Starting Research for Age of Discovery

 

I am officially starting my development on my next mod, tentatively called “Age of Discovery” although it probably should be given a “II” since I had an earlier buggy version of the mod.

This version will be written completely fresh, from the ground up using a standard base mod template or using the non-animated leaders mod from Thomas War. I simply like the Thomas War mod as a basic template because it is complete but without being overly complicated.

My first step is to determine the years to include in the mod, for which I am thinking at this time to include the years between 1600 to 1800. Second, I need to include the major players which is basically the European countries that sailed to the New World and including major American Indian nations including those South America — most notably the Aztec, Mayan, and Inca.

I am also making the design decision not to change the basic structure of techs in the base game, but only stretching the technological achievements over the covered 200 years to the entire extent of the tech tree in the basic game. Thus, there will be no combustion engines, no flight, and no advance gun powder units. This will be all about the musket, bow, and cannon.

Ships will tap out with perhaps ironclad, or maybe not even that far but rather just advanced galleons. More research needs to be done.

I will update my research as I learn more about the leaders of the era, the technological advancements, and the feel of the game.

Extreme2 Has Been Updated

The quintessential Civilization IV mod has been updated again.  In this version I have added  several new unique units and unique buildings to the latter part of the game.  version 4 is the latest version as of September 17th 2011 of this game.  You can download the new version from:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XJGJT2DA

Additional information:  http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=415468

Multiverse Released!

Multiverse

You can download this mod here at:            http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5WOQR4SL

Multiverse, version I is finally ready to be released to the general gaming public. After several months of coding and more polishing and playtesting, the mod is ready for people to play.  Multiverse is a mod much different than its predecessor  named ExtremeMod and completely different than my other mod Extreme2.  Multiverse was based off from ExtremeMod but because of its new direction in gameplay and not to be confused with Extreme2, I decided to rename the original mod and start a new line of fantastic gaming.

Multiverse is a rich and exciting game, much more difficult than many other mods and specifically more so than Extreme2.  In multiverse, you will be required to have a specific resource to build a unit or a building.  There are a scant few number of beginning units and buildings that do not need a resource, and there are a few “mercenary” units that do not require a resource, but most do.

Multiverse has 65 resources : Aluminum, Ancient Ruins, Apple, Banana, Barley, Brimstone, Buffalo, Camel, Clam, Coal, Coffee, Computer Software, Copper, Corn, Cotton, Cow, Crab, Crystals, Dye, Elemental Storm, Feywood, Fish, Fur, Gems, Gold, Hardwood, Herbs, Hit Movies, Hit Musicals, Hit Singles, Horse, Incense, Iron, Ivory, Ley Line, Liftwood, Marble, Oil, Olive, Orange, Pearl, Pig, Psionics, Rice, Rubber, Salt, Sheep, Shrimp, Silk, Silver, Spices, Spirit, Stone, Sugar, Sulfur, Tea, Tin, Tobacco, Unholy Ground, Uranium, Whale, Wheat, Wild Animals, & Wine.

Multiverse has 176 technologies, which I am not going to list all of them here they include the basic tech from Civilization IV and: Abstraction,  a series on Atlantean technology, Desert Living, Forest Culture, Tropical Culture, Steampunk Technologies, Fantasy Technology, Mastery of Monsters & Creatures, Road Systems & Sea Lanes, and Dinosaur Technology.

Multiverse has 302 units, with most being non-unique units.  Having so many non-unique units allows every civilization to build a plethora of unit types from basic technological units such as spearman, swordsman, and bowma; to the fantastical creations of undead, elves, dwarves and demons; and towards the end of the game players will have the capability of building an array of steampunk units as flying ships, skyknights, and clanky robots.

Multiverse has 142 buildings, most of them being again not unique and available for all civilizations to build them.  Most civilizations has at least one unique building, but some do not.  But in almost every case, buildings require specific resources to build making the game much more difficult to win. Beyond the 142 buildings, there are 129 Wonders that offer all so many special capabilities and bonuses.

Multiverse has 42 Civics. Please NOTE you will need to run the game higher than standard resolutions or the entirety of the Civic screen will not be shown.  This is not a bug but just how the game draws the Civics screen.  A new column of Civics have been added that incorporates Magic and Steampunk technologies.

Multiverse has 140 leaders of roughly 90 different civilizations.  Many new civilizations and leaders were added in the core mod, Thomas’ War and I have added a smattering of other civilizations too.  Most notably is the inclusion of the Iskar race and the Atlantean race.

With this version, Multiverse has added the Iksar race as the Barbarians.  For centuries the lizardmen have watched with envy as man conquered its world. Now the Iksar are striking back — Will they enslave you?  Do you have the stamina to withstand their onslaught?  Fight or be conquered!?!

Additional information can be obtained here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=440184

Updated Blog

As I try to better represent myself, as well as my ideas in Gaming, History, and print I have made some recent changes to the Emerald Tablet.  Please take note of some additional and modified tabs at the top, most specifically “Other Writing” to which I added my novel for easy reference. I have also significantly updated my “Troy Christensen” tab with a number of cover images from my games over the years as well as a listing of all my credits.  I also will be making two new additional entries into my Civ 4: Mod tab, as I am releasing a new version of Extreme2 and my reformatted mod Multiverse.

I hope you will return to the site regularly, as I update the blog on a weekly basis trying to add in new original content on my thoughts, aspirations, and ideas on gaming and history.

As always, I am looking for opportunities in Publishing, History, Gaming, and Print Production and would be interested in talking with anyone about such endeavors.

Troy Christensen

September 14th, 2011

Labor Day Science Fiction Marathon

This Labor Day I am hosting the first annual Science Fiction Marathon. Well, it is not much of a party since it is only myself in the basement, but perhaps next year a few friends may be invited over. Anyway, I thought rather hard on what the play list should be and I have come to the list below as the 10 Greatest science-fiction movies of all time.

The following list is in order; do you agree? What would you have added or deleted? My idea of science-fiction may also extend to fantasy as well, so perhaps it is more of a list of speculative fiction than the pure hardcore science-fiction that others think of.

List of the 10 Greatest Science-Fiction (Fantasy) movies of all time:

1. Star Wars (collectively but truly the first movie)
2. Avatar
3. Lord of the Rings (again the entire trilogy but unlike Star Wars each movie is great)
4. Jurassic Park
5. Star Trek (the entire franchise but specifically the 2nd and 3rd)
6. The Thing (1951 version)
7. ET
8. Aliens (Actually the 2nd movie in the series topped the first)
9. Planet of the Apes (All the quirky original movies not necessarily modern creations)
10. Terminator

Runners Up: Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Conan the Barbarian, Legend, Forbidden Planet, Close Encounters, and 2001 Space Odyssey.

Osprey Opens Their Art Library

I am not big at posting videos on the Emerald Tablet; I believe I did it once before for a huge dinosaur puppet, but this is just such an incredible offer that I cannot but post it here. For all the modders, gamers, academics, students, and history aficionados out there this new offer from Osprey is just so cool.

Signing up for their services allows you access to all their art assets from over the last 40 years. Gone are the days of hunting endlessly for an Image of a T-34 Calliope or a Hurricane Fighter or even a Greek Phalanx! For a small membership fee, you have access to all this art.

As a modder, I know I will use this in endless iterations of new mods. As a student, this will be an incredible addition to papers and research. I too know that as a student, professors need a lot of help in creating presentions — come on guys in the new millennium, ditch the photocopied old maps and use these!

Endless….Endless possibilities

Simply fantastic!!

Comic Books I Grew Up On

I stumbled upon three large boxes tonight full of old comic books that hold so many memories. Here in the next few weeks I may have to part with them and I had to take just one more glance through my old friends. Just like going to a class re-union, the memories of great times — late night comic sessions where a pile of comics, a bottle of coke, and a bag of M&Ms was all you needed to have a great time.

Star Trek, Conan, Star Wars, War Comics, Bug Bunny, Car Racing, Super Heroes of every kind and description, Weird Tales….the list goes on, all found in those boxes.

For now, they are safe but I fear soon I will say goodbye: