[CAMPAIGN] Manpower System for Ancient Empires, By Causeless

[Sir_Pee_Alot]

Would be awesome to have some historical scripted events with scripted starting battle's for mayor factions.

[Viking1978]

I've been a little burnt out from doing this and work at the same time, so I'd sad to say that in terms of big gameplay additions there hasn't been too much done. There's been a lot of re-factoring and more techy changes to make the mod more stable and work in multiplayer campaigns, but as I'm the only scripter directly working on this manpower mod it means that other areas suffer in development time.

I've got multiplayer functionality working, however, and have been starting a little more with UI work. I have also implemented disbanding feeding into the population pool, and recruiting levies taking population, which were complex and a lot bigger time sink than expected, due to considering multiplayer compatibility.

Otherwise, I have given People of Rome my multiplayer code and am assisting Litharion to port it across to their population mod, as well as helping them with various other issues. I'd expect to see their mod get a full 1.0 release quicker so definitely keep an eye on over there. Sadly due to this Attila mod's affiliation with Ancient Empires, some members of People of Rome have objected to writing any code for us, so I'm needing to rewrite these systems myself.

This Attila population mod will most likely really start shining when AE itself releases, as the mod is being partially designed around the mechanics being introduced with AE. Any properly playable vanilla-compatible release of this mod will probably be a while away, especially as I'm currently having to write a lot of other systems too: maintaining and adding to my scripting toolkit, doing AE campaign scripts, a lot of experimental ideas, and writing the population mod with both AE and vanilla support. I'm also assisting the Hellenika team as they get ready for release.

I apologize for the delay! I'll write an update post here whenever I make significant progress, and release new builds whenever I feel they add something significant gameplay-wise.

Sad to hear from the burn-out, mate, I know how it goes. Modding can be very time-consuming, huh... Things taking more time than expected... Currently implementing Houses (Rome II-style) in Attila with ancillaries tied to traits (with just some basic scripting, e.g. some ancillaries have a certain % chance of giving a penalty to generals from other houses). But as I am making the images of ancillaries culture-specific it's a lot of work... Had it several times with Rome II and now with Attila that I took pauses. Never easy to pick up the thread again, especially now that I came back from a trip.

But I definitely hear some major progress concerning multiplayer and UI, so that's a big step... And the disbanding you also managed... nice! Concerning the Vanilla version, si it that much different from the AE version? The units, of course. Functions depending on specific AE functions? Anyway, keep it up, you are writing history here!

[Causeless]

Sad to hear from the burn-out, mate, I know how it goes. Modding can be very time-consuming, huh... Things taking more time than expected... Currently implementing Houses (Rome II-style) in Attila with ancillaries tied to traits (with just some basic scripting, e.g. some ancillaries have a certain % chance of giving a penalty to generals from other houses). But as I am making the images of ancillaries culture-specific it's a lot of work... Had it several times with Rome II and now with Attila that I took pauses. Never easy to pick up the thread again, especially now that I came back from a trip.

But I definitely hear some major progress concerning multiplayer and UI, so that's a big step... And the disbanding you also managed... nice! Concerning the Vanilla version, si it that much different from the AE version? The units, of course. Functions depending on specific AE functions? Anyway, keep it up, you are writing history here!

The AE version and vanilla version are mostly going to be the same, perhaps other than some culture stuff. We're also wanting have have higher-tier units limited primarily by manpower instead of needing to build better barracks in AE, but that can't really be easily ported to vanilla.

I'm planning to try and have the same code for both vanilla and AE, but to delegate options to a file that anyone can easily modify without much scripting knowledge. Doing it that way allows other mods to integrate the manpower system a lot easier.

[Viking1978]

The AE version and vanilla version are mostly going to be the same, perhaps other than some culture stuff. We're also wanting have have higher-tier units limited primarily by manpower instead of needing to build better barracks in AE, but that can't really be easily ported to vanilla.

I'm planning to try and have the same code for both vanilla and AE, but to delegate options to a file that anyone can easily modify without much scripting knowledge. Doing it that way allows other mods to integrate the manpower system a lot easier.

I understand, that would be perfect!

[Causeless]

Just wanted to give a status update on some interesting things I've been doing. I've been exploring UI editing, and I've made some breakthroughs which AFAIK haven't been achieved before:



Beforehand, we were limited to modifying existing text (other mods, like People of Rome 2, are just stealing the growth development points text to show population), and changing tooltips. However, I've discovered a way to duplicate UI elements and modify them, which will allow us to show individual population values per region and undoubtedly many other interesting things in the future.

As always, this is very much W.I.P.

[Willhelm123]

Thats amazing.

[ReaperXM]

It really is. You guys are incredible.

[Tempest51]

Awesome! But how will province growth tie into this? And does recruitment deduct from settlement population separately?

[Causeless]

Awesome! But how will province growth tie into this? And does recruitment deduct from settlement population separately?

How much provincial growth plays into the population system awaits to be seen. Because population is on a regional instead of provincial level, directly using provincial growth may not work too well. I will likely have provincial growth play into the system, but also have separate per-region growth modifiers.

Recruitment takes population only from the region that the army is recruiting in, not the whole province - that's why there is three separate population indicators, one for each region in the province. The provincial growth indicator has been moved next to the province name to give space for the population indicators.

Also - the People of Rome 2 mod has now released! I suggest you guys check it out.

[Tenerife_Boy]

Outstanding Causeless! hats off mate

[Sheridan]

Mighty impressive, Causeless!

[Viking1978]

Damn, that is another breakthrough! As far as I know nobody ever managed that on this forum, indeed... I will hold my breath for now, but I see possibilities here!

[shawn858]

can't wait to play this mod in all of its glory

[The Wandering Storyteller]

Awesome!

[Viking1978]

Hey, Causeless, any update? Maybe I should speak for myself, but I think we're all excited here...

[ABH2]

Causeless is no longer a member of our team. So, there won't be any updates on this for a little bit. We will pursue some other options and fully intend to have a pop system still.

[Draewn]

Any chance of joining the Vae Victus \ DEI collaborative population system? The Rome 2 Vanilla based prototype they have is impressive​.

[Petellius]

We'd love to, they just don't want to work with us.

[Argive Strategos]

What?!?! Oh no, this is a shame, I loved Causeless' work and pics :/

[Tenerife_Boy]

What?? why???? why this hate between these 2 mods?