CoSH (Infos, Details, etc...)

PS; Hey, Kryo - thanks for the swift approval!

I'll hit the nail straight on.

This has to be the most slick (quality wise) and extensive (predictable features) Mod i have ever undertaken (including X-Worlds, btw) and i DO NOT want to ruin it for everyone downloading it in the upcoming weeks.

So, i am currently working on:

- The 24 "enhanced by SD_team" Minors; which will become a trio of Eights along with unusual context variations.
- Three new Parties (for specific testing reasons, and because of TA new features).
- The custom planets & raws; About 4 to 5 for each of the 12 races.
- DA conversion of it.
- Happy_Neutral_Angry_Small movies; if you know me well, i may opt for some static stuff.
- Entirely (almost) new & relevant Tech-Trees;
0) Joker & Penguin are only two foes.
1) Hulk was the victim of focused Gamma-X rays by accident.
2)... ETC.

- Maybe, surface Buildings_Icons_Queries; but, realize this -- HUGE work is involved to be fair & thorough about these Super-Heroes source material(*S*). Not counting the Quantities necessary to call it finished.

- Other miscellaneous assets; like... Ships[ ]!

Without forgetting the "other" Mod and the GTeChnos utility, btw.

I'll keep you posted on any progress worth new zips & complete versions.

Enjoy.

Bumped for updating reason & current status info.

As i am getting near to an official second release of this Mod while making great leaps in a number of intended features, i thought it was time to offer you all the actual TitleBack.png image as a formal reference to anything particular or of importance to everything that would follow.

Mind you, this has been a LOT of work;

-- 12 specific Homeworlds which don't exactly adhere to conventional planetary surfaces along with new Highlight tags. More planets to come, since each of these systems will have three or Four planets maximum.

-- 24 Minors which are grouped either as Star Trek or Star Wars concepts. Another set of twelves inspired by variable Sci-Fi elements is also planned but only half-done.

-- Some of the Tech-Trees received a few paragraphs but i can't figure out what causes most of the initial "A History of" types not to be directly researched upon gameplay initialization. Something else to verify later.

-- A few more cool things and assets are finished and will be integrated also.

Anyhow... enough of this chit-chatting futility.
What you probably want is a version 05-B zipped and uploaded by me, it's coming - fast.

In the meantime -

****

****

After *NEW GAME* has been clicked, that's what you get.

GodZilla purple ringed and below greeny Japan.
Black Widow spider on a reddishly abstract Web.
MCP bikes on an ElecTRONified PQ2 by default.

And since Superman is heading straight to the Terror Star, we (as players) should be alright!!

Bump, for latest status.

Bumped, for *another* status update!

Bumped, for yet another status update!

If anyone still keeps track of my sloooowwww progress.

 

EDIT; as promised i have just uploaded the new zips into the library. Pending approval with Kryo as usual, i will post a summary of included elements once it's all available to you.

 

Cant wait Zy..will be keeping an eye out for this!

It's been a whole week since Kryo got these into his 'workload plans'... so, jmccrea, be patient and if you have any questions, comments or suggestions once you have this installed - just come back here and i'll try doing my best to answer.

It may be awhile though for further updates to CoSH since i will be switching development time to X-Worlds until i have the new Terraforming system in place and some ships & fleets for it.

I'll give more details about CoSH later or as soon as Kryo puts the files in the library.

 

Alright, CoSH-05B and its zipped set of Minor Races are as of now properly available in the library!

 

Quick summary of "Changes";

 

- Each race now has its own starting system along with a 'balanced' number of planets which also have exclusive texture surfaces (those may seem strange - not really geologic features but rather an extensively edited image which represents the current race!)

** PS; The toughest system to make was by far for the Fantastic Four -- lemme explain: Since they have the Thalan tech tree, there are special developping concerns that allow for a good pattern to spread while the terraforming techs become available. Thus, any secondary planets were certainly fairplay at PQ4. Tron was also a tricky gamble since i HAD to keep them in a single Homeworld for exploration edge.

 

- There is an extreme planet in most of those systems (Much higher PQ count) that introduces an extra challenge (i think) with...

A-- Colonization techs timing and,

B-- Influence Flipping possibilities once you (or the AIs) dare grabbing these juicy trophies of war while it matters than one player should have any of these planets long enough to prevent the enemy from using it. and,

C-- Tiles count value IN a balanced colony rush (well, at least for awhile).

 

- A series of alternate 'Cursors' (Ya know, that tiny cyan circle that surrounds ships & planets) were created so that you can simply rename anything to a proper 'Selected.dds' file, copy to the Graphics folder root and play with it. My favorites are Holo & Spideroid... but Twirl is also quite the ride once you get used to its colorful sphere.

- The surface tiles *SD_BOX* selection schema was altered too with a simple 'Thunder Bolt' type of lines. What this basicly does is that when buildings are clicked & scanned, the surface images remain in focus (well, only a tiny bit more) and the overall feeling is somehow leaner. It takes a bit of time to get used to this new interface... but after a few games, you won't want to return to the old graphics -- i'm guessing.

 

*The Minors structure*

 

- At first, i wanted to distribute all of that supplemental stuff as a single 'switching' schema as it is found in X-Worlds... but i figured i had the opportunity to introduce a new feature for this situation. Thus, was born the thematic concept for these.

Star Trek (Done!), Star Wars & Super-Heroes & Sci-Fi will get more later.

**PS; a new RaceConfig.xml is automatically loaded (and graphics added) once these files get unzipped in the provided folders which simply takes out the defaults or *a previous set of CoSH minors* (once these are made) while replacing all necessary assets with the new ones.

 

- Three new Political Parties (Alarmist, Naturalist & Scientific) were added to the usual X-Worlds group of 10. Those are **extremely** strange gameplay elements which you will possibly find totally crazy... but, as they say, fun is sometimes a weird combination of tricky values OR lucky shots at balancing facts.

 

There are a number of other things included but i'll let you all discover what remains.

Enjoy!

 

 

My friend, one word...WOW(and i dont mean World of Warcraft)  This is simply an amazing mod...fricking AMAZING!  i ve just started it and already in love with the wide variety in it.  Just wish Dr Fate had made the cut or maybe GL haha...but hey...you did GREAT!  Will give more comments as I try it out.  Was going to go with Supes, but kinda like the Iron Man a bit better!

Having a few issues with getting the minors in, as Im not entirely sure where each of the files have to go.  Im thinking you want us to extract each of them to the right folder and put them in there, but Im not sure where those would go.  LOL sorry, Im kinda a step by step person, but im hoping Ill get them where they need to be!

Minors?

There is only one theme ready for use; Star Trek. I just wanted to maintain everything into the initial version of the main zip file for easier updates later on.

 

Now, the 'easy' part... installation:

 

1- The main file should be unzipped (as is) into the main CoSH mod folder. Once that's done, you will have a new directory: *_Minors*

2- As you will see, this one now has four more zips -- Star Trek (ST) being "almost" ready to use if unzipped while providing the proper mod folder path such as...

 

C:\xxxx\your Twilight Game folder...\Mods\CoSH\.....xxx!(ready made folders go here)

a-- DATA\ which has the new valid Raceconfig.xml to activate these new Minor Races. and,

b-- GFX\... which have Logos, Portraits & Trades for the above races

 

3- Normally, the main MoD folder (from the 05-B 18mbs version) already unzipped the other essential files in any of the above (DATA & GFX) folders.

4- By unzipping the _ST zip with the regular path... all necessary files into the exact location.

5- But if you haven't deployed the archive in the right place, you can always copy all files to these folders while complying with the tagged folder names.

6- The old raceconfig.xml (without Minors) will be overwritten by that new switch and load these Minors automatically when a new game is started.

 

Glad you liked this whole project and i have much more things to add to it, eventually, progressively --

* I'm thinking about a complete overhaul of all tech-trees with particular descriptions & values for any 'corresponding' research stuff of many races. Say Hulk gamma radiation & Kryptonite poisoning for Superman, etc.

* And possibly, some specific ships inspired by huge Super-Heroes source material.

* Also - there's a good chance i might try integrating some new buildings (Icons, Queries, etc) such as those found in my other mod; X-Worlds.

 

In the meantime, enjoy and many thanks for the FeedBack - it's appreciated!

 

(PS; The IronMan homeworld was a huge graphics feast while i created all its tricky effects in the reddish texturing of Earth... the single planetary system for him is also a balancing issue that becomes more obvious after the usual Colony Rush is over on any map sizes.)

How did you get your races to work?

I am doing exactly what you did with the raceconfig.xml (except, of course, the races themselves are different) and my mod doesn't work AT ALL. The race select screen itself is COMPLETELY unchanged, and my races only appear on the "Select Opponents" area. Here is a sample XML (all of them are like this, as I have checked and double-checked for formatting errors):

 <Race Name="Nolor Vangaurd">
  <RaceID>0</RaceID>
  <DisplayName>Nolor Vangaurd</DisplayName>
  <Alignment>40</Alignment>
  <Description>The Nolor are a shapeshifting species from beyond the galaxy.</Description>
  <Homeworld>Dariaq</Homeworld>
  <Homestar>Gamma Delta 7</Homestar>
  <RaceLeader>Trovinum</RaceLeader>
  <ShortEmpireName>Nolor</ShortEmpireName>
  <AIPersonality>11</AIPersonality>
  <DialogueTag>Altarian</DialogueTag>
  <LeaderGender>0</LeaderGender>
  <Portrait>Gfx\Race\RaceImage02mod.png</Portrait>
  <Logo>Gfx\Race\RaceLogo_AltResistancemod.png</Logo>
  <SmallLogo>Gfx\Race\RaceLogo_AltResistancemod.png</SmallLogo>
  <DefaultTradePortrait>Gfx\Race\RaceImage02mod.png</DefaultTradePortrait>
  <DefaultTradeMovie>resist_neutralmod.bik</DefaultTradeMovie>
  <FriendlyTradeMovie>resist_happymod.bik</FriendlyTradeMovie>
  <UnfriendlyTradeMovie>resist_angrymod.bik</UnfriendlyTradeMovie>
  <UnitedPlanetsMovie>resist_smallmod.bik</UnitedPlanetsMovie>
  <RobotMovie>NewsRobot_Alien</RobotMovie>
  <RobotImage>Gfx\Message_Alien</RobotImage>
  <RaceMusic>Race02mod</RaceMusic>
  <RaceColor>230, 230, 230</RaceColor>
  <ShadowColor>42, 40, 0</ShadowColor>
  <UndefendedStarColor>171, 104, 107</UndefendedStarColor>
  <DefendedStarColor>116, 170, 160</DefendedStarColor>
  <SectorColor>230, 230, 230</SectorColor>
  <BaseColor>255,255,255</BaseColor>
  <TrimColor>192,192,192</TrimColor>
  <EngineColor>255, 0, 0</EngineColor>
  <InterfaceColor>255, 255, 255</InterfaceColor>
  <ShipStyle>Altarian Resistance Style</ShipStyle>
  <ModuleStyle>4</ModuleStyle>
  <AbilitiesDescription>+ Great Spies
- Weak Culture</AbilitiesDescription>
  <AIAbilities>50</AIAbilities>
  <Aggression>50</Aggression>
  <FinancialResources>100</FinancialResources>
  <CPUUsage>0</CPUUsage>
  <SuperAbility>11</SuperAbility>
  <ResearchAdvantage>Economics</ResearchAdvantage>
  <ECONOMICS>0</ECONOMICS>
  <WEAPONS>0</WEAPONS>
  <DEFENSE>0</DEFENSE>
  <SPEED>30</SPEED>
  <MORALE>-10</MORALE>
  <POPULATIONGROWTH>0</POPULATIONGROWTH>
  <SOCIALPRODUCTION>0</SOCIALPRODUCTION>
  <MILITARYPRODUCTION>0</MILITARYPRODUCTION>
  <RESEARCH>0</RESEARCH>
  <INFLUENCE>-10</INFLUENCE>
  <TRADE>0</TRADE>
  <DIPLOMACY>0</DIPLOMACY>
  <HITPOINTS>0</HITPOINTS>
  <REPAIR>0</REPAIR>
  <SENSORS>0</SENSORS>
  <ESPIONAGE>60</ESPIONAGE>
  <SOLDIERING>0</SOLDIERING>
  <INTERESTRATES>0</INTERESTRATES>
  <PLANETQUALITY>0</PLANETQUALITY>
  <TRADEROUTES>0</TRADEROUTES>
  <CRIME>0</CRIME>
  <CABINET>0</CABINET>
  <RANGE>20</RANGE>
  <LUCK>0</LUCK>
  <COURAGE>0</COURAGE>
  <CREATIVITY>6</CREATIVITY>
  <GOVERNMENT>0</GOVERNMENT>
  <LOYALTY>-15</LOYALTY>
  <LOGISTICS>5</LOGISTICS>
  <MINIATURIZATION>0</MINIATURIZATION>
  <CustomizationPoints>15</CustomizationPoints>
  <CivType>8</CivType>
  <Ignore>0</Ignore>
  <TechTree>Altarian_TechTree</TechTree>
 </Race>

It's probably an issue with proper location of the file itself;

A modded RaceConfig.xml (without any typos, and altering values & data for any number of races) should be loaded from the 'regular' path dependant directory to replace the default stock version...

such as C:\Galciv2\Twilight\Mods\*Yours*\DATA\---here!--- (which is the root path instead of the already provided other "Customraces" folder). Ignore this comment if that's correct.

 

There is also a very high chance that other stuff (after reading through the above more carefully, btw) are creating the guilty conflict;

-- CivType should be 4 (the required tag for Majors, Minors is 3 and DreadLords/Pirate is 1).

-- I think ((Ignore=0)) field lines are also unnecessary, since only The DreadLords use the ((1)) tag and why; incode prevention of diplomacy function.

-- I've seen stranger values for Range, but if you really want a big 20 there, that's your concern! Some abilities need to have integer decimal gaps instead of true percentages, Logistics included, etc.

--Make sure your Race02Mod music file is also in the proper directory (Event or Music, can't recall which for the moment - but it matters)

 

Everything else seem to be in good order.

Lemme know if you can solve these issues...

CivType is 8? That's probably it. I thought I'd checked for typos like that ... Oh well, back to Notepad...