Conceptual Balance Series (Mod)

[Edi]

All right, as promised, the compilation package is ready.

It contains the following mods in their entirety (mod file, icon file and possible readme file):

• Conceptual Balance Pretenders v2.51
• Conceptual Balance Spells v2.01
• Conceptual Balance Scales v1.3
• Conceptual Balance Items v1.31
• Conceptual Balance Nations v1.11
• Conceptual Balance Complete 1.01

The package includes readmes for Pretenders, Spells, Scales and Items. Item readme is made by quantum_mechani, the other readmes were written by me. All mods have been renamed to the format of "conceptbalance_<aspect>_<version number>.dm" for improved recognition and clarity. Readme naming convention is identical, with the word "Readme" added.

The Nations mod does not have a readme yet, because that is such a massive undertaking to produce from scratch that it's going to take several days to complete at a minimum. If I keep getting one day employment gigs, it's going to take a lot longer, and then there are various things from Real Life that will inevitably keep me from the task at other times.

All mods have been synchronized to use the exact same syntax on weapon and armor modding, comment lines, structure and other aspects. Most have more or less improved readability. The spell mod especially has been extensively reformatted to make it more readable and easier to expand upon and maintain.

ALL mods have had the several metric tons of spelling errors in unit descriptions fixed, because they drive me into a murderous rage when I spot them in-game. And for further reference, Guard and guardian are spelled with UA, NOT AU. Next person who repeats that mistake in a mod I undertake to proofread/check for integrity should not be surprised to find me taking a fireaxe first to their doors and shortly after to their heads.

The nations mod has had the following changes made to it:

• The Hierogallus issue has been fixed.
• Caelian seraphs now possess W1 (both standard and RotR)
• Gryphon riders have reverted back to 125 gold, but turn to gryphons when the rider is killed (ala black hunter becoming a hunter spider). This makes them somewhat more useful and desirable, especially since they are fliers, but I am of the opinion that it in no way breaks the game and that the rarity of the garnet amazons combined with their cost makes it a non-issue.
• Unit modding groups all indies together, so nations which have indie units on their rosters (specifically Arco and Man) only have national units unique to them listed under their headings and should refer to indie section for the other changes. Makes for a shorter and more logically organized mod structure.

The Pretender mod has had Dwarven Elder erased and the Ice Robe armor added.

The Item mod has not been tampered with apart from the syntax and structure, but is denoted as modified by increased version number nonetheless.

The Complete mod is a compilation of all of the single aspect component mods, and as such has some structural differences. Weapon and armor modding for standard armors and new armors has been moved to the beginning of the mod, right after scale modding. Duplicated effort from several mods (e.g. Pretenders and Spells) has been removed, there is only one set of equipment modding. Magic item stat modding is in its own section (the very last one) in the Item mod.

All of the Complete mod sections are identified with a large splashy header and have the version number of the individual component mod listed.

For any further development of the CB series, this set should be used as the basis to start from, both in naming convention and mod syntax, so that we will have a consistent set to play with.

That is all. Now hop to it and download the lot.

Edi

[Edi]

And I won't mind getting feedback from the modders and the people who use them either. Either by PM or by email [edirr(at)welho.com].

Edi

[Oversway]

This is great stuff, thanks to all who helped make them!

[Turin]

Since you didn´t change the item mod, here is a version without typos and better readability.

[Edi]

*bangs head against wall*

Turin, I specifically changes the formatting and readability, just didn't touch the modifications. That version you just did has nothing to offer and indeed has none of the syntax editing that the version in the package has. If you want to edit something, edit that one first, if indeed it has any typoes. Or I can do that and repost the whole package. I didn't just go through days of editing hell to have my hard work immediately torpedoed by introducing non-standard formatting!

Edi

[Turin]

well I made that one before you posted yours already and I didn´t really see any changes you made except making the headlines in big letters.

In my version I put the weapon changes under the corresponding artifacts, so you can see cost and weapon changes at the same time and fixed several item affecting typos(lightning spear, lucky coin, shield of the accursed, cauldron of broth, hydra skin armor) and removed lines that weren´t needed. I don´t know if that adds nothing

I really appreciate the work you did here and wouldn´t have posted it, but it seemed to me that you hadn´t done much with the item mod, so my fixed version could save some work. But I guess if the format is so important to you I should remove it.

[quantum_mechani]

Thanks a ton, Edi. Now, what program do you use to edit the mods? Otherwise, when I make a new version, we have to do this all over again.

[Edi]

Quantum:

I use Crimson Editor. You can find it here. Completely free, very versatile and conforms to standards. Can be used for code developing for several programming languages (key word and structural color highlighting makes it easy to read code)and for basic text editing. It has very nifty search functions, search and replace, various text editing features such as case changing etc and Once I found this little program about three years ago, I have used it exclusively for basic text file editing.

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Turin:

I specifically didn't do much structural changes for the item mod because I have not had time to get very familiar with it. Your approach, grouping weapon editing along with gem cost and path editing for items does have its merits (mainly convenience in maintaining that specific mod), but it also has its drawbacks (everything being mingled together).

The current format where the gem cost and path requirement edits are in one section and the actual equipment modding in another is in my opinion superior, because it allows other modmakers who might like the equipment changes but not the cost changes to copy the whole chunks to use as basis for their own mods (if they want just one or the otehr but not both). It would also be structurally consistent with the rest of the CB series. You can rest assured that when I do start going through it, things are going to get moved around pretty drastically. Basically you can expect stuff to be grouped by category (weapons, armor, miscellaneous) and level (trinket, lesser item, greater item, artefact) and possibly sorted by primary and secondary paths as well. Equipment modding would be in one section and the forging mods in another and both sections categorized as above.

I might actually do that before I do the Nations readme, just to get it out of the way.

If at all possible, I would like to retain editorial control of the format so that the rest of you can concentrate on content improvement. I can chime in on that as well, but not all that much.

Edi