Modding Breakthrough!

from Elemental Forums

Improvements can now upgrade to two different things depending on a prereq. I noticed that Command Post upgrades to War College and Warrior Temple. The way it chooses which next option is possible is with a prereq. That means for me specifically that Ivory Towers can have a Dungeon do this:

 

Level 1 Dungeon

Level 2 Upgrades Dungeon to Conjurer's Circle or Beast Den

Level 3 Upgrades Conjurer's Circle to Necromancer's Circle or Demonic Circle; Upgrades Beast Den to Lycanthrope's Den or Serpent's Den

 

I planned this system back in beta 2, but then it was not possible. Now it is! The way you will choose the different paths will be decided by the quest line you must go through to advance Ivory's Unique technology. I can also have current upgrades be replaced by Ivory options. So, when you get to level 2, you will have 4 choices. Town, Fortress, Conclave, Tower. Choosing tower is only an option once you have completed the first quest. The mod will be balanced with the normal game, so you have the other three options, but you need at least one tower city to continue the story. I have to figure out the balance factors still, but basically I want to make trained units weak little minions. I want all your units to either be from lairs or summoned. Now I have the control I need to integrate the mod within the current game. 

For everyone else, this means mods can be even more compatible. We can have crazy buildings and units that all upgrade from the same buildings and yet never meet. I just love this new option, if you couldn't tell. The idea may not be new, but it is finally possible. Thanks Stardock!

9,391 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

That does open up some cool possibilities!!

I haven't delved much into quests yet, as I'm still working on getting my custom race the way I want it.  One of the biggest problems I faced with my concept was having some Epic encounters for my sovereign to work though.  But your work on questing has pretty much solved that problem!

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I am keeping alot of my quests under wraps for now, but another cool modding breakthrough came from the Altar. You can have an item that starts a quest. Common knowledge, but did you realize you can specify which quest you want to start? This means quests can link together to form larger stories. In Tales of the Slayer, I at one point give the player a library of books to read. Some of those books start quests. One book starts a quest that continues the story. As long as each quest gives the player an item at the end, you can continue the quest line. Pretty cool stuff.

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