XGM6 and the future

[Zarax]

With the senate mod being polished and almost ready and 5.8 coming soon, I'd like to start a discussion about what the future of XGM should be.

Working on the senate mod and provincial campaigns made me think about one major feature: extended modularity.

With the actual gameplay reaching maturity stage now only relatively minor changes can be done to the main campaign without meeting opposition from a significant part of the community.

There is one way left to keep innovating without making a revolution at every release, and it's having support for most things under the hood, with the main campaign left stable until a change is widely accepted.

In short:
- As with the senate mod support for having the roman senate is added to the campaign but not activated unless you play the specific provincial campaign.

- The same can be done with loyalty, keeping it alive for those who actually likes it and keeping the main campaign as smooth as possible for those who doesn't.

- Support for other BI/Alex features can be also added and be activated only in specific campaigns.

So, why having a major version number for this?
It's because it's a major reworking of the mod internally and it's likely to be buggy and unpolished for quite a while.

Some examples of possibilities:

- Senate campaigns (already working)

- Possibility of having more effective rebellions with support from hardcoded features (BI full faction emergences)

- The most varied scenarios can be done with provincial campaigns without affecting the main release

I would like to know your opinion on this and as always I'm open to suggestions!

[TM Is Back]

Be our guest. I dont care what number the newest version has, 5.8, 5.9 or 6.0 just let me play it^^

The possibilities, if you guys can make that work, that would be great.

One thing i would love to see though. A custom battle with a bridge.

[RedFox]

For 6.0, I'd recommend more balanced unit costs / stats and possibly the addition of the cavalry charge fix. Balanced custom battle costs would expand XGM to Multiplayer, which in my opinion would be a great thing.

So yeah, the main thing is stat/cost/upkeep balance, which XGM is really lacking at the moment in my opinion.

[Javolenus]

EDIT: Actually, I think XGM is impressive as it is. The comments below were just idle thoughts, really. New buildings and historical stuff have already been added, so I guess that's not such a big issue. I think the mod is developing nicely at its own pace and keeps getting better. Thanks again for XGM!


Hi There,

I like the provincial campaigns and I'm looking forward to the senate mod. I'm really grateful for all the hard work being put in.

As for my own thoughts/ideas regarding future releases, here are a few, off the top of my head:

- A way of slowing down campaigns a little bit, making blitzing impossible. Costs and recruitment could be looked at here. But the idea is to try to reflect logistical problems experienced by historical ancient armies. For example, could attacking armies be made to suffer fatigue or supply problems?

- Weaken cavalry further?

- New (more 'historical'?) faction symbols! I realise that some poor bugger would have to do these . . .

- Even more historical facts ingame. I know this would be a chore to do, but I like to use XGM to learn more about Ancient History. And so, any extra factual stuff would be appreciated.

- What about gaining some cash if you win a battle? Or losing some if you get beat? Perhaps this could be scripted?

- Could victory conditions like 'hold_all_wonders' or 'hold_gaul_iberia_britain' be utilised for provincial campaigns (e.g. a North European campaign and a South (Mediterranean) European campaign?

I know these ideas are a bit sketchy, but that's because I'm no expert at modding. Anyway, thanks again for XGM. I like it because it's the most stable mod I ever played.

[Spartan198]

I'd personally like to see some regional or city wonders added as special buildings (like EB did).
Wonders like the Acropolis of Athens, the ruins of Troy, the tomb of Alexander, etc..


Then there's the always popular "make Sparta its own faction" request.

[Javolenus]

That's a nice idea, Spartan. Also, I was wondering, is it possible to make ancillaries more influential? For example, tutors, philosophers, engineers and so on? I know that work has been done in this area, I'm just thinking of ways to enhance the role-play aspect. Again, this isn't a big deal - just punting a broad idea.

[TM Is Back]

I'd personally like to see some regional or city wonders added as special buildings (like EB did).
Wonders like the Acropolis of Athens, the ruins of Troy, the tomb of Alexander, etc..


Then there's the always popular "make Sparta its own faction" request.

Their is a modification for XGM already, where you can play Sparta.


Why should we have those wonders? It only gives a lot to do for the XGM team, and it won't iomprove gameplay.

[Webba]

What I'd really like to see in the near future is a period of consolidation for XGM. Currently the community has so many side projects and mini mods under construction, all of which are excellent looking additions and it would be nice to see these polished and integrated into the main mod, either as permanent features or install options.

I'll also put my hand up for multi player balance as part of the overall polish and refinement phase. I know I'd play XGM multiplayer and I have a few friends I'm sure could be convinced to take part in that as well.

As such I'm more than willing to help out with any of these things. I've been learning a little about texturing as well as general RTW modding of units and buildings so if I can be of help to you let me know.

[kommandant]

Their is a modification for XGM already, where you can play Sparta.

what modification would that be? i'm curious since i have not seen that

thanks in advance

[LucretiusTC]

I'd personally like to see some regional or city wonders added as special buildings (like EB did).
Wonders like the Acropolis of Athens, the ruins of Troy, the tomb of Alexander, etc..

For instance the Acropolis of Athens is already a special building with some bonuses and the tomb of Alexander is the founding monument for the Ptolemaic Empire.

Personally I like those historical details in the game whether they are persons (like Pyrrhos of Epeiros and Magas of Kyrene) or those special buildings (e.g. Paradise of Daphne in Antioch). When Caesar Vincens´ Extended Culture mod is added to the main mod, it also limits the number of the huge cities (about 63), which makes sense on the historical level. Those scripted garrisons should also prevent too easy captures of the main cities and they can be given to other cities too that became famous for their stubborn resistance and sieges like Rhodes and Numantia.

Luc.

[Webba]

For instance the Acropolis of Athens is already a special building with some bonuses and the tomb of Alexander is the founding monument for the Ptolemaic Empire.

Personally I like those historical details in the game whether they are persons (like Pyrrhos of Epeiros and Magas of Kyrene) or those special buildings (e.g. Paradise of Daphne in Antioch). When Caesar Vincens´ Extended Culture mod is added to the main mod, it also limits the number of the huge cities (about 63), which makes sense on the historical level. Those scripted garrisons should also prevent too easy captures of the main cities and they can be given to other cities too that became famous for their stubborn resistance and sieges like Rhodes and Numantia.

Luc.

It would be nice if all these special buildings could have unique graphics too but I realise exactly how much work that would require so it is understandable why it is not a huge priority.

[Publius Quirinus]

When Caesar Vincens´ Extended Culture mod is added to the main mod, it also limits the number of the huge cities (about 63), which makes sense on the historical level.

I disagree with limiting huge cities by capping the number of imperial palaces, IMO it removes a lot of flexibility from the game. Could a more organic way of limiting large populations be imposed, such as introducing a population penalty for the large city government building? Also, I understand RS has "Re-population Centers" which give pluses or minuses to pop. growth, is that a viable option?

- A way of slowing down campaigns a little bit, making blitzing impossible.

I wouldn't go so far as say make blitzing impossible, but it would be nice for blitzing to be not the only option-- turtling in XGM is suicide due to the monument effects making AI cities grow much faster.

[Unknown Soldier]

Are more unique buildings possible due to game limits?

Building trees could be used for more functional buildings - I do not know what though.

How about XGM2TW based on M2TW? (we only need a X and a G on the front).

[Javolenus]

Just to pick up on Quirinal's point about blitzing: I agree that it should be limited in some way, partly as a nod to historical accuracy, and partly to accommodate different playing styles. Although the guts of the game is warfare, I'd like to see immersion, role-play and educational aspects developed a bit more. Although, that said, I realise much has been done already, for which I'm very grateful. I guess I like the thought of XGM being as much an 'environment' as a 'game'.

[Webba]

I always though blitzing was pretty well controlled in XGM with the different cultures and barracks trees. Play with XC and, Greek factions' historically accurate squabbling notwithstanding, its pretty hard to blitz anywhere.
If the problem is needing to blitz to survive then I think just editing starting conditions should be enough.

[Zarax]

I'm trying to take care of that with my submods, blitzing gets harder and AI bonuses are tuned down enough to keep the playing field fair so that AI gets some help but not superhuman powers.

[Javolenus]

Hi Webba,

Thanks for this. I've just installed XC and will see how it goes . . .

Jav.

[Webba]

Hi Webba,

Thanks for this. I've just installed XC and will see how it goes . . .

Jav.

Hey Jav,

I'm a really big fan of XC now. It's one of those mods that, like XGM itself, you couldn't imagine playing without once you've tried it.

[Javolenus]

Hi Webba,

I started a new campaign with XC and Ethnic Traits - I like the gameplay much better and am hooked. Big Thank yous to those concerned!

[Javolenus]

Hi There,

Thinking some more about what to have next in XGM.

Could we have limitations on cavalry? I mean, in reality, cav was dependent on supplies of horses plus fodder plus training and equipment. Could cav units take longer to recruit and have smaller recruit pools? This idea was prompted after my 12th battle against a huge army of Scythian horse archers.

Could army logistics be simulated? This has been tackled creatively by a MTW mod called 'Byg's Grim Reality'. Supplies, sickness, desertion, loss of of morale etc. are all featured.

Would it be possible to add some named villages/small settlements to the map? The idea is NOT to actually develop these in the normal way, but rather to have a few named map references to help role-play and immersion - and to provide names for battles (e.g. fight a battle near a named village and call the battle after that place). The idea is to have just small places on the map that don't do anything but have a name. Perhaps they could give some supply/retraining bonus if occupied? I guess some historical maps might provide some ideas.

Thanks for your time!