Click here to read the previous dev blog (#5) - Seasons and Weather
Welcome to the sixth experimental plugin development blog, where I discuss a suite of custom plugins being developed for their own gamemode, provisionally called the "CampaignWar (CW) gamemode". Today, we discuss the latest plugin in this line, Province Attributes, and cover some changes to TownyBuildings.
As mentioned in the first dev blog, the map for this gamemode is divided into provinces, each of which can have at most one town.
Attributes are modifiers to a province that can affect:
- the efficiency and output of buildings from TownyBuildings,
- crop growth and death rates,
- and the yield from block drops
Let's take a look at one:
The "Rich Coal Veins" attribute increases the drops from coal ore and the efficiency of Coal Mine buildings within the province. It is a permanent attribute, meaning it will remain with the province forever. Attributes can also be townbound, regenerating if the town inside the province is deleted, and seasonal, lasting only for a season.
Seasonal attributes like these have a chance to generate at the beginning of every season and expire when that season ends.
The types of biomes present inside a province influences which attributes are generated for it. For example, a province that consists mostly of cold biomes could expect a greater chance of generating attributes that increase coal output, while a province that consists primarily of arid biomes should expect fewer seasonal attributes that increase crop output.
Nations can set an economic policy, which is an attribute that applies to all of the provinces that it has settled.
Much has changed with TownyBuildings since the previous dev blog. Here is a summary of the changes:
Here is a building that illustrates these changes well: the Tavern. The Tavern consumes Brewery drinks to increase the happiness of workers that live in houses within 100 blocks by 5%. This is an example of intangible output.
If we look at one of these houses, we see the Tavern boosting its happiness:
Happiness determines how efficient the workers that live in the house are. For example, if all of the workers in a Coal Mine come from a house with 150% happiness, the mine will operate at 150% efficiency (assuming no other factors are affecting its efficiency).
The happiness of a house can fall if you undersupply it with items. For example, if a house requires 4 bread and 4 steak daily but you only supply the bread, then its base happiness will be 50%, as only 50% of the house's needs are being met.
Winters are no longer just a display of white grass and leaves - snow will also appear where appropriate! This snow is client-sided (it doesn't actually exist on the server), meaning it won't obstruct Movecraft vehicles or disrupt the dynamic map.
And that’s all for this post! If you have any thoughts, feedback or concerns, feel free to reply.
Click here to read the previous dev blog (#4) - CampaignWar Ultimatums and War Declarations
Welcome to the fifth experimental plugin development blog, where I discuss a suite of custom plugins being developed for their own gamemode, provisionally called the "CampaignWar (CW) gamemode". Today, we discuss the latest plugin in this line: Seasons.
Seasons have been one of the most requested additions to CCNet. Over 11 suggestions have been made calling for their implementation over the years, but I have refrained from adding them owing to the poor performance of public plugins, which is impossible to fix due to them also being closed-source. By writing our own plugin, we avoid this.
Before we talk about what Seasons can do, let's briefly mention what it can't do. Since performance is paramount, the plugin only makes visual changes to the world; snow will not accumulate and water will not freeze where it normally does not. But perhaps this is a good thing -- if you have played with seasons mods, you may be familiar with the jarring sight of snow and ice still being present in long-unloaded chunks, which we avoid with this approach.
There are two seasonal cycles: temperate (spring, summer, autumn and winter) and tropical (dry and monsoon). The majority of biomes follow the temperate cycle, while warmer biomes such as savannas and deserts follow the tropical cycle.
Each season is divided into three sub-seasons: early, middle and late. Temperate sub-seasons may last either one or two days (the exact length is still to be determined); tropical sub-seasons last twice this length. As the sub-seasons progress, the colours of grass and foliage change. So too does temperature - and by winter, it can appear to snow in biomes where it normally rains.
Spring begins with blossoms that transform the leaves pink, peaking in mid-spring before losing their colour in the final third of the season. Pink petal blocks spawn below these leaves if they decay. The colour of grass transitions to a more lush hue, almost reaching its summer colours by the season's end.
Biomes maintain their typical appearance through most of summer. Mid-summer thunderstorms are accompanied by hail in warmer biomes. By late summer, the leaves begin to hint at the onset of autumn.
During autumn, the leaves and foliage change colour dramatically as they wilt. Spiders spawn more frequently, and it can appear to snow in cooler biomes towards the end of the season.
In winter, temperatures drop to such an extent that snowfall can be experienced in the majority of biomes. In biomes where snow accumulates, it will accumulate to greater depths. Skeletons will often spawn as strays and breezes occassionally spawn on the surface, with this occurring most frequently during mid-winter. Thunderstorms in colder biomes result in hazardous blizzards, which slowly freeze players exposed to the sky.
The dry season is characterised by a yellow tint present on foliage and grass, and the absence of rainfall - even in jungles. In deserts and mesas, thunderstorms can generate sandstorms that limit the visibility of all those exposed to the sky.
As one might expect, the wet season (or monsoon) is typified by rainfall - rainfall that is so widespread that it falls in savannas and even deserts. The grass and foliage responds accordingly, becoming lush in colour. Bogged will replace some skeleton spawns, and cave spiders can spawn on the surface. Hail will fall during thunderstorms.
Hail falls during thunderstorms in the wet season and summer. Though hailstones may look similar to snowballs, this is deceptive - for while snowballs are harmless, hailstones can damage you.
The thunderstorms of winter lead to blizzard conditions in colder biomes. Exposure to the sky will limit your visibility and mobility, as well as inflict freezing damage. As in vanilla, wearing leather boots will ward off the freezing damage.
Though largely harmless, the desert sandstorms of the dry season will limit the visibility of players caught up in them.
The growth rate of crops is affected by seasons. However, the exact crops that can grow in a season still depends on the biome's climate classification, as it does on Nations. As an example, below is how the seasonal growing cycle in boreal climates (e.g. taigas) might look like. Of course, the usual caveats apply - even this table is incomplete, liable to change, etc.
| Spring | Summer | Autumn | Winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Berry Bush | Wheat | Sweet Berry Bush | Sweet Berry Bush |
| Beetroot | Potato | Beetroot | |
| Pumpkin | Carrot | Pumpkin | |
| Onion | Sweet Berry Bush | ||
| Garlic | Beetroot | ||
| Pumpkin | |||
| Strawberry | |||
| Blackberry | |||
| Raspberry | |||
| Onion | |||
| Garlic |
Across all climates, a limited number of crops can be farmed during winter (and to some degree, the tropical dry season). Autumn and winter coincide with the tropical wet season, while the tropical dry season coincides with spring and summer, allowing for trade between towns in different climates.
AlmondNine00:
So, forgive me for the long list of questions that I have here, but I am curious and intrigued from the last test and I do have a few questions.
1. How close are we to an open beta testing of the game mode
2. how big is the map going to be, as well as an oddball of provinces that will be present
now time for the nitty gritty stuff
3. as in the second dev log, there has been talk about adding in modifications for armor, if possible to ask is there a way to obtain them in the game (either through crafting, or as some sort of war trophies for victories against other towns/nations
4. will money still exist in this gamemode, and if it does, what purpose will it serve (will it be used for the construction of houses and Production buildings, or is it just there to act as a soft block when it comes to paying taxes. if it will exist that is)
5. in the 3rd dev log, there has been mentions to production buildings and how they will work. i'd assume that there is a yield increase if the building gets upgraded, but i am wondering about the production times, if it is only by daily, or if there is a set time that it takes to produce an order from a mine and or other building, like 75 minutes for an order of 64 iron or something along those lines
6. with the introduction of these production buildings, one might as well ask if slimefun will be present here, and if it is, to what degree will slimefun have in the world, if we are able to use machines, make food, armors, etc. or if the plugin is getting scrapped in this server
7. There has also been mention of Utility buildings that will provide some assistance to how the province can operate, with that being said. will there be buildings that will allow the construction of aircraft, or be able to use it in the province as well as in neighboring provinces, or is the idea still in its infancy to even think about specifics?
8. With the introduction of ultimatums and the war system that is to be implemented here, will towns be able to be fully occupied, (meaning that they switch sides to the nation that captures them during war, or will it work similar to nations where the town is occupied, but still a part of its home nation
last question (i swear)
9. with a few of these plugins being really interesting and game changing, will we see some of them make an appearance to nations, or are these exclusive to Campaign wars.
(ex. the house system in dev log 3, or more recently as of the last test, the battery system)
lot of questions I know, I would be grateful if you are able to shed light on any of these. and I eagerly await the day that we are able to test this fully.
1. I can't give a date this early, unfortunately. It would be dishonest of me to pretend that I have a goal for release in mind. There are two great complications here: my IRL job, and the complexity of writing these plugins. On some days, an excellent amount of progress might be made; on others, very little.
2. Nations-sized at a minimum; possibly larger. However, the beta map may be considerably smaller than the one slated for release.
3. Armour mods are critical to PvP, so they must be easily obtainable. They will most likely be manufactured via Slimefun.
4. Money will exist and serve the same role as it does on Nations.
5. The length of the production cycle varies by building and chosen production method. Some may produce once daily. Most will produce every X hours.
6. The current thinking is that Slimefun will exist in some capacity, though it is fairly certain that the feature of silver being a source of money will be dropped in favour of other (and hopefully more engaging) money-making methods. I am conscious that this change alone is a significant change and appreciate input on the utility of Slimefun without silver farming. TownyBuildings is not intended to be a substitute for Slimefun, in the same manner that TownyResources on Nations is not either. Several of the planned production methods will consume Slimefun items.
7. It is unlikely that aircraft will exist on this gamemode. I haven't made a final decision on the matter, but the reasoning against their inclusion is that we want to encourage the development of maritime travel and ground-based infrastructure such as railways. Aircraft, particularly zeppelins, would displace a lot of potential maritime and ground-vehicular travel.
8. Possibly both. See my reply to _dogster early in this thread.
9. The smaller features such as artillery batteries are far more likely to be added to Nations than the game-changing features such as TownyBuildings. The latter are still untested (e.g., it may transpire that the whole concept of TownyBuildings is rubbish in practice) and their impact on server performance has not been assessed.
_dogster:
What happens once a province is captured and the war ends? Does the attacking nation get to occupy it like n2 where the province would be forced to pay occupation taxes? Or would the province be forced to join the attacker's nation or what
By itself, capturing a province just gives you victory points. Captured provinces stop being captured after war ends.
Whether you occupy a province after the war depends on the demands you have chosen: was one of your demands to occupy the province, and did you win enough victory points to impose them? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you occupy the province. So you don't necessarily have to capture a province during the war to occupy it. Your demands and number of VPs decide that.
Your second question is pretty interesting. In short, I'm still deciding. It is possible both options will be available, so "occupy a town" (like on Nations) and "annex a town" (forcing the town to join your nation) are both potential demands. If both exist, annexation demands will cost more VPs than occupation demands.
Click here to read the previous dev blog (#3) - TownyBuildings
In the first dev blog, I introduced CampaignWar - a custom war plugin being developed for a test gamemode. If you haven’t read it yet, you should do that first. We introduced the world, which is divided into provinces, and how individual provinces are captured during wars (through “province attacks”).
Today we will discuss wars themselves: how they are started, fought and concluded. Our intention is to make wars purposeful and have defined objectives, and to have them initiated through diplomatic means.
Clausewitz famously said, “War is the continuation of policy with other means.” And so in CampaignWar, war is not inevitable; it is one of two possible outcomes of an ultimatum—a diplomatic process that begins when one nation (A) attempts to impose demands upon another nation (B).
A demand is something you want another nation to give you. Currently, there are three types¹ of demands of implemented:
Let's suppose Nation A demands to occupy a province owned by Nation B. The demand costs victory points - more on that later.
Upon receiving these demands, Nation B has two choices: either peacefully yield to the demands or refuse and present counter-demands to Nation A.
Let's assume Nation B chooses the second option. If they wish, they can now escalate the ultimatum to the international level. This gives both nations one day to call their allies for support. If the ultimatum becomes a war, allies that accept the call will participate in it (though calling all of your allies isn’t necessarily a smart decision, as we will discover.)
Now Nation A faces a similar choice. It can yield to Nation B's counter-demands to avoid war, or refuse. If they refuse, the countdown to war begins. With both nations steadfast in their demands, and neither willing to yield, war becomes the only means to determine whose demands will prevail. The war will begin on the next scheduled war day (Friday), and will last for 48 hours (it can end earlier if one side surrenders.)
Here's a flowchart of the whole process:
As mentioned earlier, demands cost victory points (VPs). During the war, capturing enemy provinces earns VPs for your side. However, if the enemy recaptures a province, your side loses the VPs it gained from it. Provinces containing more claimed land or the nation capital are worth more VPs.
Wars aren't actually 4 days long - they're 2 days. This is just a screenshot from a test version.
To impose your demands on the enemy nation, your side must win at least as many VPs during the war as the total VP cost of those demands. For example, if your demands cost 100 VPs, you need to have at least 100 VPs at the end of the war. Therefore, it is in your interest to avoid making unrealistic demands during the ultimatum.
All nations involved in the ultimatum can have their provinces attacked during the war. Yes, that even includes allied nations that accepted calls for support. So, if you decide to call in allies, remember that they can become a liability—their provinces can be captured, giving VPs to the enemy.
What if both sides win enough VPs for their demands? In this case, both sides “win” - they impose their demands upon each other. This leads to some interesting strategic choices. For example, should you focus on securing your own demands by attacking instead of defending, even if that means the enemy side imposes their demands on you?
In CW, wars are still divided into battle sessions. During a province attack, if the attackers do not control any captured chunks at the end of a battle session, the attack fails, and the province cannot be attacked in the next session. Outside of sessions, provinces do not lose HP, and chunks cannot be captured.
During testing, we found that CW battles can be intense and hard-fought. We do not want a “nightcapping” meta where provinces are only captured or recaptured while the enemy side is offline, as this rewards avoiding battles.
Preventing this is the purpose of vulnerability windows (VWs). A nation’s VW consists of the battle sessions that its provinces can be attacked in. Right now, we think VWs should last for two consecutive sessions, although this may change before release. The VW can be chosen and viewed through a GUI. There are safeguards to prevent exploitation of the system, like changing VWs mid-war.
If a nation attacks an enemy province outside of its own VW, that nation will be vulnerable for the remainder of the enemy nation’s VW. The logic here is that if you are able to begin an attack, you are also able to defend.
Wars need a reasonable conclusion. CW addresses this by expanding truces. When a war ends, all participants enter a temporary but unbreakable truce with each other. The truce prevents them from beginning ultimatums against each other, and being called as allies into ultimatums against each other. This same kind of truce is also formed if an ultimatum is settled peacefully by one side yielding, preventing them from being spammed with more ultimatums.
As always, if you have any questions, feedback or concerns about the features presented here, feel free to reply. Your input is valuable and may reveal areas for improvement or change.
The next dev blog may come later than usual as new features are still being developed and pre-announced features are being polished.
¹ Internally, demands are implemented in a flexible way, so it is likely more will be eventually added (e.g. forced vassalization? Forcing the nation to ally or drop enemies? Feel free to share your own ideas in the replies.)
