GLADE Team Project: Dark Magic

[John.d.h]

I like how Warzone 2100 does it.  The installer has an option for whether you want to just install the regular content, or also download the extra mods.  I'd show you how it looks, but I can't be bothered to download the whole game just for the purpose of this example.  Anyway, I think Magitech should remain untouched since that's the work of the Glest Team and they are the ultimate authority on Glest canon.  To use an awkward analogy (I'm famous for those), if Magitech were the Star Wars trilogy, Dark Magic would be fanfic.  One comes straight from George Lucas, and the other comes from a bunch of guys who just really like Star Wars and decided to add on to it.  Similarly, Magitech comes straight from the Glest Team, and Dark Magic comes from a team of people who really like Glest and decided to add on to it.

[modman]

I like how Warzone 2100 does it.  The installer has an option for whether you want to just install the regular content, or also download the extra mods.

Good idea.  It would be optimal if the installer had it, but also the Glest.org website.  I'm not sure about the amount of traffic it gets compared to the forums, but at least to people new to Glest it would get more downloads from glest.org than from these forums.

Is there a way to contact the webmaster of it, to maybe see if links to other mods can be made there?

[kazakore]

I don't want to stray too off topic here, so I will start a new topic.

I would just like to mention, kazakore, that if you think that two magic and one tech faction is unfair, we can add Dwarves as well.

If it's balanced and similar sized tech tree that could be cool. Not actually downloaded them yet...

[silnarm]

How about a new techtree that could include Magic, Tech and Dark Magic, and any well done magitech-balanced and magitech-comparable factions that are made.  This appeals to all of the above reasonings except #4, which could be solved with 7zipping or some other kind of compression. 

This is exactly why the GAM has 'reference copy', indeed this was the catalyst to my making the GAM

You get a 'fresh' set of XMLs, but all the binary files are left behind, so if you need to change magic or tech a bit for balance, you can do so. But it assumes the existence of magitech, and all the paths to binary files are changed to point at the 'original' files in magitech, it's XML only, it's tiny.

[titi]

... back to topic! Here is the first shot of the acolyte, here with red teamcolor

[-Archmage-]

Great model titi.

[John.d.h]

Good work as always, Titi.  Is that the final version, or still WIP?

[modman]

Thank you titi, for bringing us back on topic!  And I have to agree with John.d.h, it looks fantastic.  The only thing might be that the forehead is a different texture than the head.  But is that really visible in game?

[titi]

thanks, but its not the forehead, its a metal golden plate with mounted horns

[GlestNewb]

This looks good. How about taking away the metal golden plate though?

[John.d.h]

This looks good. How about taking away the metal golden plate though?

I disagree.  I think the plate looks awesome.  I was thinking that the whole skull part would be a mask and the rest of the head would be human, but it seems it's a little too late for that.  Besides, I don't wanna mess with Titi's artistic vision.

[gameboy]

yes i agree with john, the plate is very good. and titi can i have the texture file i wish to add something to it.

[titi]

soon, yes, for now I am still working on the texture too.
I have very little time at the moment that's why I'm currently a bit slow.
But I will see what I can do.....

[titi]

acolyte, work in progress...

current unit ( mining, standing for modmans dark magic setup )
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/acolyte/acolyte.zip

current blend file and so on...
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/acolyte/acolyte7.zip ( no longer available )

[titi]

acolyte harvesting , I really liked my idea!  What do you think?

[titi]

The acolyte:

current unit for modmans dark magic setup:
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/acolyte/acolyte.zip

current blend file and so on...
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/acolyte/acolyte8.zip

[titi]

here is the dark_elder ( the missing animations )
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/dark_elder/dark_elder5.zip ( attention, this includes only my texture, not modmans ! )

[modman]

Sorry, but I haven't had much time lately with school and all...

I'll look at it tonight, but the screen looks awesome!  And unfortunately this site is blocked at school, so I can't post there.  And I have a computers class there too!

And when I get the time, maybe this weekend, I'll update the faction diagram and upload an updated version of the faction.

[Omega]

I can pretty much tell who voted to not have to download another faction automatically.  [cough, cough, Omega, cough]. 

I voted the first one, but I see reason in all those opinions.  1.) I like how it is balanced and made to fit in with magitech, 2.), Some parts might need to be redone, 3.), Magitech is so good how it is.  Does it need to be changed? and 4.), the Glest download is like 100 MB (Its been a while since I downloaded it), and that is pretty large, especially if you have to download it often. 

How about a new techtree that could include Magic, Tech and Dark Magic, and any well done magitech-balanced and magitech-comparable factions that are made.  This appeals to all of the above reasonings except #4, which could be solved with 7zipping or some other kind of compression. 

Actually, I voted to never change magitech. I'm sorry, but I don't think this should be combined. There's always going to be 'balancing issues', or at least people thinking that there is balancing issues then.  Not to mention I just don't like changing magitech. Heck, even my dwarfs and elfs are in a copy of magitech named magitech2...

Titi: Nice model!

[titi]

If Dark Magic will fit with magitech I think it would be best to include it in the megapack ( and the megapack with another Name in GAE one day ). I really think its a lot of fun to play with very different factions but they must be a bit balanced. Complete balance is not needed because there are good and bad players out there which will be happy about some little unbalance ....
Other mods like Military for example, which have big techtrees will never fit with the megapack ones, so we should only include the useful ones!

With glest 3.2.2 we currently have the problem that it loads the whole techtree, even the unused factions. this currently gives us a limit for one big pack! As far as I know GAE only loads the needed factions.

But believe me, its still a long way to go until we have a poolished Dark Magic version with sound, all the buttons, balancing and so on !
So don't discuss this point too much now.

@modman: Do you include the new stuff and give us an updated version of Dark Magic?

[titi]

I think its time to include a screenshot on the first post!
Modman, will you do that?

[madmanntis]

Really random idea I had yesterday...

How cool would it be if the acolyte morphed into the ground serpent (instead of building it).

WAIT! I know that sounds dumb... but imagine this: the morph animation would be of the acolyte summoning/calling the serpent, and then being swallowed up by the serpent as it rises out of the ground.

Only a suggestion. Feel free to dismiss it!

[modman]

Actually, I voted to never change magitech. I'm sorry, but I don't think this should be combined. There's always going to be 'balancing issues', or at least people thinking that there is balancing issues then.  Not to mention I just don't like changing magitech. Heck, even my dwarfs and elfs are in a copy of magitech named magitech2...

I kind of would like a bigger tech tree with Elves, Dwarves, Dark Magic, and all of the other well-done factions inside.  At the moment, for testing purposes only, I have a separate tech tree called "Neomagitech", neo meaning new, of course.  This is only because of what titi brings up: vanilla 3.2.2 loads all factions in the tech tree.

If Dark Magic will fit with magitech I think it would be best to include it in the megapack ( and the megapack with another Name in GAE one day ). I really think its a lot of fun to play with very different factions but they must be a bit balanced. Complete balance is not needed because there are good and bad players out there which will be happy about some little unbalance ....

I would have to agree with this.  The thing I have with balance, it's only for AI problems.  But the Lua AIs should fix all of that (hopefully), and GAE already loads only needed factions from the tech tree.  So my philosophy is that GAE (merged to Glest) will fix many, if not all of the problems with it.

Other mods like Military for example, which have big techtrees will never fit with the megapack ones, so we should only include the useful ones!

Yes, only factions from that time period/realm/genre should be included.  So Magitech is pretty open because it is fantasy, but just nothing futuristic or historical or animals etc.  Y'all get what I mean.

@modman: Do you include the new stuff and give us an updated version of Dark Magic?

I'm working on it...maybe I'll have it tonight.  Tomorrow at the latest.

I think its time to include a screenshot on the first post!
Modman, will you do that?

Yes, I'll try to get everything that's been modeled so far done in the shot.

How cool would it be if the acolyte morphed into the ground serpent (instead of building it).

Thanks for the feedback, it is great that you're thinking about Dark Magic in the way I might!  Since I created Dark Magic almost exclusively with Mark, I would not think of something so bold.  But bold is good.

Madmanntis: "Please just consider my plan, oh mighty one!"
Modman: "How dare you reference call me incorrectly!  The name's Magnificent chieftain over all of two continents!  Get back to your wood chopping!"
 

But seriously, though.  It's a great idea except for the dumb AI won't use it properly.  (Oh, when I get my hands on that AI, I'm gonna...Eh emm, make a 5000% better one with LUA )  And if I put that in there, it would be unbalanced simply for that reason.  Acolytes would be morphing constantly.  Because, you see, the AI sees it must make some military, but doesn't care how.  It just wants to make the base stable.  So since there would be so many more Acolytes than Sorceresses or Oblivion Portals.  Also, it would be even worse than the Battlemage problem Magic has...

Maybe after AI is addressed down the road, I'll be able to model, and I will personally fix it up.  But for now, the faction is designed "safely", meaning nothing tough for the AI to figure out.

But really, Madmanntis, if you refine that idea, there are alternate ways to produce the Earth Serpent.

[Mark]

My brother has the zip, its just too late to upload it, so hold your pants on people!

[John.d.h]

Another problem with that is that you would have to make the animation stretch out over the entire length of the morph, so you would either need a) a really long animation with tons of frames, b) a normal number of frames but really slow animation speed, or c) a way to play a different animation at the end than the one that loops the rest of the time.  Option a) would take up too much memory, b) would look crappy, and c) is not supported in Glest.  This is the same issue I ran into with my Phoenix unit for Sun and Moon, which was originally intended to morph from a priestess with a looping chanting animation with a self-sacrifice at the end and the Phoenix rising from the corpse, but alas it was not meant to be.