Mod: Gaea, Cradle of Forests (3.08 compatible)

[Foodstamp]

Version 1.02

Item slot bug introduced in 3.08 is fixed on all units


Version 1.01 now available

The new version of this mod is attached to this post and the reply with the list of changes.


----------------------------------------------------------

Attached is a mod I did as a self indulgence. I always wanted to play as a nation that was themed around Nature's Wrath. Where the forest becomes sentient and works towards reclaiming the world from civilization.

This mod is not balanced towards vanilla. It is more difficult than the standard nations to play against the AI due to the special limitations on the nation and it's units. Surprisingly, the AI plays this nation half way decent because it can ignore certain limitations (Bug I am sure) that the player cannot ignore.

I don't want to give away too much of how this nation works because part of the fun is discovering how to use it effectively. I will give some basic information to help the player devise a strategy.

The nation has no recruitable commanders or units. All units either come through freespawns dependent on the commanders you have, or through summoning.

In order to lead your nonmagical freespawns, you will have to use creative thinking involving the Nymph commander.

This nation only has access to nature magic. In order to gain access to other paths of magic, you will need to recruit independent mages or design your pretender accordingly.

I hope the above helps someone playing the mod for the first time develop a strategy for playing the nation without me giving too much away on how the nation works.

It is important to note I have included a Pretender from Nova Deus, the World Tree, using the graphics and the exact stat setup from that mod. The original creators of the mod are Zepath, Wauthan and Endoperez.

All other custom graphics in the mod (There are only a few) come from Age of Wonders and the Civ3 mod community.

I created this nation on a whim, and it is one of my favorite custom nations I have created to play. It adds a different feel and an entirely new playstyle in single player. I hope you enjoy it as well.

[BandarLover]

Excellent mod Foodstamp. One of the more unique playing styles for sure. I'm only about mid game with them, and I've been concentrating more on their summons but here are my thoughts thus far:

Seducing commanders is awesome! Granted, I guess I don't know the mechanics behind seduction that well. Can you only seduce in provinces adjacent to your capital, or must they be next to a province you own with a fort? I had no trouble seducing at the beginning but when I roamed my nymphs further abroad, was unable to bring back any commanders, said I had no place to take them. Granted, I didn't expand with mercs like this nation so obviously should, what with all the gold and noone to recruit it on. Which leads into my next thought.

The dominion spawn rate seems a bit slow. Again, I don't know all the mechanics behind these things (like does a stronger dominion spawn more? My Druid pretender had a dom strength of 6) but it takes FOREVER to spawn a force big enough to expand with. Again, mercs are the sure fire way to go here early on so maybe my point is moot. And are there more flavors of domspawns? All I've seen so far are forest zealots and sprites.

Also, I think all the Ent commander summons should come with some magic. Only because my ancient ent simply sits at my capital doing nothing, the lazy bastard. I like the idea of the ent hurler, just wish he could move so I could see him in action.

Overall, an awesome mod. I highly recommend it. Though it may be more for experienced players instead of novices. But you get the hang of it quick.

[Shovah32]

Would i be correct in guessing that only ancients create freespawn? If not, what else summons units.

[Endoperez]

I think the seduction is similar to that of Nagini of LA Patala: they can't fly, so they must be next to a friendly province. Any friendly province works, though.

[Shovah32]

Endo is right with that one. Honestly squads of nymphs summoned by my starting ancient were my expansion force, seducing all commanders in a province then moving on, leaving only 1 behind to rout the un-commanded troops.

[Foodstamp]

Ancients and the standard Ents produce freespawns. I gave the Nymphs seduction 15 and sometimes even your normal indy commander unit would resist.

Let me know if your able to use this tactic of Nymph hording throughout the entire game vs the AIs, I didn't mean for them to be massed expanders and they may need to be toned down. I have an idea as to how I can do that, but I did not implement it because while their success rate was high in my test games against indies, they failed quite a bit when they came across other nation commanders.

If they are too powerful, I am going to lower their seduction a step or two, and copystats from a unit that dies away from home, like the Naiad or the Hamadryad.

Are you liking the overall theme of the mod?

[Shovah32]

Im liking the theme but the military seems far too weak(almost no battlemagic, alot of immobile units, no recruitables, weak or rare dom summons ect), particularly for a nation with only 1 path of magic.

[Foodstamp]

Does the military being weak make playing with the nation a challenge, or does it make you want to pull your hair out?

[BandarLover]

Not quite pulling hair worthy to me. It's a challenge expanding with only domspawn units, for sure. I'd like to see more variety in troop types, but that's just me.

[HoneyBadger]

Ooops, sorry, I posted to the wrong thread.