Civ5 Ruleset and New Community Graphics+Sounds
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:14 pm
Hello everyone, I'm very new to freeciv, and have been diving
deep into the source code and rulesets for a couple of weeks now ...
Goals of the Freeciv-Neo Project
1. To create a new Ruleset for Freeciv that defines gameplay very similar to Civilization 5, with social policies, zone of control, un-stacked units, science gain, national unique units/buildings, unit promotions (as opposed to veterancy), religion (stretch goal), great people and associated tile improvements.
1-a. I will, if all goes as planned, attempt to make an AI specifically for this ruleset, though it will be complicated and new territory for me.
2. To create a truly HD tileset with 256x256 dimensions using automated capture methods combined with the Amazing 0.A.D. project.
The summary of this method is that I will be using Their built-in scripting console to auto-generate a map with every terrain tile (mountains, hills, etc) and every unit (I would add in missing units like anything past medieval times, and capture them from all 8 angles with screenshot tools built-in and autohotkey. Once this process of capture is complete, I will be writing a simple C++ (SDL) program that takes those screenshots and auto-cuts them into 256x256 squares. From there, a second program will take the 256x256 squares and auto-cut them into Hex, ISO-HEX, etc. tileshapes, and stitch them together into spritesheets able to be read by freeciv. At that point, likely, I will also create an auto-generated definition file for the generated tilesheets, allowing future customization.
All of these tools as well as a video tutorial (stretch goal) will be made available for you all to use.
3. To create a better selection of music and sound for freeciv. This will harness other open source projects for sound/music files, including 0.A.D., Battle for Wesnoth, Minetest, etc.
Likely, these files will be self-selected into what I consider a better soundset and musicset for freeciv, while trying to maintain tradition within freeciv.
4. Stretch goal: Get core dev support to add in 4-8 user-definable integer counters to each actor type (player, city, unit, tile) that would allow for keeping track of things like Religion, Great Person progress, Conversion Strength (for missionaries), etc.
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Progress
Current progress is mostly on my own end. I have made the initial github page for the project:
https://github.com/ExeVirus/FreecivNeo-Roadmap
Though, that project name will likely change and the project itself evolve quite drastically as I formalize.
I have already gotten as far as creating an autogenerated map in 0.A.D. that allows me to create the map precisely, and makes capturing units and buildings and terrain much easier. I have extensive experience with automating screenshots and keyboard input with autohotkey and will be using that as my capture script mechanism combined with built-in 0 A.D. screenshot functionality (that team did very well on this functionality).
I have also been working through the mechanics of the rulesets required quite heavily, and you can check my current thoughts on the GitHub read-me.
Sound and music progress has been mostly myself collecting the locations of all the different open source project sounds and music.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help/Contact
So I'm new to collaboration online for open source projects, and would love to have help with this project, especially if the core dev team is interested in helping me expand the source code to allow more functionality and victory types.
Right now, my best contact method is essentially just email with ddsallad (at) gmail. com (remove the spaces and replace the (at) with @). You can also create issues on the github page, and attempt to @ me on the Freeciv-Web discord (I'm Exe_Virus on there), so do what you prefer.
deep into the source code and rulesets for a couple of weeks now ...
Goals of the Freeciv-Neo Project
1. To create a new Ruleset for Freeciv that defines gameplay very similar to Civilization 5, with social policies, zone of control, un-stacked units, science gain, national unique units/buildings, unit promotions (as opposed to veterancy), religion (stretch goal), great people and associated tile improvements.
1-a. I will, if all goes as planned, attempt to make an AI specifically for this ruleset, though it will be complicated and new territory for me.
2. To create a truly HD tileset with 256x256 dimensions using automated capture methods combined with the Amazing 0.A.D. project.
The summary of this method is that I will be using Their built-in scripting console to auto-generate a map with every terrain tile (mountains, hills, etc) and every unit (I would add in missing units like anything past medieval times, and capture them from all 8 angles with screenshot tools built-in and autohotkey. Once this process of capture is complete, I will be writing a simple C++ (SDL) program that takes those screenshots and auto-cuts them into 256x256 squares. From there, a second program will take the 256x256 squares and auto-cut them into Hex, ISO-HEX, etc. tileshapes, and stitch them together into spritesheets able to be read by freeciv. At that point, likely, I will also create an auto-generated definition file for the generated tilesheets, allowing future customization.
All of these tools as well as a video tutorial (stretch goal) will be made available for you all to use.
3. To create a better selection of music and sound for freeciv. This will harness other open source projects for sound/music files, including 0.A.D., Battle for Wesnoth, Minetest, etc.
Likely, these files will be self-selected into what I consider a better soundset and musicset for freeciv, while trying to maintain tradition within freeciv.
4. Stretch goal: Get core dev support to add in 4-8 user-definable integer counters to each actor type (player, city, unit, tile) that would allow for keeping track of things like Religion, Great Person progress, Conversion Strength (for missionaries), etc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Progress
Current progress is mostly on my own end. I have made the initial github page for the project:
https://github.com/ExeVirus/FreecivNeo-Roadmap
Though, that project name will likely change and the project itself evolve quite drastically as I formalize.
I have already gotten as far as creating an autogenerated map in 0.A.D. that allows me to create the map precisely, and makes capturing units and buildings and terrain much easier. I have extensive experience with automating screenshots and keyboard input with autohotkey and will be using that as my capture script mechanism combined with built-in 0 A.D. screenshot functionality (that team did very well on this functionality).
I have also been working through the mechanics of the rulesets required quite heavily, and you can check my current thoughts on the GitHub read-me.
Sound and music progress has been mostly myself collecting the locations of all the different open source project sounds and music.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help/Contact
So I'm new to collaboration online for open source projects, and would love to have help with this project, especially if the core dev team is interested in helping me expand the source code to allow more functionality and victory types.
Right now, my best contact method is essentially just email with ddsallad (at) gmail. com (remove the spaces and replace the (at) with @). You can also create issues on the github page, and attempt to @ me on the Freeciv-Web discord (I'm Exe_Virus on there), so do what you prefer.