(MOD) Rex Maris

[George LeS]

Rex Maris

Latest version, 06-10-11 for DW with the 5/17/11 patch, is here. I hope it fixes the CTDs people have reported. It works with the 6/21/11 patch, as well.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2zhj7gsdj3rm4

An SRI-based naval and exploration mod. This is my latest attempt at improving the naval and exploration sides of the game. Helius kindly invited me to post it in the SRI subforum, so here it is.

I don't pretend it is complete, but it is working, and I hope for feedback from any who try it. An AAR by dinofs will soon be forthcoming.

Important Note:

This is based on SRI, and the mapcache must be handled in the following manner:

To run SRI, unpack this archive into the folder

[EUIII_root_directory]\mod

IMPORTANT

For SRI to work, you must manually copy the mod's map cache into the vanilla map cache, before starting the mod!

Rename this folder:

[EUIII_root_directory]\map\cache

... to something like this:

[EUIII_root_directory]\map\backup_cache

Copy this folder:

[EUIII_root_directory]\mod\SRI\map\cache

... and paste it into this folder:

[EUIII_root_directory]\map


If you frequently switch between playing mods and unmodified EUIII, I recommend you keep copies of the different cache folders in the root/map folder.
Before switching back and forth between one mod and another, or between a mod and vanilla, make sure to rename the appropriate folder, so that you always have the correct cache on hand.

Notes

1. This is by no means intended as a complete explantion of the mod, but only a list of things a player should know before playing it.

2. The most obvious feature is the system of Leaders by event; a development of my earlier mod. This involves both historical and randomly generated leaders.

(NOTE: this does not mean the "Historical Leaders" option is used. Rather, it defaults to "Leaders by Event", but there is no inherent problem with using the Standard system. I'm not convinced the AI can use the latter intelligently, though.

3. Leaders of all sorts are generated by events. Throughout, I've used the approximation that 1 pip of leader value = 1 point of Tradition. However, the amount of tradition does NOT limit you in the value of the leaders received. Historical leaders show up, with their historical stats, independent of the amount of tradition you have. Generated ones simply become more common with more tradition, & the odds of a good one go up with 25, and further with 50, points of tradition. The event given historical leaders come from the EUII mod, Europa Portugalis, which are different from those in EUIII. However, those you get at start ARE the EUIII ones, minus the explorers & conquistadors.

4. Historical explorers and conquistadors are both generated & killed by events, even for the AI, although with a big positive modifier.

Note that you do not HAVE to have QFTNW for this to happen with historical explorers & conquistadors; however, it is more likely for them to show up, and they live longer, with it than without. You will often have the option to spend more money and colonists to extend their missions. Doing so will negate the 1st event which would otherwise kill them.

From my own testing, it's clear that the "kill" events are much less freqent and annoying than in GRIN. However, there will be times where missions do abort almost immediately. It's not common, though, and it is equally true than sometimes missions will run much longer than you might expect.

5. Note that you will never get more than two explorers or conquistadors at a time.

6. Colonisation is significantly harder. It takes much longer to establish or to build a colony; usually well over a year (at least) per attempt. This is additional to the constraints already present in SRI. However, native aggressiveness has been made less relevant to growth, & less of a factor in placement. There are events which will give you a benefit from having natives present, and some which will replace them, once killed. It's a good idea to have units present, too; more than good, almost essential.

7. The land combat values have been changed. All archer units have fire factors, and there is some fire value in the table even at early levels. Note that only the fire values will increase as radically with tech, as in vanilla. Early shock values are much higher here, for infantry and cavalry. At all tech levels, artillery has 0 shock.

8. The naval tables have been more thoroughly overhauled. There are many new ship types, and the the values are rather bloodier at low tech. Ship speeds are slower than in vanilla, by a good margin, and lightships do not show up until tech 25. (This is because the game does not allow increasing strategic -- map -- speeds with higher tech.) There is a special provision -- frankly experimental -- for three decker types. All these are confessedly abstracted from reality, and are a compromise between history and game play.

9. NOTE: I have included, in the history/country files, 2 subfolders. One has the vanilla history files, with all exp/con's present at start. The other has them #'d out. Probably the best way to play is to copy the modified file for the country you are playing, into the main country folder, thus giving the AI its leaders at start. (Of course, this does not affect generals and admirals).

10. There are of course several bugs still in it. I hope anyone who tries it will give me feedback about whatever he thinks is wrong with it. I mean that; I'm hard to offend, & eager to see what is not working. So, if you look at it, and think it crap, please post a comment telling me why.


Thanks to:

Helius, for letting me use SRI as the basis for my own mod.

Antracer, who taught me how to do most of this, and many of whose ideas are built in to the mod, including the war blockade events.

dinofs, who tested it patiently.

Also, inspirations and ideas have come from the above, plus:

MEIOU and MM for any number of ideas.

Keraunos, who 1st came up with a leader-by-event system, and Darken, who improved it, in the process showing me how to make my own.

17blue17, whose Updated Naval Mod is probably more influential here than may seem at 1st sight.

BritNavFan, for the constant land table, which I have adapted in part, and for the African cavalry.

And too many to name for teaching and helping me with coding issues.

I've undoubtedly forgotten several more, who deserve thanks and acknowledgement.

As always, anyone may use this for any purpose they choose, under no conditions whatsoever. However, remember that the basis of the mod is SRI, and not my own work. In most cases, my changes can be seen by looking for my initials, "grles". Files I have created include them in their names, while most modifications I've made are annotated with "#grles".

I do not regard this as complete, by any means, and have several ideas for future development.

[George LeS]

Reserved.

[George LeS]

2nd Reseverved post.

[dinofs]

It's up! Excellent.

To everyone else, try the mod! It really adds a lot to colonization and exploration.

[George LeS]

New version, 1.1, posted.

Changes:

1. There are now 93 historical explorers and conquistadors (all unused in v 1.0) which can show up for any country with QFTNW.

2. Countries with QFTNW can now have 2 of each type, rather than one.

3. Modifiers to the mtth of all historical leaders are a bit longer, especially for pre-QFTNW explorers and conquistadors.

4. Colonies now grow faster, the larger they are. The big delays should be frontended now.

5. QFTNW has been moved to the 5th idea for England/GBR and France.

6. The base tax of the 13 colonies has been lowered, as well of that of Cape and Great Karoo. However, there are events which will raise them when they are cities.

7. indian_sea_route_part_three (Sunda) has an added trigger, trade 25, mostly so Portugal doesn't get it. Note they do get a core on Malacca when they discover that.

Unfortunately, I still haven't finished getting the level 1-4 advisors back in the game.

[Prince Imrahil]

And it will be now that I'm going to start using MOD's!

Just one question - the land combat values change anything the HTTT "problem" (for me) "lose one battle, no moral, lose your army" situation? And the cavalry will have same velocity than the infantry...?

But with improving of the naval side of the game who cares about land combat?

[George LeS]

Cavalry is faster. I've currently got:
C - 1.1
I - .9
A - .8

As to the bottom line, no, I haven't figured out any way to prevent the excessive # of massacres, either on land or sea. Still tweaking.

Let me know what you think, please.

[sprites]

i'll try this ... well , Portugal or England for testing the new colonization system?

[dinofs]

i'll try this ... well , Portugal or England for testing the new colonization system?

I personally used Portugal, but England is arguably even better. They have more late explorers, and they can better handle the expense of colonization.

[sprites]

i don't really care about alte explorers , i want early explorers
well i think i'll restart , i did not realize that conquest CB was just good enough to give a CB here , and found myself dishonorable scum after the conquest of ireland

[George LeS]

I just had a CTD in Aug 1440. I haven't figured out why, so this concerns me.

Has anyone else had this problem?

@sprites: The 1st 3 explorers you get as ENG are:

J Cabot 1494-1500
S Cabot 1505-1538
J Rut 1524-1530

Obviously, Sebastian is the guy who'll do the work for you. After 1550, the come faster. There are 7 explorers from 1550-1609. After that, there's a dry spell until 1676. Of course, once you get QFTNW, the "free range" guys are possible.

[Simon B]

So this is basically SRI but with your new leaders system??

[George LeS]

So this is basically SRI but with your new leaders system??

A little more than that.

The leaders are at the core of it, but:

1. The explorer/conquistador system is different; an attempt to limit exploration to more historical levels, but without the determinism of doing it by event. You still get to explore as you will, but there definite constraints.

2. Along with this, there are a number of other features limiting exploration and colonisation. E.g., Shamanism is non-annexable, and there is an event, which will almost always fire, which turns animist provs into shamist when conquered, thus making the culture conversion impossible. (South & Central Americans remain as is; all others are effected.)

3. The military, & especially the naval side, is different. Modified tech tables & unit values for both; new unit types at sea.

4. There are quite a few changes of things like modifiers, policies, advisors, etc.

E.g:

-I have put magistrates back in to PO decisions, but they're graded by country size, so big countries get less of a bonus.

-Several ideas have special conditions attached.

-There's a provision that your heirs don't die off so fast.

-Wherever I thought it best, I've removed or modded SRI to my needs. E.g., I've just put the strait back at the Bosphorus, although this isn't in the posted versions yet. I'm using both the new and the old exploration sequences (modded, of course). And I've made some of the limits of less-effective governments a bit less harsh.

Those are a sample. Check out dinofs's AAR for more, although he hasn't gotten that far in yet.

I based it on SRI because I wanted to use AI (of course), and then found that the administrative efficiency worked very well with my intentions. Also, it's the only major mod which runs well on my machine.

I've really meant to give a more full explanation (hence the reserved pages), but for the past 3 1/2 months, we've been watching our dog's health decline, until last Friday, we had accept the inevitable. I know many people won't get how wrenching this has been for us.

[Simon B]

A little more than that.

The leaders are at the core of it, but:

1. The explorer/conquistador system is different; an attempt to limit exploration to more historical levels, but without the determinism of doing it by event. You still get to explore as you will, but there definite constraints.

2. Along with this, there are a number of other features limiting exploration and colonisation. E.g., Shamanism is non-annexable, and there is an event, which will almost always fire, which turns animist provs into shamist when conquered, thus making the culture conversion impossible. (South & Central Americans remain as is; all others are effected.)

3. The military, & especially the naval side, is different. Modified tech tables & unit values for both; new unit types at sea.

4. There are quite a few changes of things like modifiers, policies, advisors, etc.

E.g:

-I have put magistrates back in to PO decisions, but they're graded by country size, so big countries get less of a bonus.

-Several ideas have special conditions attached.

-There's a provision that your heirs don't die off so fast.

-Wherever I thought it best, I've removed or modded SRI to my needs. E.g., I've just put the strait back at the Bosphorus, although this isn't in the posted versions yet. I'm using both the new and the old exploration sequences (modded, of course). And I've made some of the limits of less-effective governments a bit less harsh.

Those are a sample. Check out dinofs's AAR for more, although he hasn't gotten that far in yet.

I based it on SRI because I wanted to use AI (of course), and then found that the administrative efficiency worked very well with my intentions. Also, it's the only major mod which runs well on my machine.

I've really meant to give a more full explanation (hence the reserved pages), but for the past 3 1/2 months, we've been watching our dog's health decline, until last Friday, we had accept the inevitable. I know many people won't get how wrenching this has been for us.

I posted this on your other thread:

Quote:

Now, in RM, you don't actually get ALL your leaders, for performance reasons. It's based on a balance of longevity, leader quality, & the # of that type for the country/generation. But I could easily put them back in.

I would like to have all the historical leader that I can!! (is there a way to get around the limitations of the historical options with historical monarch too??) I'm using RM, does it work with the patch 4.1b?

[George LeS]

Just finished answering on that thread.

Thanks.

[George LeS]

At this point I'm getting concerned. It's 1493, & so far only 3 explorers have shown up, worldwide: Zheng He (MNG-1417), J/P Lugo (CAS-1473), & Nuno Tristao (POR-1438).

All but the 1st were AI countries. I played MNG until Zheng He's death, then switched to Venice, to keep an eye on Europe, but stay away from the 2 exploring countries.

Anyway, has anyone who has tried this, seen anything like this?

Can anyone see anything wrong with this, the trigger & MTTH for B Dias? Columbus's is very similar, but with a bit more powerful mtth modifiers (so it should fire faster).

country_event = { id = 	7810091		
	trigger = { 	
		NOT = { has_country_flag = leader_defined }	
		year = 1484	
		NOT = { year = 1501 } 		
		tag = POR 						
		NOT = { has_leader = "Bartolomeu Dias" }	
		treasury = 30	
		OR = {	
			AND = {	diplomats = 1	colonists = 1	}	
			ai = yes	
		}		
		NOT = { has_country_modifier = explorer_1 }		
		OR = {  
			NOT = { explorer = 1 }  
			AND = { 
				idea = quest_for_the_new_world   
				NOT = { explorer = 2 } 
			} 
		}	
		OR = { 	
			has_global_flag = POR_explorers	
			idea = quest_for_the_new_world	
			has_country_flag = explorer_Bartolomeu_Dias_inactive	
			colonists = 4	
			ai = yes	
		}	
	} 	
	mean_time_to_happen = { years = 6	
		modifier = { factor = 0.84  colonists = 2 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.84  colonists = 3 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.84  colonists = 4 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.71  colonists = 5 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.92  diplomats = 2 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.92  diplomats = 3 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.92  diplomats = 4 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.84  diplomats = 5 } 	
		modifier = { factor = 0.5   has_country_flag = explorer_Bartolomeu_Dias_inactive  } 	
		modifier = { factor = 4.02  NOT = { idea = quest_for_the_new_world } }	
		modifier = { factor = 0.5   NOT = { has_country_flag = explorer_active } }	
		modifier = { factor = 0.9  advisor = colonial_governor }	
		modifier = { factor = 0.9  advisor = pioneer }	
		modifier = { factor = 0.9  advisor = navigator }	
	}

I know it's not closed; the event triggers fine from the console. It just doesn't seem to be firing randomly. Conquistadors do, but for some reason, not explorers. Of course, it could be just chance, but there are 6 other pre-Dias explorers for POR.

[George LeS]

I've found that I cannot play saves with the new 4.1. I have, however, been able to start a new game, which runs fine. I do not know what causes this. Now, I'm using a heavily modified version; quite different from the released mod.

I wonder what others have found.

I will, as soon after the release of DW as I can, be releasing a new version. I may have a new HT version out before then, I hope.

I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in testing.

[kepler]

Interesting, when I first downloaded SRI I thought RM was a sub-mod already included in the package, apologies... I'd love to give it a go during one of my future games, maybe with Lubeck. Perhaps I will wait for the new release then, but I am also available to try out beta if that would be helpful. Not sure I will buy DW for WinXP as soon as it comes out though (might buy the MacOSX version to finally get up-to-date).

[George LeS]

I intend to get a final HT version out, if I can ever fix some problems. Then to DW. I'll be happy to PM you when I have something worth looking at.

[kepler]

Cool. Hopefully this will revamp my interest in colonization games ^^