tjashen

Join Date 03/2009

+55

[eMOD] Frontiersman: Scout Types w/ Outpost Building Mod v2 - For E:LH 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, etc.

Attention:

New version (v2) released!!!!

There is an important change, So *please* use this version, if you have the old version!!! (ScoutsOutpostBuildMod_v1).

Feel free to delete the old version, and never look back!!!

Hey y'all!

A few of you have asked for a Scout Type Unit which can build outposts.

This mod introduces a new unit Trait, the Frontiersman Ability, which combines the abilities found in the Scout Trait with the ability to build outposts.

Said ability requires 12 (4x3) population, and has a slight increase in labor required to build (5, versus 4 for the regular Scout Ability).

This also adds Frontiersmen units to all core races. If you have a custom race which you have already designed, you may need to design a new unit with the Frontiersman ability, to take advantage of the new ability.

To install this, drop the FrontiersmanScoutsOutpostMod_v2.xml file (enclosed in the .zip file) into your Mods/Data folder: mydocuments/mygames/LegendaryHeroes/Mods/Data.

A readme is also provided, but it essentially says the same thing that you just read here.

You will need to have mods enabled in the game options, of course, and you will need to start a new game in order to use the new ability with your scouts (Scouts in already existing Savegames will NOT have this ability).

This should work with pretty much any other mods, unless they have modified the ScoutsAbility. It should work with all versions of Legendary Heroes, and should also work with Fallen Enchantress for that matter (haven't tested it in E:FE).

BTW, this is essentially a Player only ability, as the AI won't use this ability as far as I know. This is something that I hope to fix at some point in the future, if something can be figured out. In the meantime, for those of you that wanted this, here you go!

Feedback is always appreciated!

Modfile here:

FrontiersmanScoutOutpostMod_v2.zip

Enjoy!

Old version: Obsolete!

Hey y'all!

A few of you have asked for this, so here ya go!

This mod does exactly one thing. It adds the Build Outpost ability to Scout units. Establishing an Outpost with a Scout unit will disband the Scout.

This mod also increases the cost to build Scouts slightly, to take into account the new capability:
- Additional Training Turns for the Scout Ability increased slightly from 4 to 6.
- Scouts now require 4 population per member (so a Scout unit will require 12 population).

The number of turns to build a scout should still be about the same as it was before (several things factor into training time).

To install this, simply unzip the two files, and drop the ScoutsOutpostBuildingMod_v1.xml file into your Mods/Data folder: mydocuments/mygames/LegendaryHeroes/Mods/Data.

A readme is also provided, but it essentially says the same thing that you just read here.

Feedback is always appreciated!

Enjoy!

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but.....how will the AI react?

Does the AI know it should be using the Scout to build outposts instead of the pioneer?

Does the AI understand that the ability attached is to build the outpost? Else, the AI will just try activating the ability randomly and have outposts plopping down all over the useless places.

Don't get me wrong....I'm all for this change...I've just been very hesistant to accept a mod for this change because the AI does depend very deeply on its execution.

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I think I already said this to someone recently, not sure who it was, but this will not work. The AI will not use scouts to build outposts. They will still use settlers to build outposts. There is nothing that can be done about it, it is hardcoded. The player will be able to use it as intended but it will handicap the player if settlers are changed to not allow building outposts (the ai will be unaffected.)

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Hey guys!

I have no intentions of changing Settlers, other than the Pioneer Pack ability in my other mod, which is functionally the same, other than that you can arm your settlers now if you feel the need. This has ALWAYS been a beef of mine. Even in the old west Pioneers carried rifles... but I digress!

Did a quick test drive, giving Procipinee a bunch (5) of scouts, with the map revealed (i.e. -cheat, ctrl U). Didn't see any of her scouts building outposts. Played 50 or so turns I think. She had a lot of good sites to settle, but she had a few scouts hanging around in a resource rich desert too...

I did look at the AI .xml files after GFireflyE's comment, nothing I could see there, so barring any revelations BlackRainZ's comment is likely valid.

HOWEVER, on higher difficulty settings the AI cheats, and this is a minor advantage at best for players IMHO. So I'm not worrying too much about balance. I certainly could introduce a difficulty tweak for the AI, as an option if anyone has suggestions. This will complicate the mod a bit, of course, i.e. more files to add, hence a higher chance of breaking other mods.

A file does exist that assigns abilities specifically to the AI. I'm not sure how this file works, i.e. how the abilities are implemented ingame, whether it is by difficulty level or whatever, but this might open up some options r.e. balancing.

As noted above, the sole intent of this is to allow players which have a beef with the 30 pop cost for outposts using pioneers to have another option, and see how they like it.

BTW, I already have a Frontiersman ability ready for release in another mod, which combines the Scout and Outpost Building ability, which I can certainly release in an update to this mod as well. This way, 'regular' scouts would work normally so the AI wouldn't expend population to build them, but players could design 'Frontier Scouts' that can build outposts. This could tie in to a racial ability, or just be available to everyone, and I can release a version for either option. This might be a fun ability for Tarth Players to start with, for example.

Of course if enough players end up using this and liking it, maybe Stardock will take notice and possibly change this in the future...

Disclaimer: There were SEVERAL requests for this, so IMHO there is a need of sorts, hence the release. As it is such a simple/minor code change from the modder's perspective, I felt SOMEONE needed to do this, to make this option available to whomever. And, since it's a mod, no one is holding a gun to anyone's head, so you don't have to use this if you don't feel the need.

My own ideas for outpost construction are much more involved/in depth than this simple change. But in the meantime, as I said, for those that asked for this, HERE YOU GO!

Sorry, got off on a rant of sorts there...

As always, any comments, suggestions, etc. are always welcome!

I'd definitely like to know what everyone thinks about the 12 (3x4) pop cost as well...

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StevenAus22

Join Date 06/2010

+110

Thank you for releasing this. That is one of the advantages of a game being reasonably moddable - it allows players to test new ideas or tweaks and if they work they can make the core game better too.

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Inquiry:

Some factions make use of an Explorer unit instead of a Scout unit. Does this mod take that into account?

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OK guys, I'm at this very moment finishing up a replacement for the current modfile. Also, I noticed a small error in the .xml (missing a <) which may or may not affect this mod. It seemed to work for me, but a rookie mistake nonetheless.

So, if you are about to download this, hold off for a couple of hours.

GFireflyE,

In answer to your question, the current version mods the Scout Ability directly so the unit type won't matter, whether it's Scout, Explorer, or whatever. They all have the Scout Ability.

Coming changes in the soon to be uploaded update:

'Unchanges' Scout ability. So the scout ability will work as it always has.

Introduces the Frontiersman ability. Same as the current Scout ability, but adds outpost building as an option. 4 (x3=12) population cost. Training time is 5.

Adds Frontiersman units to all core races. This is what is holding me up right now (need to check the Object Sanity thread). Update soon.

This change is based on feedback and playtesting. Essentially, no sense charging the AI 12 population if it won't use these to build outposts...

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Attention!!!

Attention All Units Of the Solar Federation... umm I mean Legendary Heroes peeps!

A new version has been released!!!

Please use this version, as it fixes an 'issue' with version 1 that could handicap AI players, i.e. assigning a population cost to AI scouting units which weren't building outposts. See first post!

Thank you for your attention,

tjashen

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