Kingdom Builder Mod

Discussion of all aspects of multiplayer development: unit balancing, map development, server development, and so forth.

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DasTactic
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by DasTactic »

PapaSmurfReloaded wrote: September 29th, 2022, 1:19 pm The game has a manual with the rules which dictate how to create the different buildings terrains (Keep, castle, road, village)
I'll look it into this afternoon to see if there is any bug.
Yes, I'd read the in-game manual.
My options initially are to build a Keep or a Road - which is fine. If I have a unit on shallow water I can build a Ford.
Next I move one hex expecting to have the option to build a Castle around the Keep, but I still only have the Keep and Road options - the manual says that a Keep can't be built within 12 hexes of another keep but I can build one next door.
If I move two or three hexes away from a keep I should be able to build a village according to the manual but my only options are to still build a Keep or a Road.
It seems like the initial Keep (and subsequent Keeps) isn't registering so the mod thinks the player still needs to build the initial Keep.
I had tried it with and without other mods and also with the Kingdom map.
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

DasTactic wrote: September 29th, 2022, 3:39 pm
PapaSmurfReloaded wrote: September 29th, 2022, 1:19 pm The game has a manual with the rules which dictate how to create the different buildings terrains (Keep, castle, road, village)
I'll look it into this afternoon to see if there is any bug.
Yes, I'd read the in-game manual.
My options initially are to build a Keep or a Road - which is fine. If I have a unit on shallow water I can build a Ford.
Next I move one hex expecting to have the option to build a Castle around the Keep, but I still only have the Keep and Road options - the manual says that a Keep can't be built within 12 hexes of another keep but I can build one next door.
If I move two or three hexes away from a keep I should be able to build a village according to the manual but my only options are to still build a Keep or a Road.
It seems like the initial Keep (and subsequent Keeps) isn't registering so the mod thinks the player still needs to build the initial Keep.
I had tried it with and without other mods and also with the Kingdom map.
Alright, thanks for the feedback, I'll check where I screwed up now. :lol:
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

Fixed it, the difference between K* and K*^* is just that big.

Thank you for properly testing the add-on, unlike the creator. :lol:
DasTactic
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by DasTactic »

I got back to playing the mod again this week and it looks to be working well. :) The AI seems to get villages within 4-hexes of a keep though so has a bit of an advantage. Is that by design?

Would love to see setup sliders to change the range between keeps and villages. Personally I think I would like 16+ hexes between keeps and less villages, so two gaps between villages.
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

DasTactic wrote: October 31st, 2022, 6:56 pm I got back to playing the mod again this week and it looks to be working well. :) The AI seems to get villages within 4-hexes of a keep though so has a bit of an advantage. Is that by design?
Yes, it is that way so that the AI will not be at a disadvantage compared to humans players, due to the way the AI checks which hexes are its disposal for building. To put it simply, a human player can think of a more optimal way to build villages around a keep in a way with a range of 3 than the AI can (at least in an easy way). If range was 3 the AI would build only 6 villages per keep.

I tested the 4 range from keep rule in the default KBM map, which is rather irregular so AI never gets to build a significantly larger amount of villages due to water hexes, but in flat maps, it may be a problem that needs some tweaking.
DasTactic wrote: October 31st, 2022, 6:56 pm Would love to see setup sliders to change the range between keeps and villages. Personally I think I would like 16+ hexes between keeps and less villages, so two gaps between villages.
It is possible and actually I have considered in the past (especially having less villages per keep and less castle hexes around keep). I wouldn't mind adding an option for this in the future.

However increasing the distance between keeps is a problem, because players can easily deny other players of "building space" for keeps just by acting first. For example, Player 1 can send a bat to build a keep instantly, and player 2 would be unable to build another settlement due to the 16 hexes range rule. Arguably with 12 hexes, as it is now, the problem already exists, but for maps smaller than 60x60. A 16 hex range would only work with maps bigger than 80x80 or with less players, but normally people do not play maps of such size due to the time it takes.
Sierano
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Joined: December 30th, 2022, 8:58 am

Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by Sierano »

Would there be a way toggle whether AI can build or not? I do enjoy the mod but I don't want the AI building anything.

I would also like to be able to edit the range in which villages can be built so instead of within 3 hexes from a keep I could make it 2 hexes or 4 hexes. I pretty much enjoy flexibility
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

Sierano wrote: January 1st, 2023, 9:11 am Would there be a way toggle whether AI can build or not? I do enjoy the mod but I don't want the AI building anything.
It is possible. In what instances would you do need to use this mod with AI-controlled sides that can't build? Asking out of curiosity.
Sierano wrote: January 1st, 2023, 9:11 am I would also like to be able to edit the range in which villages can be built so instead of within 3 hexes from a keep I could make it 2 hexes or 4 hexes. I pretty much enjoy flexibility
This has been asked for a couple of times before, I'll see how to introduce it when I get the chance.
Sierano
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by Sierano »

Well, simply put sometimes I just want an advantage that the AI does not have and/or sometimes I want to add something to a map via in-game wise through the context menu like building a keep in another spot I think is good. I get the AI should also have the option as well so they're not at such a disadvantage but some players would simply prefer that only they would be able to build. Not to mention when the AI builds around 5-10 houses around the keep and then builds another keep way off into the mountains prevents me from building any keeps since they already placed one, and they would then build 5-10 houses around that second keep. So if some people are new to the mod then the AI will certainly have the advantage since from what I can see they start building tons of houses and keeps super quickly limiting options.

I mean, in campaigns and singleplayer scenarios having the ability to choose whether or not you want the AI to be able to build lets the mod be more enjoyable in general as there is more flexibility.
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

Sierano wrote: January 4th, 2023, 5:28 am Well, simply put sometimes I just want an advantage that the AI does not have and/or sometimes I want to add something to a map via in-game wise through the context menu like building a keep in another spot I think is good. I get the AI should also have the option as well so they're not at such a disadvantage but some players would simply prefer that only they would be able to build. Not to mention when the AI builds around 5-10 houses around the keep and then builds another keep way off into the mountains prevents me from building any keeps since they already placed one, and they would then build 5-10 houses around that second keep. So if some people are new to the mod then the AI will certainly have the advantage since from what I can see they start building tons of houses and keeps super quickly limiting options.

I mean, in campaigns and singleplayer scenarios having the ability to choose whether or not you want the AI to be able to build lets the mod be more enjoyable in general as there is more flexibility.
This add-on isn't really meant to be used in campaigns at all, but mainly in randomly generated maps and MP maps (mostly symmetrical, medium to large sized maps).
Certainly, given how the AI building works, it does have an advantage over humans players in regards of how fast they can build (AI doesn't require units to build in each hex, coding that would have been too much of a hassle). It is imperfect I am aware, but I judged that imperfection was better than the AI sides being unable to be used with this add-on at all, limiting the game to human players only.
I'll see what I can do in the future.
Last edited by PapaSmurfReloaded on January 5th, 2023, 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sierano
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by Sierano »

I mean, it's irregardless if its multiplayer or not. The point is still the same. Even in multiplayer play, its the same concept and having the ability to toggle could be useful. I bet some people would have more fun with it that way (including me) whether its used in campaign or multiplayer maps. And since it really doesn't affect anyone else and their gameplay since its just against the game AI is it all that bad to add?

Oh and by the way, I think some more flexibility with the add-on should be implemented.

1. The "castle" build around a keep is always the wood one. Could there be an option that makes it so you can either build a wooden keep or stone keep with wooden walls or stone walls?

2. Could there be an option to build different types of villages? (Snow villages, plains villages, etc.)

3. Can there be an option to place walls in defensive spots that are not directly adjacent to a keep? So many maps and scenarios have Castles and wooden walls in various spots that the player can use offensively and defensively.

4. Can there be an option where if you kill an enemy on a village/castle/keep it doesn't destroy the building?
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

Sierano wrote: January 5th, 2023, 12:07 am Oh and by the way, I think some more flexibility with the add-on should be implemented.

1. The "castle" build around a keep is always the wood one. Could there be an option that makes it so you can either build a wooden keep or stone keep with wooden walls or stone walls?

2. Could there be an option to build different types of villages? (Snow villages, plains villages, etc.)
It's not impossibe, at some point I wanted players to be able to be able to choose a building style (human, elven, dwarven, orcish, etc) but it was A LOT of trouble for something that at the end of the day was only cosmetic. That's how the mod ended up using the most generic kind of village/castle.
Sierano wrote: January 5th, 2023, 12:07 am3. Can there be an option to place walls in defensive spots that are not directly adjacent to a keep? So many maps and scenarios have Castles and wooden walls in various spots that the player can use offensively and defensively.
Maps could easily become messy if players were able to build walls just anywhere. Perhaps one could add some sort of exterior wall around each settlement, but I should give it some thought.
Sierano wrote: January 5th, 2023, 12:07 am 4. Can there be an option where if you kill an enemy on a village/castle/keep it doesn't destroy the building?
It could be done.
Sierano
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by Sierano »

What is all the "Embellishments" stuff in the misc.txt?
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

Sierano wrote: January 7th, 2023, 4:16 am What is all the "Embellishments" stuff in the misc.txt?
At some point I was interested in allowing players to customize the appearance of the villages, changing villages located on flat ground to look like windmills or temples, adding farmlands around them, villages located in mountains to look like mines, or seaside ones into lighthouses, things like that. But at the end I discontinued that work.
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PapaSmurfReloaded
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Re: Kingdom Builder Mod

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

New version out.

What's new?
-Added some gameplay options that change the minimium distance between keeps, and amount village building radius around keeps. Playability in smaller maps should improve with it.
-Ground being razed upon a units death on it has become optional (on by default).
-Added the option to "compensate" for AI building speed advantage to make it more "fair" (off by default).
-Internal changes in how the add-on works (using more variables to run stuff).

If any bugs or typos are found, just mention it, as always.
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