod does, but which leaves the spells themselves alone. It doesn't have a banner, unless someone wants to Photoshop one, but the mod file itself would be easy to do. That way you would have vanilla spells but modified creatures if you like the spell costs the way they are.

Edi

[quantum_mechani]

Edi said:

It might also be a good idea to make a creature mod that incorporates all the changes to the summoned creatures that the spell mod does, but which leaves the spells themselves alone. It doesn't have a banner, unless someone wants to Photoshop one, but the mod file itself would be easy to do. That way you would have vanilla spells but modified creatures if you like the spell costs the way they are.

Perhaps, though I think a better dividing line would be summons vs. spells. i.e., one mod modifies the cost and stats for summons, the other handles everything else.

[Turin]

Edi said:
The nation/hero mod also suffers from the following problem: For nations whose heroes differ from one theme to the next but retain the same name (specifically Pythium), the heroes for one theme have been modified, while the others have not. E.g. the Pythium hero who rides a serpent (Hierogallus the Hero) is modified for the basic theme (monster #506) but not for Serpent Cult (monster #866).

Edi

Ah that was my mistake. As far as I know hierogallus is the only hero though that changes between themes.

[Edi]

All right, as promised, the compilation package is ready.

It contains the following mods in their entirety (mod file, icon file and possible readme file):

• Conceptual Balance Pretenders v2.51
• Conceptual Balance Spells v2.01
• Conceptual Balance Scales v1.3
• Conceptual Balance Items v1.31
• Conceptual Balance Nations v1.11
• Conceptual Balance Complete 1.01

The package includes readmes for Pretenders, Spells, Scales and Items. Item readme is made by quantum_mechani, the other readmes were written by me. All mods have been renamed to the format of "conceptbalance_<aspect>_<version number>.dm" for improved recognition and clarity. Readme naming convention is identical, with the word "Readme" added.

The Nations mod does not have a readme yet, because that is such a massive undertaking to produce from scratch that it's going to take several days to complete at a minimum. If I keep getting one day employment gigs, it's going to take a lot longer, and then there are various things from Real Life that will inevitably keep me from the task at other times.

All mods have been synchronized to use the exact same syntax on weapon and armor modding, comment lines, structure and other aspects. Most have more or less improved readability. The spell mod especially has been extensively reformatted to make it more readable and easier to expand upon and maintain.

ALL mods have had the several metric tons of spelling errors in unit descriptions fixed, because they drive me into a murderous rage when I spot them in-game. And for further reference, Guard and guardian are spelled with UA, NOT AU. Next person who repeats that mistake in a mod I undertake to proofread/check for integrity should not be surprised to find me taking a fireaxe first to their doors and shortly after to their heads.

The nations mod has had the following changes made to it:

• The Hierogallus issue has been fixed.
• Caelian seraphs now possess W1 (both standard and RotR)
• Gryphon riders have reverted back to 125 gold, but turn to gryphons when the rider is killed (ala black hunter becoming a hunter spider). This makes them somewhat more useful and desirable, especially since they are fliers, but I am of the opinion that it in no way breaks the game and that the rarity of the garnet amazons combined with their cost makes it a non-issue.
• Unit modding groups all indies together, so nations which have indie units on their rosters (specifically Arco and Man) only have national units unique to them listed under their headings and should refer to indie section for the other changes. Makes for a shorter and more logically organized mod structure.

The Pretender mod has had Dwarven Elder erased and the Ice Robe armor added.

The Item mod has not been tampered with apart from the syntax and structure, but is denoted as modified by increased version number nonetheless.

The Complete mod is a compilation of all of the single aspect component mods, and as such has some structural differences. Weapon and armor modding for standard armors and new armors has been moved to the beginning of the mod, right after scale modding. Duplicated effort from several mods (e.g. Pretenders and Spells) has been removed, there is only one set of equipment modding. Magic item stat modding is in its own section (the very last one) in the Item mod.

All of the Complete mod sections are identified with a large splashy header and have the version number of the individual component mod listed.

For any further development of the CB series, this set should be used as the basis to start from, both in naming convention and mod syntax, so that we will have a consistent set to play with.

That is all. Now hop to it and download the lot.

Edi

[Edi]

And I won't mind getting feedback from the modders and the people who use them either. Either by PM or by email [edirr(at)welho.com].

Edi