[A17] Epic Omega - Fantasy Total Conversion (WIP - Build 13c) [29 Oct 17]

Started by The-Eroks, April 02, 2017, 01:48:02 PM

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Harry_Dicks

I haven't even looked but is there any C# in the project? I can probably bring most of the xml from A17 to B18 if you want any help, I've got a little bit of time and I'll enjoy the learning experience. I've recently been doing this for other mods that were left behind on A17, usually the author has went MIA, even started a thread for it a couple days of ago :) https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=39206.0

The-Eroks

Quote from: Harry_Dicks on February 25, 2018, 11:41:15 AM
I haven't even looked but is there any C# in the project? I can probably bring most of the xml from A17 to B18 if you want any help, I've got a little bit of time and I'll enjoy the learning experience. I've recently been doing this for other mods that were left behind on A17, usually the author has went MIA, even started a thread for it a couple days of ago :) https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=39206.0

There is C#, but it's all imported from other projects, so that's simply a matter of grabbing the latest build.  :)

I've spent the last several hours reviewing the A17 - B13c xml and comparing it to the B18 xml in preparation for a B18 - B13c conversion... I'm not sure if I want to convert it over or just toss it out the window and rebuild everything from scratch.

(I wrote a python script that compares things and there are about 10K lines of xml that I would need to review, not counting the patchwork).

I've got to contemplate the best way forward. On one hand, a ton of .xml work was put into 13c and I'd lose that; on the other hand rebuilding from the ground up would be functionally easier, allow for a more coherent game design progression, and we'd have a playable product out to the world sooner--but it wouldn't initially have as many features as 13c.

If you're interested, download 13c and take a look under the hood. A second opinion about how difficult it's going to be to convert would be very useful.

Modraneth

everyone disappear from discord Eroks... dont know if u can find someone again

The-Eroks

I'm not worried  8)

So here's a small update... I'm still in the process of grinding out the A17 to B18 conversion. In many cases, I'm going line by line making tweaks, streamlining various items, cleaning up labels/descriptions, and documenting different aspects and features. Long term goal is to write a python script that auto updates individual Mod Comp Defs, that for now, I just need to coherently document various changes. Combined with school, life, and family... it has been a long, painful process  :-\

Unfortunately, the game won't load until it loads, so there are not screenshots as of yet. I can say that about 85% of the content is easily convertible, a number of Comps will be updated to their B18 versions, and there will be some significant changes to a few other comps.

Comps updated to B18:

  • Animal Armor - as well as fixed some names and descriptions
  • Megafauna - updated and adjusted spawn rates
  • Medieval Times - work in progress... I'd guesstimate this is about 70% converted at this point.

Unofficial "Short List" of New Features for 13e:
- Mana and Magic
- Finish Cleaning up the Research Project Tree and Integrate the Original RW projects
- (Hopefully) about a dozen new comps, mainly of the QoL variety.

BlackSmokeDMax


The-Eroks

Mana Shards and Crystals

As promised, B13e will start to feature the first inklings of magic in the Universe of Eorth. Magic and mana is heavily influenced by the outstanding Fall From Heaven series.

The 21 Spheres of Mana

In total, there are four major schools of magic: Alteration, Divination, Elementalism, and Necromancy. The "fifth" school is sorcery, which includes the general practice and mastery of metamagic in general. Shards are have an equivalent value and rarity as components in the original game, and are used in numerous buildings and items.  For example, a Delayed Blast Fireball trap requires a couple shards of Fire Mana while an Assassin Vine trap requires a shard of Nature Mana. Metamagic can be made by purifying any typed mana shard and are a currency traded between the arcane factions of the game, wayfarers in general, and are used in the construction of common magic items and buildings. 

Larger chunks of mana are referred to as crystals. A crystal can be enchanted from a stack of mana shards, or disenchanted into a stack of mana shards. Crystals are rare and you'll want to carefully choose how you want to use them. By collecting enough crystals of a given type, you can build a Mana Shrine, which is a large structure that taps directly into the elemental plane of a mana type and allows one to create raw mana crystals.

13e will (hopefully) see the implementation of the first of several new victory conditions. By collecting a crystal of each type within a school, you can build a unique Shrine of Mastery. Then, by building all four Shrines of Mastery, you'll be able to breach Heaven's Fence and escape Eorth.

Finally, we've got some new background music. Here is a small sample:



The-Eroks

Quote from: herrschor on April 04, 2018, 10:58:33 AM
Looks great!

Thanks!

An update--progress is still grinding forward. As life would have it, I'm doing the whole "full-time work + full time parent" thing for the next month or so. Therefore, I'm getting whatever work I can get done during breaks between the chaotic periods of life.

We paused on working on mod conversions to address the technology tree (so that mod components could be linked directly instead of having to do another pass later). Long time watchers will know this is maybe the third (fourth?) iteration as we focus in on the best design. The new technology tree is shifting from the massive (but mostly empty) multi-era mega tree to a series of smaller, consolidated trees. Check this out:


Quote
Lifestyle and Building Tab

Above is the Lifestyle and Building Tab, which is one of the seven research tabs. This style is a bit more readable overall, visually appealing, and easier to navigate. Original RimWorld technologies will be integrated where appropriate so that the original tree is not hanging out and being a distraction, as well as providing better forward comparability.

There are three technology tiers that we are interested in: tribal, medieval, and enlightenment. Technology costs scale based on their tier and level. This can be seen in the Shelter Building tree. Shelter Building, Stone Building, and Stone Cutting are relevantly inexpensive tribal technologies. Sanitation and Architecture are more expensive enlightenment technologies.

We can also see some conventions here as well. Technologies encased with a set of [ ]'s are just place holders--they'll eventually have associated content!

Technologies encased with { }'s are a special type of project. These are cultural or lifestyle technologies. Culture/Lifestyle technologies are ultra expensive for outsiders to research and are granted for free based on your starting scenario. They also serve as prerequisites for era, culture, or lifestyle specific items, as well as serve as gatekeepers for the unique technologies related to a group. For example, Pemmican and Passive Coolers (via unique technologies) will only be effectively available to tribal starts. These technologies can also be combined to yield unique or themed items. Royal Beds and Godking Thrones will only be effectively available to medieval starts after researching Aristocracy (with the beds and furniture projects, respectively).

Of course, you could always research another cultural group if you really wanted access to their buildings and items. Or you could trade with different settlements for their equipment.



BlackSmokeDMax

Nice! Thanks for the update! Nothing wrong with putting real life ahead of games either, we aren't going anywhere.

I find it very interesting to watch as you guys change things around, especially the major changes of the tech tree. Really looking forward to giving it a try at some point.

The-Eroks


Crafting and Invention Tab

Today, we present the Crafting and Invention Tab. There is a good amount going on here. Of note is that you can specialize in different weaponry by style and gain access to heavier and heavier armors as you get further in the crafting tree. Expect to see this tree expand as new mod comps are added!

The invention tree is a sort of junk drawer for one-off technologies that didn't quite fit well in other tabs. Everybody's favorite Reflection Mirror can be found under Geometry, for example.


The-Eroks

Quote from: BlackSmokeDMax on April 10, 2018, 02:14:54 PM
That looks incredible!

Thanks!

Here is our update for today:


Settlement and City Tab

Above is the settlement and city tab. This collection of trees are specifically related to technologies to enhance your settlement, build industries, and support different professions. This tab differs from Crafting in that most of the technologies here produce resources, as opposed to crafting, which tends to create specific items.

The miniature Trade Tree relates to enhancements which improve the settlements ability to buy and sell in general. Establishing a guild hall is a very costly investment, but will allow the settlement to churn out specialized goods and money making products much faster.

The Medicine and Drug tree relates to creating medical supplies and drugs. Big surprise! Medicine is notably different from healing potions and cure wounds spells. Medicine works as you'd expect it to work from RimWorld. It's a useful, non-magical way to treat injuries. The latter work more like a non-addictive luciferium or resurrector mech serums. In general, magical healing is super effective, but slightly expensive. Since your adventurers will tend to be getting their arms and legs chopped off regularly, you'll want to save the powerful magic for them and use medicine to support the settlement in general.

Farming and Cooking enable different aspects of the game. Some are planned future mod comps (such as silk production, orchards, and mushroom farming). Others are as you'd expect them to work. One major difference is that many plant worktypes require both a farming technology and a culture/society technology. What this means is that when you play a dwarf and are making an underground fortress, you'll have a different selection of crops than if you're playing as a winterborn tribe.

To be honest, I'm likely going to rework this tab a little bit more in the future. It's sort of "shallow." This is an interesting contrast from the other tabs, but it's not visually appealing to me. At the very least, I might just shift the miniature trees so they are presented differently. What are your thoughts?

Jackalvin

I can't wait for the B18 version, What races will be playable? The Kobold Dictorial State must happen!
-Insert Witty Joke Here-

The-Eroks

Quote from: Jackalvin on April 11, 2018, 11:57:16 AM
I can't wait for the B18 version, What races will be playable? The Kobold Dictorial State must happen!

I don't want to make any promises I can't keep in regards to playable races for the Build 13e for B18 release. I can confirm that humans will continue to be a playable race, and blade wielding, manhunting crabs will be a thing  ;). The team has discussed the plethora of outstanding races that are now available within the community and there is a strong desire to implement many of those in the near future--provided we can get permission and we come up with a good backstory for them.

Here is today's update:


Arcane and Spellcasting Tab

A few items of note. First, this one was designed to be basic and a bit spacious. This is to contrast the inheriently complex trees on the other tabs. B18 will see some introductory magic, but we wanted to leave room for specialized "arcane projects" and this tree has room to slide in new technologies without disrupting the rest of the tree. As mentioned before in this thread, there are four main schools of magic. We're still honing in on how exactly to balance schools vs spheres vs design vs playability. Having said all that, the original working document provides a slight bit of insight into how magic worked in the pencil/paper world of Epic Omega.

You'll also notice that these projects are slightly more expensive--magic, even a tiny bit of it, will have a powerful effect on the settlement. My goal was to create a system where the player needed to pick carefully how they were going to specialize. Hopefully in the future when we start work on coding, we can find a creative way to propel the storyline forward based on your progress in this tree (and the divine tree) in a manner similar to the original Alpha Centauri.

There will also be a victory condition associated with this tree--simply build all four Towers of Mastery and open up a portal back to the Multiverse to escape Eorth. Be warned though, escaping, while a victory in one sense, will leave a few mysteries unsolved.