mod Champions Mod

[PrincessChristmas]

Summary

For a while I've been working on a new mod to balance 0 A.D. for pro players. It features a lot of changes, and may take some getting used to.

• A counter system: melee infantry counters cavalry which counters ranged infantry which counters melee infantry (rock paper scissors)
• All techs are now useful and new dilemas have been added: many techs were too expensive to be worthwhile before
• Only six civilizations: each one very different to the others, with more depth and possible strategies
• More military buildings: units are split between barracks, archery ranges and stables
• Balance severely nerfs "dancing" but allows for tactical manoeuvres
• Battering rams and bolt shooters are now available in the town phase, but catapults are still city phase-only
• Citizen soldiers cannot gather resources (except cavalry can still hunt) but they can still build
• Women can build all buildings but civic centers can't build military units any more
• Many features from similar civilizations have been merged into the six available civilizations
• Stone and metal are more limited and only 16 women can gather from a mine at one time
• Numerous small improvements: rams don't attack fields, loot is consistent, etc

General Meta

The game encourages rushing more since citizen soldiers cannot gather resources. Generally players will produce women at the start while using their citizen soldiers to build and defend the women from rushes. Some civs can use dogs/tigers/lions for very early rushes. It's important to build at least any two of the barracks, archery range and stables fairly early so you are able to counter incoming attacks. The civic centers can build "Minutemen" which are cheap, have high attack and train fast, but slowly lose health over a minute. They're ideal for buying time if a rush catches you by surprise. There are now extra techs in the civic center and houses to increase women's vision, health and attack which can be used to mitigate against rushes.

In the town phase siege is available in the workshop and some civilizations get access to weaker champions. Many civilizations also have special buildings available.

In the city phase heros and more tech becomes available. Champions dominate in the late game.

Unit Counters

The barracks now trains melee infantry: swordsmen, spearmen and pikemen. Spearmen and pikemen are now fast moving and are particularly effective at countering cavalry. Swordsmen "soft" counter cavalry and other melee infantry and have strong armour making them useful as a "tank" unit, but they're slow moving.

The archery range trains ranged infantry: skirmishers, slingers and archers. All these units are effective at countering melee infantry. Archers have the greastest range but are slower to move. Slingers do the least damage to infantry but are somewhat effective against buildings and siege. Skirmishers are fast moving and soft counter other ranged infantry but have less range than archers.

The stables train sword cavalry and spear cavalry. Sword cavalry is stronger in almost every way but only Brits and Mauryans have access to them. In addition, Ptolemies have access to camel archers which are weak and mostly only useful for hunting.

Brits Opening Strats

Starting units: 6 women, 2 spearmen, 2 slingers, sword cavalry and a dog.

Brits are good at rushing with their strong sword cavalry. However Brits also have access to dogs which can be used to rush very early in the game. It's a risky strategy though since if you don't kill enough enemy women you will fall behind economically. Dogs are only useful while your enemy may not have much army and become useless after 2-4 minutes of play time. Brits also have access to slingers and spearmen.

Iberians Opening Strats

Starting units: 6 women, 2 swordsmen, 2 skirmishers, spear cavalry and walls.

Iberians walls are more effective than in vanilla because of the fewer ranged units. Iberians have access to swordsmen, slingers, skirmishers and spear cavalry making them quite versatile. They also have upgraded towers with no minimum range. Their early game is mostly defensive and economy focused. They become stronger in the town phase with access to cheap Embassy swordsmen.

Mauryans Opening Strats

Starting units: 6 women, 2 spearmen, 2 archers and 2 worker elephants.

Mauryans are good at rushing with sword cavalry and upgradeable archers. They have access to tigers in the civic center which can be used for very fast rushes like Brits dogs. Mauryans start with two worker elephants which allows them flexibility in taking resources however they're the only civilization not to start with any cavalry which means that women have to gather chicken instead, slowing their economy.

Ptolemies Opening Strats

Starting units: 6 women, 2 pikemen, 2 skirmishers and 2 camel archers.

Ptolemies have free houses, farmsteads, storehouses and corrals making them great for booming. However early in the game they don't have access to any strong cavalry which means they need to exclusively build skirmishers and pikemen, which are slightly strong than spearmen. In the town phase they have the easiest expansion with cheap military colonies.

Rome Opening Strats

Starting units: 6 women, 2 swordsmen, 2 skirmishers, spear cavalry and a healer.

Rome are mostly defensive early in the game but they can do small very early rushes with lions. Since they can build ranged units in their barracks, they they are slightly more versatile in the opening period. Rome become much stronger in the town phase with their strong siege.

Sparta Opening Strats

Starting units: 6 women, 2 spearmen, 2 skirmishers, spear cavalry and a farm.

Sparta start with strong women (+100% health, +200% attack) which helps them if they're rushed. Sparta's early game should be focused on reaching the town phase and spamming their strong champion units and skiritai.

Be warned there may be bugs! Use at your own risk. Please send me your suggestions and thoughts!

champ-mod.zip

Edited September 8, 2019 by PrincessChristmas
New version

[nani]

Let's try it out!

[borg-]

Congratulations on the first version of your mod!!!

[PrincessChristmas]

Thanks. Had some fun games: @nani beat @ValihrAnt and me in a 1v1v1 game. And I lost to @ValihrAnt twice in 1v1.

I've released 0.9 which slightly buffs lions/tigers/dogs, fixes a Sparta bug, makes healers cheaper but limits the number you can build and tweaks the Golden Age tech.

When you update to the new version make sure to delete the old version first!

Edited May 10, 2019 by PrincessChristmas

[PrincessChristmas]

Thanks @borg- @Feldfeld and @ValihrAnt for testing. I felt pleased that players would defend, then build a counter unit and then go on the offensive. In vanilla I don't normally see that back and forth gameplay. The civs were played differently to their unique strengths and I saw players choosing different techs which makes me think there's probably no obviously best strategy! But I agree with the consenus that cavalry was too strong and melee infantry too weak so I've made some changes:

• Cavalry -40% hunting gather rate, except for camels which remain fast hunters (but weak fighters)
• Swordsmen +20% attack
• Spearmen and pikemen: slightly buffed

When you update to the new version make sure to delete the old version first!

Edited May 13, 2019 by PrincessChristmas

[av93]

Hmm, at first glance I see Borg mod more interesting. Animal pets besides war dogs seems too much fantasy for me, but different starting units for civs could be a interesting concept to play with.

[PrincessChristmas]

Champions Mod 1.1

This is a big release which addresses four main issues:

• Making turtling and booming more viable
• Encourage transitioning to the next phase more
• Making civs moe different to each other
• Adding more depth to gameplay

Houses have a new aura which gives +30% health within its range. Clever positioning of houses can now protect against rushes.
Towers now do more damage and garrison slightly more units but have a lower maximum number of arrows. Overall this benefits defense.
It's now slightly cheaper to research the town and city phases.
Stone and metal mines now only have 2500 resources instead of 3000 to force earlier expansion.
Added a new dilemma tech to the Corral: Cavalry speed or Cavalry hunt rate.
Added a new dilemma tech to the Market: Cheaper women or faster metal mining.
Added a new dilemma tech to the Temple: Faster healing or more unit health.
The Blacksmith tech to increase Melee Infantry speed has been increased to +15% from +10%.

There is now a very cheap, but worthwhile, upgrade for dogs in the kennel available in the town phase.
New upgrade for Naked Fanatics available providing +20% health and +10% speed for 150 food and 150 metal.

Added a unique tech to Roman and British Workshops to give +30% Siege speed.
Romans can now research aqueducts for cheaper/faster Storehouse upgrades.

Ptolemies have a new Poison Arrows upgrade for their camels. It costs 100 wood for +30% attack.
Ptolemies have a new special tech that allows them to build Temples 50% cheaper. This allows faster production of Meroitic Temple Guards.

Iberians' Revered Monument now grants +30% attack aura instead of +20%.
Iberians now have a Celtic embassy and access to Expertise in War.

Mauryan's Yōddha now have buffed stats and are available in the town phase but slowly bleed health. Since they do crush damage they can be used for fast, damaging attacks.
Added Bamboo Bows tech to give +3 damage to Mauryan Longbows.

Spartans have a new building, the Athenian Embassy, where they can very slowly train mercs for free. The building limit is 2.
Sparta can now rebel, turning their women in warriors! Used as a last attempt to salvage victory, it also makes women cost twice as much and build slowly.

Many techs are now better value.
Better tooltips.
Other small improvements.

When you update to the new version make sure to delete the old version first!

Edited August 12, 2019 by PrincessChristmas

[PrincessChristmas]

Champions Mod 1.2

Towers do more damage. Garrisoning units used to reduce or barely change the amount of damage done in fights because tower damage was only 4.5/s. Towers now do 12 damage/s which is higher than most units would do ungarrisoned. This makes towers a good defence until siege units become available.
The city phase is now slightly cheaper and grants +20% unit health instead of +10%.
Civic Centres are now cheaper and Military Colonies are slower to build.
Civic Centres now garrison 30 units.
New Brits tech to decrease the metal cost of Naked Fanatics.
New Rome tech to expand territory even further in the city phase.
Mauryans' Bamboo Bow tech is weaker but cheaper. It was too strong since it affects Maiden Guard Archers and Elephant Archers too.
New Blacksmith tech to increase Infantry Swordsmen armour.
The Market dilemma techs Cheap Labour and Cheap Goods are now free (excluding research time).
The vision ranges and loot of buildings are more consistent.
Improved some tech icons and improved tooltips.
Other small changes.

When you update to the new version make sure to delete the old version first!

[Lion.Kanzen]

Sounds primising...

[PrincessChristmas]

Champions Mod 1.4

Women's attack and health stats and techs have been reworked. Before, fully upgraded women were too strong! Women now do 1.5x (or 2x for Spartan women) multiplier damage to dogs, tigers and lions.
Spartans' Rebel tech (which transforms women into warriors) now irrevocably decreases women's gather rate 75%.
Melee cavalry now do 1.5x damage vs Siege units.
Siege units' values have been reworked. More consistent loot, lower pierce, the same or more crush, slightly higher minimum range.
Britain's rams have been upgraded with +3 hack/crush armour.
Added Scorpio to Iberian's Italian Embassy, but they cost 400 metal, take 30 seconds to build and are only available in the city phase.
The Living Conditions tech is slightly cheaper.
Britain's Archery Range and Stable now also give +2 population bonus, just like Britain's Barracks.
Britain's Temple now costs 200 wood (a discount over the normal 300 stone cost).
Mauryan's Market now costs 200 wood (a 100 wood discount).
New Looted Shields tech for Naked fanatics that makes them cost 50 less metal but 50 more food.
Ptolemies' mercenary units are now divided between Barracks, Range, Stable and Military Colony buildings more usefully.
Pikemen (but not spearmen) now do 1.5x vs Elephants.
Iberians now have access to Banks which can be built to provide a trickle of 5 metal per second. The building limit is one. Iberians now have less need for expansion which complements their defensive playstyle.
The Rotary Mill now builds 20% quicker.
Corral animal breeding is about 9% faster.
Players are now limited to 20 towers and 8 fortresses.
Mauryan's Yōddha now have +10 health.
Mauryan's Edict Pillar of Ashoka is now much cheaper and slightly faster to build.
Sparta's Skiritai are now slightly cheaper.
Mauryan's Elephant Archers are now very slightly buffed.
Mauryans now have new Elephant Armour tech in the city phase.
More consistent loot. Minutement now only provide half the usual XP.
Buffed Spartan Stoa units shield values slightly.
Reworked hero auras.
Some cleanups, better tooltips and a bug fix.

[Lion.Kanzen]

@sphyrth

[sphyrth]

Is there particular on your mind @Lion.Kanzen? I mean I have my own excitement about this, but what do you want me to tell?

Anyway, will this Mod be used for the next Champions Cup?

[Lion.Kanzen]

2 hours ago, sphyrth said:

Is there particular on your mind @Lion.Kanzen? I mean I have my own excitement about this, but what do you want me to tell?

Anyway, will this Mod be used for the next Champions Cup?

Another mod to try. Same as Barca and Borg- style.

[PrincessChristmas]

4 hours ago, sphyrth said:

Anyway, will this Mod be used for the next Champions Cup?

Possibly, or maybe it will just be a learning experience. I think some of the ideas have definitely been proven and could be incorporated into vanilla/other mods. 1.4 is the first release @ValihrAnt hasn't found a way of breaking in 1v1 against me but I am not quite good enough to really test vs him. @Feldfeld @ValihrAnt are you guys available for some pro 1v1s?

Edited September 8, 2019 by PrincessChristmas

[sphyrth]

I personally want the Mod to be used. Of course, there will be a Tournament Version and a Latest Version.

But anyway, I really am hoping that this will be the 1v1 Balance Mod players will be promoting. And eventually, you'll have a 2v2 (Cooperative) and 4v4 (Team) Editions.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Can you migrate this to GitHub? @PrincessChristmas