Carnage Castles - « How I met your trebuchets »

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

not the final name, I have some ideas, but since everything is not well defined I prefer to see what I'll do and name it later...

so... what is it this another mod :

• well... I want to make some castle fight like. It will focused on castle build and "unbuild" ( ). Since I don't really know yet what is possible to script, I won't add the full list of features what I would like to see in my mod.

my skills :

• I'm fine with C++ (I know some Opengl), I have some skill in modeling and texturing, but none in animation...

era & civilisation :

• my mod will not focused on a strict era but castle age before gun powder is mainly the era I want. Moreover I'm not decided if I will add some fantasy element.
• there will be only one civilisation. The civilisation will be focused on medieval france/england/germany.

special feature :

• you will have a leader unit, if the leader die, you lose...
• capturing building without protection (for now, and if it's possible, I think to enter in a building to do that, so all buildings will have at least one space for garrison)

economy :

• food will be consumed by all your people.
• gold will be used to recruit and pay expert soldiers
• siege weapon and archers will consume ammo (I don't have choose yet between global or local management).
• I would like to found a system where you won't have to gather but to get ressources from merchants... but I have to work more with scripts to have a better idea, to do something interesting...

technologies :

• Since there will be only one civ, the main idea is to have enough technologies to let the player having several way to play. For example I want to found a way to use a spy-assassin with some special abilities like "jumping" over walls, go in the dungeon and kill the leader...
• No gunpowder. Trebuchets will be our best friends!
• No full plate armor!
• Walls/towers/gates will have several upgrades.

units :

• Trebuchet! and some other siege engines...
• peasants (not sure about how I want to use rednecks)
• knight : oh really?? limited units, hero ? can be prisoner ? oh yeah I see... a lot of "?"...
• archer (short bow) : high fire rate, short range, high precision, small damage on armored unit
• archer (long bow) : medium fire rate, long range, low precision at long range, medium damage, can use fire. I would like to use them to break cavalry formation, slow down infantry...
• crossbow : small fire rate, medium range, medium precision, high damage against all kind of units.
• sword/pike-men : usual troops...
• bandits/pirates (will looks like vikings, axemen)
• I don't plan to add naval units at first stage (because I have to few resources to model medieval ship), later I will rethink about this...

actual tasks :

1. modeling & texturing some castle elements : dungeon, keep, walls, towers, gates.
   

   
   
   after upgrade :
   

2. adding them in 0AD (writing their templates and so on...).
3. scripting the food consumption.
4. thinking/scripting ammo consumption.

enrolment, help :

• I'm not looking for any help yet, I prefer to reach a minimal stage before asking for some help... but if for a reason you want to help me, feel free to tell me!

Edited December 31, 2013 by ProvencalLeGaullois

[leper]

Trebuchet! and some other siege engines...

You might want to ask Pureon about that.

[feneur]

• I would like to found a system where you won't have to gather but to get ressources from merchants... but I have to work more with scripts to have a better idea, to do something interesting...

Most defend the castle type games seems to use a system where you get resources depending on enemies killed, if you want to go down that route you could just make sure to give all units a lot of loot in their unit templates and you wouldn't have to implement anything more complicated than that =) Also not sure what you mean about the merchants if you think you have to script them? But perhaps you have something really intricate in mind? I would imagine it should be possible to do something like have all enemy units killed give you some kind of "token" (i.e. a new resource that's only received as loot, and only used to trade with the merchant) which could then be used to buy other resources from the merchant?

peasants

Depending on how you want to have the player construct buildings their role could be a bit different: If you want the player to just be able to place the buildings directly (i.e. no construction time, no units used to construct it etc) they would of course not be involved in that, but perhaps they could still be useful in repairing them? Maybe give them a tiny attack and make them cheap so they could be used to last you through a little while until you've gotten enough resources to buy something more expensive?

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

I have several ideas of some economic systems. One I would like to test : the player buys some wood at the market, then somewhere (need to define some spots...) a neutral merchant is spawned and goes to the castle. If the enemy kills and loots your merchant, you'll get a message to warn you that the merchant has been killed... But I don't want to say I will add this idea, because I really need to write some scripts to have a better idea, and see what is possible... I don't want to change the system just for changing it, to be honest I never really liked managing tons of peasants...

Depending on how you want to have the player construct buildings their role could be a bit different: If you want the player to just be able to place the buildings directly (i.e. no construction time, no units used to construct it etc) they would of course not be involved in that, but perhaps they could still be useful in repairing them? Maybe give them a tiny attack and make them cheap so they could be used to last you through a little while until you've gotten enough resources to buy something more expensive?

I would like the player not be annoyed by managing peasants. I want the player put on the ground all walls, towers etc. and the rate of construction depends of the number of builders. By builders, for now, I mean peasants.

But in the further I would like something a bit more complex, with masters carpenters / stone carvers etc. I guess I will do the same for foods. Trees can obstruct needed space, I have to think how to cut the trees...

[feneur]

Renamed the thread to be more descriptive, feel free to change it further, just please make it something descriptive so people can remember what thread it is and not just something generic like "A mod", or "My Mod" or something

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

Renamed the thread to be more descriptive, feel free to change it further, just please make it something descriptive so people can remember what thread it is and not just something generic like "A mod", or "My Mod" or something

I wanted to change it this morning but got some trouble with my connection... I will add a temporary name

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

«W.I.P.s»

wall tower :

after upgrade :

Edited December 24, 2013 by ProvencalLeGaullois

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

(at right, the wall without any upgrade, at left the wall upgraded and in the center the upgraded wall tower)

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

gate for a fortified town (not sure if I can use that one (maybe script issue) )

[sanderd17]

For performance, and edge cases, it's best to make the gaps in the gates at least as wide as the palissade gate gap in the main game. As the gaps are rounded per tile, you can run into problems otherwise.

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

For performance, and edge cases, it's best to make the gaps in the gates at least as wide as the palissade gate gap in the main game. As the gaps are rounded per tile, you can run into problems otherwise.

have you scheduled to improve the obstruction management ?

[sanderd17]

Yes, the new pathfinder will use a 1x1 square to navigate on, so obstruction can be a lot more precise. Currently, it uses 4x4 squares. So the placement and rotation of your gate really defines which units can pass if it's not very wide.

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

Yes, the new pathfinder will use a 1x1 square to navigate on, so obstruction can be a lot more precise. Currently, it uses 4x4 squares. So the placement and rotation of your gate really defines which units can pass if it's not very wide.

ok.

today, (after I have visited two castles and some chruches ), I have started modelling a church...

between two sacking of castles... all good christians need to bless their trebuchets!...

Edited December 28, 2013 by ProvencalLeGaullois

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

wip of the keep :

sadly it's around 5.7k tris already... and far to be finished...

[wraitii]

If you're using Blender, you can use the "Decimate" modifier to automatically remove triangles without affecting your mesh shape too much.

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

If you're using Blender, you can use the "Decimate" modifier to automatically remove triangles without affecting your mesh shape too much.

i'm using blender, I will test "decimate". thx for the tips

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

I have decided to change the design of the keep. the first design looks like a norman keep. Most of people when they think about castle think about that kind of design. My country is full of castles built on the top of rocks in the mountains, their keeps never looks like the normans keeps. Morever for the game it's not important to have a keep with one or four towers... and it should have less tris. I don't have yet choose if i let the entrance at the tower or if I move it somewhere else. I will do both and ask you to say to me what is your favorite.

(n.b. the word "keep" is a synonym of the word "dungeon" right?)

[sanderd17]

This is one of our most ancient fortresses: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=Gravensteen

As you see, it's indeed not what you'd would draw at first. It isn't rectangular, but follows the terrain. The entrance is a bit higher than the rest of the walls. But the highest is on the opposite part of the entrance, though not completely against the wall.

So I really like a-symmetric designs.

[greenknight32]

"Dungeon" is not a synonym fer "keep", though that was its origin. A "keep" is a tower within a castle, meant as a last stronghold when the rest of the castle has fallen to the enemy. The English word "dungeon" comes from the French word "donjon" (sometimes spelled "dongeon") which is synonymous with "keep" - but "dungeon" means a cell for holding prisoners, usually underground. The closest French equivalent is "oubliette" - which is used in English for a dungeon which is only accessible through a hatch in the roof.

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

This is one of our most ancient fortresses: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=Gravensteen

As you see, it's indeed not what you'd would draw at first. It isn't rectangular, but follows the terrain. The entrance is a bit higher than the rest of the walls. But the highest is on the opposite part of the entrance, though not completely against the wall.

So I really like a-symmetric designs.

Actualy the Gravensteen looks like a "germanic" (by germanic I mean all people with a germanic culture, not people living in germany...) castle. the ones in my country are also germanic. I prefer to make an anti-symetric design :

and it uses less tris...

(not yet finished)

"Dungeon" is not a synonym fer "keep", though that was its origin. A "keep" is a tower within a castle, meant as a last stronghold when the rest of the castle has fallen to the enemy. The English word "dungeon" comes from the French word "donjon" (sometimes spelled "dongeon") which is synonymous with "keep" - but "dungeon" means a cell for holding prisoners, usually underground. The closest French equivalent is "oubliette" - which is used in English for a dungeon which is only accessible through a hatch in the roof.

I'm french, that's why I asked, for me "donjon" in english is "keep" but as you wrote "donjon" and "dungeon" are false friends... sometime I also heard "keep" in french translated to "la garde" (in english would means "the castle/keep/building/tower used to protect/hold a strategic point") but I'm convinced this is a mistake meaning... whatever thx for you coment

[sanderd17]

I didn't know you wanted a specific type. In those days, the boundaries of the different Germanic (including the Frankish) counties were rather changeable.

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

I didn't know you wanted a specific type. In those days, the boundaries of the different Germanic (including the Frankish) counties were rather changeable.

I won't say I want a specific design, I wrote in the first post I will focused on england/france/germany(HRE). After that, my models are based on the ressources I have. I've grown in a part who belonged to the HRE. I visited and know the castles in my country more that the one in normandy or england (for example)...

for example, I took maybe more than one thousand of pictures of castles and other medieval building the last ten days, almost all of them were built with red sandstone, I have a lot of pictures of walls like,

(n.b. if anyone for any reason want to use this picture, feel free to use it)

so my models will have sandstone for texture...

my keep is almost finished to be modeled (I saw while I was posting, some faces were not rendered).

also I don't want to make tons of models now, I just want to make what I need, and start to work quickly on the scripts. It will be always possible to make more design for the keep later (same for any building).

edit :: last rendering for 2013 :

see you in 2014 (if the world doesn't collides, and if the incas don't come from space with giant spaceships, and if some monkeys don't escape from a secret military laboratory with some deadly virus, and if the four horsemen don't knock at my door, and if I'm not abducted by a bunch of hot girls...)

Edited December 31, 2013 by ProvencalLeGaullois

[ProvencalLeGaullois]

wip of the building used as small warehouse, stable or smithy...

I would like to make the role of some buildings dynamic. I would like to script the ability to change a warehouse to smithy and so on. Some part of the mesh will change too. for example the smithy I will add some tools, a furnace...

I have a question,

I don't know if the wall placement is scripted or coded, because I would like to use only small piece of wall (for several reasons). One reason is, I would like to snap some buildings to the wall like :

it would be possible to script that ?

(n.b. I can't start scripting/texturing until mid january... )

[Radagast.]

Lots of fine ideas ...

How about joining efforts with Millenium A.D. - it covers the time period from 500 A.D. until 1500 A.D. The vikings including ships are already quite far evolved and we recently try to join more efforts with devs and artists from all the other mods.

https://github.com/CouncilofModders/ <-- Here we probably collect all MODs for increasing reusability.

--> Viking thread.

Niektd and my humble self partly seem to work on the same features like you. I like your ideas (and your castles ).