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Millenium AD - REVAMP


Radiotraining
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I also got this strange error : "OpenAL stereo sound can't be positioned"

The sound in question is attached. Is just a customized sound from Open Game Art that I used when selecting the building. It actually works in the game, but the fact that it always appears that line of error is quite annoying and breaks from immersion.

As far as I understood it shouldn't be a problem of location of the file, but "position" of the audio in a simulated stereo  3D environment. So is probably a problem of how to save the file with the right properties (?) i don't know..

348417909_Schermata2022-01-08alle17_57_43.png

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Hello! Someone (very kindly) has tried the current mod but reported me some problems with his version. The game was launching as usual, but at the moment of launching a new match the loading time was apparently taking too long than normal and the game was running very slow and sluggish.

This happened on a m1 mac.  It's quite strange because I never experienced such problems even using a mac myself (even if Intel).

Anyway does anyone would like to download and try it and see if they have any issue on their machines? https://github.com/stereotipo/millenniumad  That would be quite helpful! Thanks anyone! :)

 

(also: if it works correctly I hope you can have some fun playing it too! ehehe)

Edited by Radiotraining
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I noticed a short slowdown, maybe the files were just cached causing the slowdown. 

Spoiler

random things that have come up during a game.

 

Some errors

When playing the skirmish map "Outpost" I get some errors. I will attach the replay file.

2022-01-15_0007.zip

0 A.D. (0.0.25) Main log (warnings and errors only)
ERROR: CCacheLoader failed to find archived or source file for: "simulation/templates/structures/norse/wooden_tower.xml"
ERROR: Failed to load entity template 'structures/norse/wooden_tower'
ERROR: CCacheLoader failed to find archived or source file for: "simulation/templates/template_structure_hut.xml"
ERROR: Failed to load entity template 'structures/rus/hut'
ERROR: CCacheLoader failed to find archived or source file for: "simulation/templates/structures/norse/wooden_tower.xml"
ERROR: Failed to load entity template 'structures/norse/wooden_tower'

Texture issues

Black layer

The black layer is a little short in the gamesetup and for the loading screen.1382280741_Screenshot2022-01-15at02_59_53.thumb.jpg.283135a04ac895366b94548d709bbe05.jpg

 

Drawing for the loading tip looks nice

484990265_Screenshot2022-01-15at03_15_22.thumb.jpg.f9666953de84fa6b165076c83240948f.jpg

Home screen looks attractive

950285954_Screenshot2022-01-15at03_20_16.thumb.jpg.a22d77837769ddc2d5649445a14d4e99.jpg

 

Selecting building

sel_diwan.xml sound can be set to 1 for Distanceless. Sound is good. 

728297928_Screenshot2022-01-15at03_28_43.thumb.jpg.92a3fefb51b2ae57cc19b61e4497c783.jpg

 

Floating building

Buildings look pleasing, some float when they stand on a hill.

1466055458_Screenshot2022-01-15at03_37_41.thumb.jpg.10d56d552cbb1e1871f2b6c98892f0d4.jpg

 

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Oh wow!!! This is awesome!! I wouldn't have expected such a thorough review! Thanks so much!!

 

4 hours ago, Langbart said:

Texture issues

This is something I also noticed but didn't know the cause.. Lopess gave me a hint about some spec/ao map conflict in the actors file and i was currently checking and updating everything! :)

 

4 hours ago, Langbart said:

Black layer

The black layer is a little short in the gamesetup and for the loading screen

I noticed that the background is not the more updated version. I have to check the GitHub folder because maybe it didn't update that files among others.

Same with cache errors. I solved them already, but probably there are some dead files still present. 

(usually I uploaded each change manually, but recently I just cloned the repo and update each change from that local folder automatically. But maybe it misses some changes, gotta check.. ) 

4 hours ago, Langbart said:

Buildings look pleasing, some float when they stand on a hill.

Ehehe in reality they're propelled with magnetic fields underneath :D

Jk ahahaha I know! ;) My focus now was to have buildings ready, but the second passage is to fix those details. Haven't experienced such visible issues playing casually around so I easily forgot, but maybe I will raise the priority of it

4 hours ago, Langbart said:

sel_diwan.xml sound can be set to 1 for Distanceless. Sound is good. 

Thanks! Good to notice 

Noob question @Langbart : which program are you using? Looks very nice with the files tree on the side. I was casually using sublime editor but either I didn't know this feature or there is better software out there! ;)

Edited by Radiotraining
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Make sure if a structure actor uses a material with "ao" in it, that you specify an AO map in that same actor, else choose a different material. 

Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<actor version="1">
  <castshadow/>
  <group>
    <variant name="civic_center">
      <mesh>structural/Byza_CC_revamp.dae</mesh>
      <textures>
				<texture file="structural/byza_texture_C.png" name="baseTex"/>
				<texture file="structural/byza_texture_C_NRM.png" name="normTex"/>
			</textures>
      <props>
        <prop actor="props/structures/decals/dirt_7x7.xml" attachpoint="root"/>
      </props>
    </variant>
  </group>
  <group>
    <variant frequency="1" name="alive"/>
    <variant name="death">
      <props>
        <prop actor="props/structures/decals/dirt_7x7.xml" attachpoint="root"/>
        <prop actor="particle/destruction_smoke_med.xml" attachpoint="root"/>
        <prop actor="particle/destruction_dust_med.xml" attachpoint="root"/>
        <prop actor="particle/destruction_dust_med.xml" attachpoint="root"/>
      </props>
    </variant>
  </group>
<material>player_trans_ao_parallax.xml</material>
</actor>

The <material> here asks for an ao map, but one is not specified in the textures. I looked in the textures\skins\structural\ao folder, and there are a couple byza textures there to choose from.

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1 hour ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

The <material> here asks for an ao map, but one is not specified in the textures. I looked in the textures\skins\structural\ao folder, and there are a couple byza textures there to choose from.

 

Exactly!! Lopess also made me notice that! :) I was already reviewing some files for this reason. 

I'm also baking all the AO textures that were missing .. I was waiting to reach some sort of "final" stage with the models but now is the right time to finish that part.

Thanks so much for taking a look into it!! :) I definitely looked a lot also at Delenda Est as inspiration. So it's really great to get suggestions from that side! ;)

I don't know if you liked the mod so far. I would love to reach a polished stage that could possibly be published alongside some future a26 release. It's quite challenging but lots of fun too!

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1 minute ago, Radiotraining said:

I don't know if you liked the mod so far. I would love to reach a polished stage that could possibly be published alongside some future a26 release. It's quite challenging but lots of fun too!

It's getting there! The AO maps are definitely important to making the structures look complete. :) You've definitely pushed the mod forward a lot! I look forward to seeing how far you push it! :D 

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4 minutes ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

It's getting there! The AO maps are definitely important to making the structures look complete. :) You've definitely pushed the mod forward a lot! I look forward to seeing how far you push it! :D 

AAAAahh thanks so much man!!! it's really a great motivation to hear this!! :) since I was pretty much my own boss in this little project I had no much idea how it could be from "outside". Very happy to hear that is heading towards the right direction!

About the AO maps yeah! Totally right! I tried to solve all the rest before but now I'm getting to that stage where I can tackle all these final details (and also clean-up the .xml files.. some are probably a bit messy with my many attempts ahahaha )

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Yesterday I got the suggestion to add a few more civs.

The ones already present are almost done but still not 100% completed, so I'm a bit cautious to not take a step too far than the possibilities.

At the same time, I think the overall playability, fun and longevity may benefit from some additions:

- @Lopess proposed to add a Tang Dynasty (probably adapting the assets of the Han Chinese)

- I originally was thinking about Japan, as an interesting variation (or maybe Korean Silla?)

-------------------

To stay faithful to the current meta, though, I was also thinking that would be better to focus on civs that may be more relevant and had contact with the current factions, so:

- A nomadic/Turkic civ (originally I was proposing the Avars)

- @Andronikos Medinaproposed Lombards (who had close contacts with Byzantines, but also Carolingians and Umayyads)

-------------------

What are you thoughts? Given that I'm managing this alone and time and resources are limited, I would pick a single choice (or not more than 2) to make it possible. 

Or, alternatively, I welcome support if anyone is available to chime in to expand some of the concepts! :)

But anyway, I would be curious to hear some ideas/opinions on what would you like to see in the mod!

Edited by Radiotraining
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1 hour ago, Radiotraining said:

Yesterday I got the suggestion to add a few more civs.

The ones already present are almost done but still not 100% completed, so I'm a bit cautious to not take a step too far than the possibilities.

At the same time, I think the overall playability, fun and longevity may benefit from some additions:

- @Lopess proposed to add a Tang Dynasty (probably adapting the assets of the Han Chinese)

- I originally was thinking about Japan, as an interesting variation (or maybe Korean Silla?)

-------------------

To stay faithful to the current meta, though, I was also thinking that would be better to focus on civs that may be more relevant and had contact with the current factions, so:

- A nomadic/Turkic civ (originally I was proposing the Avars)

- @Andronikos Medinaproposed Lombards (who had close contacts with Byzantines, but also Carolingians and Umayyads)

-------------------

What are you thoughts? Given that I'm managing this alone and time and resources are limited, I would pick a single choice (or not more than 2) to make it possible. 

Or, alternatively, I welcome support if anyone is available to chime in to expand some of the concepts! :)

But anyway, I would be curious to hear some ideas/opinions on what would you like to see in the mod!

 

In 1000 AD, Avars would sound anachronic, but there were Seljuks by the time, or why not Hungary? Also Muscovy became a thing a bit later, Kiev and Novgorod were the centers. And there, Svjatoslav had quite a mixed retinue, so they could classify for a quasi-nomad faction too.

 

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Good observations and welcome to the discussion! ^^ 

21 minutes ago, ivicok said:

In 1000 AD, Avars would sound anachronic, but there were Seljuks by the time

I picked Avars because were some of the civs already proposed here in the forum in the original mod but I confess I would have to check more of their history. They did have connections with Russians and Byzantines so I guess they were contemporaries to them, even if maybe antecedent to specifically the X century.

Another representative of Turkic tribes may be the Khazars? They had quite a distinctive history, adopting Judaism as their religion and maybe could fit more with the timeframe

31 minutes ago, ivicok said:

Also Muscovy became a thing a bit later, Kiev and Novgorod were the centers. And there, Svjatoslav had quite a mixed retinue, so they could classify for a quasi-nomad faction too.

True that. In the game I opted for calling them generically "Rus", but the references come from that early Kievan period, even if I committed the error of referring to Muscovy at the beginning of this thread.. anyway feel free to share your knowledge and informations if you have some specific ideas on that historical time! 

 

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15 minutes ago, Radiotraining said:

Good observations and welcome to the discussion! ^^ 

I picked Avars because were some of the civs already proposed here in the forum in the original mod but I confess I would have to check more of their history. They did have connections with Russians and Byzantines so I guess they were contemporaries to them, even if maybe antecedent to specifically the X century.

Another representative of Turkic tribes may be the Khazars? They had quite a distinctive history, adopting Judaism as their religion and maybe could fit more with the timeframe

True that. In the game I opted for calling them generically "Rus", but the references come from that early Kievan period, even if I committed the error of referring to Muscovy at the beginning of this thread.. anyway feel free to share your knowledge and informations if you have some specific ideas on that historical time! 

 

Khazars would pass too, even if around 1000 they were in decline. They were actually the ones, who pushed Avars into Europe before... and also Bulgars and Magyars afterwards. Avars were a major power in late 6th c., but they were subdued by Franks around 800. They have received a kind of "reservation" in today's Austria, but it did not last long. The Primary Chronicle even mentions a proverb "to vanish like the Avars". It was likely more a tribal union of quasi-autonomous clans with little sense of common identity beyond the authority of the khagan.

Khazars may have a plus for a designer - we know names of their khagans by more than the title. You could have an elite unit with a unique name, which is not just an ethnonym. On the other hand, there is not much known about their architecture (they had some cities), Avars are better documented - you could take any Slavic fort from 8th-9th c. as a model.

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Thanks for the insights! Hey, I would love it if you want to join the development adding your historical knowledge. I'm certainly no expert in this field and i'm more than happy to receive hints from who is more knowledgeable. Feel free, obviously! ;) But is also a way to give a contribution to make the mod go in the right direction! :)

 

I appreciate the hints also from a design perspective. This is definitely a things to keep in consideration, and for that purpose I would rather prefer a distinctive nomadic civ, rather than some that can be confused with the current Rus. So Khazars may be an even more optimal choice! :)

on this regard, there's the movie "the diamond sword" that offers quite an interesting insight over those nomadic tribes (even if the timeline is definitely shifted on a later period) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DyxYovFils-g&ved=2ahUKEwjNk_if8rT1AhVLQ_EDHcSkAt0QtwJ6BAhgEAI&usg=AOvVaw1mR454nBWNejrvhZW_WRlt

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15 hours ago, Radiotraining said:

Noob question @Langbart : which program are you using? Looks very nice with the files tree on the side. I was casually using sublime editor but either I didn't know this feature or there is better software out there! ;)

The one in the picture is called Visual Studio Code (VSCode), well designed and intuitive, updated monthly with new additions. Much beloved by Stackoverflow users (survey '21).

  • image.png.8c4cd867e019e5317b873b4cd45aa214.png
Spoiler
  • it allows extensions via the built-in marketplace
    • 1492448592_Screenshot2022-01-16at00_02_05.thumb.jpg.08e15e947e33ea2815ebc296587a5c83.jpg
    • for example
      • XML Tools - XML Formatting, XQuery, and XPath Tools for Visual Studio Code
      • GitHub Repositories - Quickly browse, search, edit, and commit to any remote GitHub repository directly from within Visual Studio Code. 
      • Reload - add reload button
      • Material Icon Theme - Pretty icons
      • GitLens - Supercharge the Git capabilities
      • Cobalt2 Theme Official - I liked this style the best
      • ... many more. If you find some hidden gems send them to me.
  • it has a built-in terminal window that works well with my workflow
    • 660449965_Screenshot2022-01-16at00_02_56.thumb.jpg.d2d38c578735c74ad2040d4a806bd560.jpg
  • many tutorials
  • Settings can be adjusted via the GUI or through .json files. Nearly every part of VS Code's editor, user interface, and functional behavior has options you can modify.
    • image.png.a867947925cb255ae427cd54a23c008b.png
    • Useful settings:
      • "window.restoreFullscreen": true
        • VSC offers a lot, it should be maximum sized everytime
      • "editor.formatOnSave": true
        • Just a great feature to have
      • "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true
        • remove whitespaces
      • "editor.detectIndentation": false
      • "editor.insertSpaces": false
        • I like tabs, @#&#036;% spaces
      • "terminal.integrated.persistentSessionReviveProcess": "never" 
        • Terminal restored the last session, I did not like it
      • "editor.renderWhitespace": "boundary"
        • Display hidden characters like: spaces and tabs
      • "terminal.integrated.gpuAcceleration": "off"
        • My terminal caused a reload everytime when starting VSC with this setting on
      • "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off"
        • Don't spy on me.
      • "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true,
        "editor.guides.bracketPairs":"active"
        • Colorful brackets
  • works well with GitHub
    • After you made changes click on the Source control menu ⌃⇧G
      Enter a commit message and click the little tick icon. To sync it with GitHub click the icon in the staus bar in the bottom left corner

    • Secret tip: Login into GitHub and press . (period / full-stop), this will open a fully functional version of VSCode in your browser. WOW!

PS: VSCode is great for working on a project, for quickly open a file I use CotEditor.

 

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12 hours ago, Langbart said:

The one in the picture is called Visual Studio Code (VSCode), well designed and intuitive, updated monthly with new additions. Much beloved by Stackoverflow users (survey '21).

AAAAAh Fantastic!! I didn't know!! (I'm definitely not a coder ahahahaha you got me :D)

Thanks so much!! Looks very rich! But also very, very useful for this kind of work! :)

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21 hours ago, Radiotraining said:

Thanks for the insights! Hey, I would love it if you want to join the development adding your historical knowledge. I'm certainly no expert in this field and i'm more than happy to receive hints from who is more knowledgeable. Feel free, obviously! ;) But is also a way to give a contribution to make the mod go in the right direction! :)

 

I appreciate the hints also from a design perspective. This is definitely a things to keep in consideration, and for that purpose I would rather prefer a distinctive nomadic civ, rather than some that can be confused with the current Rus. So Khazars may be an even more optimal choice! :)

on this regard, there's the movie "the diamond sword" that offers quite an interesting insight over those nomadic tribes (even if the timeline is definitely shifted on a later period) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DyxYovFils-g&ved=2ahUKEwjNk_if8rT1AhVLQ_EDHcSkAt0QtwJ6BAhgEAI&usg=AOvVaw1mR454nBWNejrvhZW_WRlt

 

Well, Kazakhs and Khazars are not the same, even if there is some relation. But I am no turcologist (some colleagues always like to remind me), if I could recommend, e.g. during my studies Omeljan Pritsak was considered an authority on the topic of both early Rus' and Khazars. I also enjoyed this, even if there are many speculations, which may be discarded now. A great book on Avars was written by Walter Pohl, now it is also available in English.

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42 minutes ago, ivicok said:

Well, Kazakhs and Khazars are not the same, even if there is some relation.

Yeah.. I suspected I was messing the things a bit. I know they should be different, but at the same time there must certainly be a degree of relation as you said. 

I have more of a generic idea and I may be wrong.. but I thought the culture and nomadic traditions wouldn't be too dissimilar from those shown in that movie. It would be already a great reference from a design perspective. 

I don't know how much of a turcologist you are but I am definitely not :ninja: so I really appreciate some historical suggestions! Thanks a lot for the resources! Those may be a good start!

> I don't know if you're interested in participating in the production, but in case let me know! A kazhar faction can be introduced but I would definitely appreciate some help and support to make it possible! (even if just historical informations)

Edited by Radiotraining
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CAROLINGIANS

Special features

The Carolingian faction was already one of the most complete in the original game. I only made available in the game the model of Lorsch Abbey that @Alexandermb has made and gave it purpose as a library.

Abf4Jry.png

Here a tech dedicated to the Carolingians allows to unlock fire arrows as weapon to attack buildings and add more damage power to the archers.

GfvtIOs.png

 

Another unit available in the city phase is the Maceman, available in the barracks. Is an expensive, but weak unit that can deliver a crush damage to units and buildings, making it a valuable support element during sieges or intense melee fights.

gYbd1MY.png

JozDyWs.png

 

 

Edited by Radiotraining
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1 hour ago, wackyserious said:

Interesting, is there a historical context behind the macemen champion unit?

good question! To be really honest no, not exactly. I introduced this unit more from a gameplay standpoint than a specific historical one. It's believed that maces as blunt weapon were part of the generic equipment of armies during middle ages, and references of such have been found also in the Bayeux tapestry, so they existed and they were used at least since the early middle age. But there isn't a specific reference related to a specific use by Carolingians, among others.

My intention was more simply to experiment with a variation among the traditional roast of units by adding an extra element in the play. So is not historically distant, but neither historically centered on a specific reference. But thanks for the question, now you're forcing me to do some deeper research :D ahaha is part of the fun

 

Edited by Radiotraining
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