[Mod] Divergence of Civilization

Started by Bog, August 09, 2014, 08:29:09 PM

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Bog

Divergence of Civilization*
-By Bog

Clothed with Apparello


*Working name. Subject to change.


The basic concept:
On the Rimworld front page it says:
QuoteThe core idea in the RimWorld universe is diversity. In this setting, humanity is spread across the galaxy, yet lacks any way of traveling or communicating faster than light. Combined with the fact that stellar civilizations regress (due to war or plague) as often as they progress, this means that someone traveling between stars may end up interacting with people at any level of development, from pre-agricultural tribes to transcendent machine gods.
My concept is to take this to the next step by adding new civilization types, each with their own clothing and weapons. No more will you just play with tribal people, rimworlders, and mechanoids attacking/visiting your colony, instead you will also get Hellions (which have a culture based on Mediterranean classical antiquity), medieval, steamers, etc.


Mod Team:
Just me.


Other Contributors:

Via Apparello:
Shinzy


Misc:
mrofa for developing special bullet effects.


Existing Features:

New Faction: The Hellions.


Planned Features:

1: Make new factions and modify existing factions to fit a new scale of civilization levels, spanning from tribals to mechanoids and possibly more. I have an internal list of 25 different new faction types that I'd like to make, but will work on them one by one. Because each faction will need it's own apparel and everything, each one will likely take me quite some time to make.

2: Balance armour and weapons to fit within the tech levels that the factions have by a power rating scale based on the Rimworld Weapons Balancer that my brother and I made.

3. Tweak faction raid numbers to fit their weapons strength. All the eras should be just as difficult to fight, but in different ways. For example tribal civilizations will be difficult because of how many people they throw at you, not because of how strong their weapons are. Advanced civilizations will be sort of like mechanoids. You won't get many, but they won't need a lot to be a big threat.

4. Add new armour and weapons so that every era has a workable variety.

5. Potentially make two versions of the mod, the first one would be Rimworld immersive. It wouldn't use any preexisting weapons (whether real or imaginary), instead it'd only use original weapons and apparel made for Rimwold. The second potential one would be a non-immerseive version because it'll use all the weapons from Project Armoury.

6. ?? (I guess we'll find out)


Questions I imagine people asking:
Q: When will this be done?
A: When it's done. ;D But seriously, I don't really know. It largely depends on how much time I find to work on it, and how much new stuff I end up feeling it needs before release. Also, new official Rimworld alpha releases could potentially make me go back and rework things again because not everything is always compatible between releases.

Q: Will there be early releases before the Mod is completely finished?
A: Yes, but I'll wait until I have at least 1 new working civilization to play with. Then I'll probably release it as v0.1 or something and work my way up from there.

Q: I see you want to make classical and medieval stuff. Does that mean we'll have melee weapons?
A: That's basically up to Tynan. I don't particularly want to develop melee weapons just for my mod, instead I'd much rather just be able to take an existing system and, well, modify it. If or when melee weapons appear in either the vanilla game, or a well thought out and developed mod then I'll probably add them. Until then there'll just be ranged weapons from the different eras.

Q: What things from the vanilla game are going to get changed?
A: Some of the weapons will have their eras changed. For example, Pila are not going to be tribal anymore, they'll be moved to the classical era because that's where they belong historically. Eventually all the weapons might get re-balanced, depending on how things play out.

Q: Does this mean you're not going to be working on Project Armoury anymore?
A: Nope. I'll still be making new guns and stuff. For one this mod will need a lot of new weapons for the different eras I'm working on, and I'll probably release them through PA as well.

Q: Will this mod work together with other mods?
A: Um. Maybe. With enough work anything is possible... Generally mods need a bit of effort to be merged together and not interfere with each other, and that can't be done ahead of time. If Jerethi50 decides to do the work and add it to his All-in-one mod then the answer becomes yes. But even then there might be other problems, because if I end up making this mod using it's own balance scale it might make the merged mods not fun to play with unless there's extra balance tweaking.

Q: Can I get involved in making it?
A: Yes, for some things anyways. A lot of the work (some of the basic programming, pretty much all the balance formulas) are mostly one person jobs, I think. But I'll need to make a few new weapons, and a lot more new clothing and armour. Clothing and armour specifically take a long time and I'm not all that good at it, so if you're interested in making some for me, don't hesitate to post here or send me a private message. If you don't know how but are interested in trying, don't hesitate to say so, I can hopefully give you a crash-course in it.

Q: After it's released, will I be allowed to use any components from your mod for the mod I'm making?
A: Yup. I'm fine with that. I'd appreciate you saying that you got some stuff from me though, and link your mod's thread back to this page.

Q: Can I ask a question that isn't on this question list? Or make random suggestions? Or just talk about the mod in general?
A: Sure. Post away.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

Bog

#1
Devblog:

I've come up with a good system to make all the different factions only use their own weapons and apparel, so I can now make factions with overlapping tech levels. (I was having problems on this front previously)

It results in giving the mod some very cool potential. For example, in the very long-term I'm hoping to make maybe 3 different medieval-era cultures, each with their own armour and weapon styles.

Anyways, I'm roughly half done with making a "Classical City State" faction. They're basically a cross between Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. They already have their own set of weapons and an apparel piece based on Doric Chiton to wear. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton_(costume)) At this point they're mostly being made as a "Proof of Concept". I might rename them later and change them around a bit, but it's really nice to be able to see it work.

PS: I'm open to suggestions for renaming this mod. Divergence of Civilization is a bit cumbersome, I think. Once I come up with 3-5 possible names I'll probably open a poll to choose one.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

Bog

#2
Devblog:

Shinzy has been kind enough to let me use stuff from his Apparello Mod. (yay!)

So that'll speed up production of some of the factions I want to add by a good amount.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

Bog

#3
Devblog:

Okay I've changed the "Classical" faction type's name to "Hellion". It's largely a reference to the Hellenistic period of history (which was dominated by Classical Greek culture and saw the rise of the Roman empire), but in all honesty I also picked it because it sounds cool. 8)

As before, overall they're a Rimworld culture that is something of a Greek-Roman hybrid.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

Bog

#4
Devblog:

Today I made a new "Balding" hairstyle for the Hellions, so now when the Hellions attack they wear these white robes, have balding heads and throw pila and falarica at you.

...you basically get swarmed by a bunch of mad philosophers. ::)


On top of that, I made a new "BaldingWithMuttonchops" hairstyle because it was an easy modification to my balding hairstyle. That lead to me setting up the Steamer's faction and pawn defs. Let me tell you, getting back to some basic .hml coding instead of trying to draw apparel was like drinking a glass of cold water after being lost in the desert. And I've been lost in the desert so I think I know what I'm talking about here.

Anyways, the Steamers don't have anything special but their mutton chops so far. I hope to do some more work on them tomorrow, because between vanilla Rimworld and Shinzy's Apparello, I already have access to a bunch of ready-made apparel that should fit them pretty well. Then all I have to do is make them some new guns, which I really enjoy because gun textures are a lot easier then clothing.

PS: Isn't it funny how there's no receding hairlines in Rimworld? Maybe the gene died out... speaking of which, here's a random fact for you: The balding gene is passed though the mother's side, not the father's side. So don't worry about your dad being bald, instead worry about your uncles on your mom's side being bald. ;)
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

Bog

#5
Devblog:

So I decided not to be a pansy and work on the Steamers just because it'd be easier. Instead I resolved to man-up and design a new woman's hairstyle for the Hellions.

Er.

Somehow that doesn't sound right...

Anyways, I finished the new texture so Hellions now not only have bald men, but really stylish chicks too.

Here's a screenshot:

I guess they didn't like our take on Plato's Republic.



So next I think I'll throw myself at the naming system, then with another added weapon or two I can maybe release a very early version of this mod.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

mrofa

Nice bald info :D

Looks quite nice from the screen, now you only will need to make culture driven gun textures (something like warhamer guys, got skuls everyware), and maybe some hats :D
All i do is clutter all around.

Bog

#7
Quote from: mrofa on August 14, 2014, 10:21:34 PM
Nice bald info :D
::) (<-he's thinking about his bald head)

Quote from: mrofa on August 14, 2014, 10:21:34 PM
Looks quite nice from the screen, now you only will need to make culture driven gun textures (something like warhamer guys, got skuls everyware), and maybe some hats :D
I'm not going to just have culture-driven gun textures, I'm planning on making all the cultures have completely unique sets of weapons. ;D So the Tribals will no longer have Pila, because the Hellions have them now. (Don't worry, I'll implement more tribal weapons to replace it)

I'm also planning on making a lot of hats. The hat's are about 1/5th as difficult as the body apparel, (at least for me) and add to the flavour of a faction almost as much, if not more sometimes. So for example, I'd prefer to make 1 piece of body clothing and 6 hats to go with it than to make 2 pieces of body clothing with only 1 hat between the two of them.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

mrofa

I did gave up after making 4 textures of power armor :D
But i know the feeling.

But your in luck thrugh, with the apparel system, you can just download orginal apparel graphic and add some special stuff to them without making entire apparel from scratch. Should kinda lower the load of work.
All i do is clutter all around.

Shinzy

Quote from: mrofa on August 15, 2014, 03:30:07 PM
I did gave up after making 4 textures of power armor :D
But i know the feeling.

But your in luck thrugh, with the apparel system, you can just download orginal apparel graphic and add some special stuff to them without making entire apparel from scratch. Should kinda lower the load of work.

^ mrofa's right there! You can get some pretty neat and distinctive stuff by just adding bits and bobs on the base armors

And you can always take advantage of whatever I plop in Apparello =P
I'll be making clothing sets for all the World types mentioned in the Rimworld lore
eventually! Unless I have a mental breakdown before then
(Too many ideas!)

On the subject of too many! - 25 factions are a bit hardcore! *poke* don't overwork yourself now =P

Bog

#10
Quote from: Shinzy on August 15, 2014, 04:30:52 PM
Quote from: mrofa on August 15, 2014, 03:30:07 PM
I did gave up after making 4 textures of power armor :D
But i know the feeling.

But your in luck thrugh, with the apparel system, you can just download orginal apparel graphic and add some special stuff to them without making entire apparel from scratch. Should kinda lower the load of work.

^ mrofa's right there! You can get some pretty neat and distinctive stuff by just adding bits and bobs on the base armors

And you can always take advantage of whatever I plop in Apparello =P
I'll be making clothing sets for all the World types mentioned in the Rimworld lore
eventually! Unless I have a mental breakdown before then
(Too many ideas!)
It's a good suggestion, I've already done it a bit with the hairstyles. Also, when I design a something I can make sure that it'll be easy to turn it into a few more varieties.

For example after I design this:


Then these should be a lot easier:






Quote from: Shinzy on August 15, 2014, 04:30:52 PM
On the subject of too many! - 25 factions are a bit hardcore! *poke* don't overwork yourself now =P
Yeah, that's a very ambitious long term goal. It's sort of like making guns or making new armour... eventually I'd like as many as possible available for people's mod-using fun, the only real restriction is time. I'll keep just making one at a time, probably specifically choosing the factions that will be easiest for me to put together. (ie: that you've made appropriate apparel for. ;))

On that note maybe sometime I'll post a list of all the factions I'd like to make, and give some basic descriptions of what sort of "feel" I want them to have. Then, if you or anyone else is feeling particularly inspired by something you could make it for your mod and I could come and steal it for mine. ;D
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

mrofa

QuoteOn that note maybe sometime I'll post a list of all the factions I'd like to make, and give some basic descriptions of what sort of "feel" I want them to have. Then, if you or anyone else is feeling particularly inspired by something you could make it for your mod and I could come and steal it for mine. ;D

Personally cant promiss anything, but it is a good idea :)
All i do is clutter all around.

Bog

#12
Devblog:
Okay, I'm back to DoC after a little break doing things with visiting relatives and using all my available modding time to help get the new Project Armoury 2.13 update ready, make and release a little grenade/incendiary weapon disabler mod, work on the Rimworld Weapons Balancer, and finally also work on an UndeadMarine mod which ran into an unforseen problem so it's been pushed back a bit.

In other words, I've been super busy. :P

So just a little update this time:

I got the naming system started for the Hellions. I mean, it's in working order but doesn't have an awful lot of options yet and hasn't gotten any polish.

I've also come up with a bunch of ideas for some DoC original weapons. If I have time I feel like I might make a bunch for factions I haven't designed yet. It'll push back the "general development" of the mod because they won't be released via DoC until there's factions to use them, but it'll be fun and easy and I can also release those weapons through Project Armoury, so I'll be shooting two birds with one bullet, so to speak.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)

Lazarus

Interesting mod really looking for to it being completed.

Would like to ask if you are planning on putting in some type of new building/material quirks in since those ages all used stone but also had other materials like marble and when it came to lighting using torches etc.

Not sure if your mod will go to this type of depth but I would say it would be cool to see, good luck in your endeavour!
Poke poke, stab stab.

Bog

#14
Quote from: Lazarus on August 21, 2014, 07:31:44 AM
Interesting mod really looking for to it being completed.
Thanks. ;D
Quote from: Lazarus on August 21, 2014, 07:31:44 AM
Would like to ask if you are planning on putting in some type of new building/material quirks in since those ages all used stone but also had other materials like marble and when it came to lighting using torches etc.

Not sure if your mod will go to this type of depth but I would say it would be cool to see, good luck in your endeavour!
I've thought about it. At this point though, the biggest hindrance to my mod is the time I have to invest in it. Because of that, the more stuff I try to put in, the longer everything else will take.

On top of that, there are quite a few mods which add new wall types/furniture, but I'm only aware of one other mod that's making a new faction.

For example:

Some of the Mods that add the types of new furniture and walls:
Superior Crafting
The Finer Things -- Booze and Statues
Clutter Mod
Embrasures
Small Walls
Wood Economy Tweaks

The one mod I'm aware of that adds a new faction:
Xandalorians*

*Please tell me if you know of any more.

So in the end, because these new factions only ever attack you (you never visit the other factions bases in rimworld, at least so far) I think it's a better investment for me to try to only work on the faction's pawns/apparel/weapons/etc. and get as much of that as possible out. Adding new walls and things would be cool, but it'd only affect the player's own colony. This mod will leave the colony building side of the game just like the vanilla, but make raids much more varied and interesting.
Divergence of Civilization Lead Developer (in this case that's the fancy way of saying "Only Developer")

Project Armoury Developer (New huge 2.13 Release now live!)