UNITS:
- Submarines:
- raised HP
- raised armor
- are now armored
- Helicopters:
- drastically raised HP (were seriously underpowered)
- raised armor substantially
- raised damage
- added armor piercing
- added explosive
- Scouts:
- speed nerfed (were too fast)
- Nukes:
- support cost is now only Oil
- now cost Oil, Metal and Knowledge
- reduced time to build/research
BUILDINGS:
- Redoubt:
- raised damage
- Supercollider:
- removed Knowledge cost
- now costs 6k of each resource (except Knowledge)
TECH:
- AGES:
- REWORKED COSTS - each Age advancement costs every resource available in the previous age (Food is still the main cost, but it is slightly lowered and instead other resource costs are introduced):
- Classical Age (Food, Timber, Gold)
- Medieval Age --- Enlightenment Age (Knowledge, Food, Timber, Gold, Metal)
- Industrial Age --- Information Age (Knowledge, Food, Timber, Gold, Metal, Oil)
- because of these changes, Knowledge costs for Age advancement have slightly been lowered (Age Advancement now mostly drains your resources and not so much your Knowledge)
- FINAL TECHS - each final tech now costs an associated resource as well as Oil and Knowledge:
- Missile Shield (Knowledge, Metal, Oil)
- World Government (Knowledge, Food, Oil)
- Global Prosperity (Knowledge, Gold, Oil)
- Artificial Intelligence (Knowledge, Timber, Oil)
- REWORKED COSTS - each Age advancement costs every resource available in the previous age (Food is still the main cost, but it is slightly lowered and instead other resource costs are introduced):
NATIONS:
- China:
- added new power
Hi 0wcabibi88
Your mod is outstanding stuff, the best, more stable and enjoyable I've played, while I myself have tinkered with it in scenarios for further "cooling down" of the gamepace.
I do have a number of ideas about further tweaking, unique units and abilities for the various civilizations (while I still can't understand why their total number must be hardcoded in the game, hampering any subsequent attempt to simply add other user-created ones). And many profane questions about unrelated issues such as, for example: aren't Bazooka units too tough as of now, or the Inca civ too strong? Are rivers ever navigable for a boat? Is mountain terrain passable for specially designed units? Can military buildings spawning mainline units (barracks, docjks and so on) be made capable of even modest defense? Why not giving civilizations own weak spots beyond bonuses, based on historical reality, e.g. the Incas, Aztecs and Mayas having weaker ships and cavalry, or the Mongols reduced agricultural output? Why not introducing religions just as political systems with their different bonuses? Why not differentiating the various civs' bonuses according to the age in which they were historically stronger? And so on. I have no ability with graphics or coding, my best is tweaking the values in the .xml files, but if my suggestions can be useful, for sparse and tentative they may be, consider me in. The full range of my ideas takes a wall of text so if you're interested I'll send them later.
Yeah, I don't understand why they've hardcoded all of this stuff; this game is pretty hard to mod and ends up crashing if a single digit is off in the files. Just being able to add all of this stuff feels like an achievement already. I'm VERY limited in what I can do and a lot of the stuff I change/add is more or less trial and error.
As for your questions:
- for the bazooka units, I will probably nerf them a bit in the coming updates (maybe lower attack speed and/or reload speed and/or accuracy)
- Inca have been nerfed in 5.3
- rivers can't be navigable by boats, sadly, or at least I haven't found a way
- haven't checked if mountain terrain can be passable, will check
- barracks can probably be made into a defensive structure, however not sure if they would benefit from the extra arrows of a full garrison; will consider for next version
- sadly I cannot actually add OR remove powers from Nations (only enable or disable stuff that is already in the files), would love to do that but the game won't let me
- I sadly cannot change what techs do
- it's not possible to scale the bonuses
Also most of these changes have been made by tweaking the .xml files. I'm also not a coder, this is more of a pet project of mine so I haven't delved REALLY deep into the code itself.
Thank you for your kind reply. I imagined most of that, sadly. Still you already did much and I liked it. I'll list down here my general ideas, subdivided by civ, plus, before, a couple other random thoughts. Such as: the idea of not so much killing enemy citizens, but "enslaving" them to work for you (every civ having limits to when, or if, the pratice stops); or "nationalising" wonders, that is, each civ has one (or more) "own" wonders - such as America with Statue of Liberty, Rome with the Colosseum or Russia with the Kremlin - that when built by the "proper" civ gives her an additional bonus beyond the usual ones. Or: how much can onw tweak other things, such as the number of cities that can be built in the first ages (too limited)? Ages itself can by chance be "split" by some ingenious trick? It'd be nice to have an Ancient Age beginning with club-wielding cavemen brutes and progressing, à la Empire Earth, through the basic discoveries of mankind (wheel, animal domestication, agriculture, husbandry...) up to the dawn of Western culture that we call the "classical" age.
Here is part of the wall of text of my self-brainstorming ;) I invite you to read on Wiki the relevant pages if you encounter any curious name of units, weapons or peoples you possibily don't know. I have a degree in history and a keen interest in that stuff so it comes really handy to me. Keep in mind that several of my proposed unique units can be realized through graphic work only on existing vanilla units, if limitations hamper a more direct approach.
I'll post that in several installments because of message length limitations.
Aztecs: make 'em Mexican-looking in later ages (citizen-peones). Raramuri runner infantry (very fast) from ancient to classical, Macahuitl (obsidian toothed sword) infantry units from medieval to gunpowder; Zapatista guerrillas from industrial to Information age (fast, hidden, self-entrenching units); American-built M-198 artillery gun and Mexican Cartel special units for Information age. Unique air unit the American-built Apache attack helicopter.
Americans: I'd say they should have the same units (including unique ones) and building looks as the British up to Gunpowder age, for quite obvious reasons, they were one and the same. Give 'em Minutemen as regular units in Enlightenment, Fur Trappers as special task/exploring unit with bonuses; in Industrial age Pioneer (repeating rifle-firing wagon units, self-entrenching), Gunslinger (as special task unit), Doughboy infantry (self-entrenching), Abrams M1 Main Battle Tank in Info Age. Unique naval units: Monitor (evolving to Dreadnought), Super Air Carrier (bigger, tougher, costlier, more planes), Nuclear Submarine (fastest submarine unit, one shot-one kill against ships and can launch nuclear missiles; drawbacks, costly and vulnerable). Unique Modern air units: Mustang fighter-bomber (fighting other planes and dropping devastating Napalm incendiaries), B-17 evolving to a nuke-dropping Bomber B-52 that should be unique to America too. Unique F-117 (invisible save when attacking) for Info age. Americans should have UAV drones in Information age; all other civs should be able to have the too, but only after reaching the highest techs, while Americans can have them since the beginning of the age itself.
Bantu: Bonus for movement through Savannah terrain (possible?). Some other bonus should re: metal. They were the first blacksmiths in most of Africa, after all. Add Assegai Javeliners (with upgrades), Dahomey Amazon musketeers (females! historical, a unit that cannot be bribed by spies) for Enlightenment and Knobkerries macemen from classical to gunpowder age. Modern and Information age cheap Machete infantry units able to fight both in melee with the terrible blade and firing like any other infantry. Unique naval unit: the Jahazi (local version of the Arabic Dhow, Medieval and Gunpowder age). We could give 'em also some French-built SPAD biplane model as unique air unit for Industrial.
British: set Longbowmen only in Medieval and Gunpowder ages (as historical), by God's sake. No one ever heard of them before the High Middle Ages! Add Saxon Housecarl (analog to the German Vandal) for the Medieval age. For previous ages let's try to create some Celtic-looking melee unit such as the Pictish warrior for classical. Add in the Gunpowder age the Roundhead cavalry unit (Cromwell's guys), and later in Elightenment the unique naval Jolly Roger Corsair (Morgan-style licensed pirates). Also Ironclad (but not unique unit: everyone with a navy should be able to have it) for the Industrial age before it evolves to Dreadnought. Flamethrower Churchill Tank as unique Modern unit. I propose the Spitfire fighter and Vulcan heavy bomber (nuke capable!) as unique Modern air units.
Chinese: first a note, the current Enlightenment Age Manchu riflemen seem too modern-looking in their outfit (at least to me). Give China its repeating crossbow (Chu-ko-nu as in Age of Empires, from Medieval age to Gunpowder included); a crude hand-cannon wielding unit already in the medieval age would be nice, they first researched artillery after all. Warrior monks able to both fight enemies and heal friendlies, anyone? For the Gunpowder era add their Grand Junks (Zheng He's fleet), slow and less armed than European vessels but almost unsinkable. In the air a unique Modern unit could be the Russian-built Mig-21 jet fighter.
Dutch: add the unique Batavian auxiliary (basically a Germanic barbarian in Roman light armor) for the Classical age, the Frisian raider (naval unit) and the Brabaantse mercenary unit (alt-pikemen armed with a Goedendag?) for the Medieval age, and a Morning Star (spiked club-wielding) cavalry unit for medieval and gunpowder age. The Afrikaner Laager wagon unit for Industrial, the historically Dutch-made Fokker fighters in place of general biplanes (more hit points); and the Schnorckel Submarine in Modern (more difficult to detect and more powerful hits). Give 'em also as unique the German-built 88mm anti-tank gun (slow moving but hiding and far stronger than the usual) and the German-built PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer in Information Age.
Egyptians: Civ bonus for movement on Desert terrain (possible). They need War Chariots (much needed for ancient age already) and Mamelukes, they're already in, that's ok. Change at least some of the camel units to Bedouins (name change only?), since Egypt stands here for the Arabs as a whole. In the Middle Ages give them the Assassins, special forces "ante litteram" able to spy and kill in a targeted way. In modern and information age era give them a unique Fedayeen unit (fanatical infantry, dies rather than being bribed), and, tragically, the Suicide Truck Bomb (a land fireship essentially, extremely powerful and relatively cheap, but very long to produce). Unique naval unit: the Felucca (Gunpowder-Enlightenment, fast and cheap but lightly armed). In the air the British-built Sopwith Camel (obviously!) light biplane would be nice as unique warplane.
French: the Chevalier in classical age cannot be seen! Replace with some unique unit of Celtic nature, maybe a war chariot variant or Torque- necklaced Gallic warrior with red-painted hair. Why not a special Druid unit with early spy charateristics, spawned maybe at the temple? In the medieval age set up another line of cavalry unit, the Crusader (upgraded knight?), to become Gendarme (in full plate armor) in Gunpowder age. Unique King's Musketeers in typical attire fighting both melee and at range with smallswords and short-ranged pistol (vulnerable, but can't be bribed) in Enlightenment. In Gunpowder and Enlightenment unique naval unit the Boucanier (Caribbean pirates), coubnterpart to the British colleagues. In the Enlightenment age give them the unique Montgolfier Observation Balloon (spawned at observation post, obviously!). In the modern age set the Mirage jet fighter as their unique air unit (well deserved, great-looking warplane). Add the colorful Zouaves infantry in the Industrial age, to be upgrade to Legionnaires (toughest infantry of all). The powerful 75mm Field Gun mod. 1897 for Industrial age (legendary artillery, firing faster than others, devastating against foot troops). Add the French Paras in the Modern age.
Germans: the Landsknecht must be reworked graphically to be made more adherent to historicity. Add as unqiue units the Frankish Axe Thrower in the classical era; the Viking Longship naval raider and the mailclad Norseman for the Medieval age, alongside the mounted Teutonic Knight. Add in the same fashion the halberd-wielding Swiss Militia for Gunpowder age, the infantry Grenadier (launching grenades, to be upgraded later to Grenade Man from Industrial) and the Prussian Death's Head Hussars for the Enlightenment. Unique Big Bertha mortar-howitzer for Industrial (longer ranged and more powerful than anything else), upgradable to Krupp 280 mm K5 in Modern. Make the V2 a unique German unit for Modern age, and give 'em a Scharfschutze (hidden sniper, one shot-one kill). Replace Volksgrenadiers with the Green Devil Paras (of Cassino fame). Add Stuka dive-bomber (accurate and powerful but slow and vulnerable) and unique U-Boot Submarine (cheap and fast) for Modern.
Greeks: the Hoplite should be the unique Ancient Age Greek unit, by the way. For the classical age add the Agrianoi (Alexander's "barbarian" infantry with movement bonus on slopes, and capable of crossing mountains and cliffs if possible). Replace some of the Companions' line with Byzantine units from the Middle Ages, such as the Klibanarios (evolved Cataphract?), Akritas (light cavalry), Pronoiar or Kontouriatos (spear-wielding heavy cavalry, analog to Western models). Add the Tagmata and Varangian Guard heavy infantry units for Medieval, and obviously Greek Fire naval units in the place of fireships. In the Enlightenment age the Armatoles/Armatoloi infantry unit, a swift guerrilla raider of Balkan looks with hiding abilities, to be upgraded to Andartes (Modern Partisan-guerrilla). At sea in medieval the Dromon should be unique to the Greeks, too, if possible (and with a far different design, I believe). In the classical age a unique raiding naval unit as the Cilician Pirates, able to get plunder from ships and buildings hit (possible?). In the air the American-built F-15 jet fighter could make for a good unique unit.
Inca: give'em a Venom Blowgun Jungle Tribeman infantry (hidden save when attacking; one shot-one kill and able to cross woods like the Lakota explorers) from Ancient age to classical; a Libertador (elegant Spanish-style cavalry) unit for Enlightenment, and an Indio Guerrilla one for Modern. Giv'em also a bonus for fishing (quite a thing in Peru!), another bonus for movement in mountains or across them if feasible. Unique armored cavalry the Brazilian-built EE-9 Cascavel. Unique air unit the Russian-built Sukhoi Su-25 jet fighter for Modern and Info age.
Indians: Arya war chariot for ancient and classical age (no stable still? spawn at Tower. By the way in scenarios I modify the game so that stable, granary, lumber mill, sieg factory are altready there in Ancient, otherwise the age is dull and useless). Indian should also have Rajput infantry from Medieval, with upgrades to Sepoy in Enlightenment and later from Industrial to Gurkha infantry. Thuggee special assassination unit for Industrial (hiding ability). Unique Catamaran naval unit from ancient age; in Enlightenment age naval Buginese Prahos (Indonesian pirate raiders, à la Sandokan) upgrading to Malay pirates up to Modern age. A Modern age unique air unit could be the formidable Russian-built Hind (Mil Mi-24) helicopter.
Iroquois: they need Tomahawk infantry units evolving from ancient to gunpowder age, able for both melee and short range launch. ALL of their foot infantry units, not only explorers, should be able to cross woods. Give 'em unique naval (riverine, if materially possible?) War Canoe unit from ancient age to medieval. In the Modern age, give 'em the British-built Canberra jet bomber for modern age.
Japanese: add the Emishi barbarians (Ainu bearskin warriors) for the ancient and classical age; a unique Gaijin (European mercenary, costlier and stronger than native arquebus but more susceptible to bribery) arquebus infantry and Ninja special spy-assassin units for Gunpowder. Unique naval Portuguese Black Ships for Gunpowder age; in the modern era unique Yamato class for Battleship (vastly bigger and more powerful than anything else, but slower and a bit vulnerable) and the Kamikaze suicide air unit. Unique naval unit in Information age the Helicopter Carrier.
Koreans: add their early multibarrel rocket weapon, the Hwacha or Shinkichon to replace the Heavy Flaming Arrow in Gunpowder and Enlightenment age; the Woldo Royal Guards wirelding the eponymous halberd-like pole weapon for Gunpowder age; (Communist-looking) guerrillas for Modern age should be added too, alongside sunglass-wielding Information age regular assault infantry (their not less sinister Southern counterpart). Koreans won't like it, but I'd give 'em the Japanese-built Zero fighter as unique air unit in Modern age.
Lakota: Add an Indian Brave infantry unit, upgradable from ancient age onwards. Lacking unique naval units, let's grant'em the Haida Dugout naval raiders (extorting plunder from enemy buildings and ships attacked, if feasible and if not already in the civ's powers). I'd also give 'em for Modern age a unique Lakota Sniper (hiding ability, one shot-one kill) and a nuke-capable B-29 as unique air unit.
Maya: Civ bonus for movement over Jungle and Tropical Wet terrain if feasible. Give 'em obsidian spiked club-wielding infantry (Tupil Clubmen, tupil being a term for "guard") from medieval to gunpowder; torch-wielding incendiary infantry ("Maya Torchers?") in the same ages (cheap and de facto suicidal in approaching objectives such as cities and towers, but very effective against buildings in general); unique naval units in the form of Armed Trade Canoes that don't count in general caravan count but can fight as normal light ships; Contra special units for Modern (hidden counterguerrillas able to move through woods).
Mongols: Change the steppe raiders' line this way: classical age Xiongnu Horse Archer in place of Nomad; medieval Jurchen Horse Archer evolving to Genghis' Horde, to gunpowder age Golden Horde to Enlightenment Oirat Cavalry (musket-wielding, able to fight also in melee). For Industrial and Modern age give 'em Red Army Cavalry (very fast, vulnerable but cheap horse-mounted raiders, firing automatic weapons while riding in Modern, devastating against foot troops and citizens). Unique air unit the Hooked Biplane (Russian historical concept, a plane capable of hooking the enemy by contact other than firing upon him!). Unique naval unit the Inuit Kayak (yes!) from ancient to classical age evolving to the Aleut Baidara. Add Siberian Hunter firearm infantry from Enlightenment to Modern. Unique air unit the Russian-built Il-2 Shturmovik fighter-bomber, fast and powerful against both tanks and infantry.
Nubians: let's try with vague ideas like Sabaean cavalry (classical age), the Beta Israel Aksumite warriors (medieval), the Bath Reth infantry (Shilluk warriors, gunpowder), the Maasai (enlightenment powerful melee units with big blades?), the Zanzibar Rifles (industrial, arabic-fashoned fusiliers), the Sudan Defence Force modern infantry or the Arab Slave Raiders cavalry from enlightenment onwards evolving into the infamous Janjaweed mounted militiamen, the last horse cavalry unit of the game continuing up to and into the Information age (cheap, vulnebrable but devastating for citizens, caravans and buildings). Give 'em also the Technical in the Information Age: a Toyota pickup with a powerful autocannon in the place of the machine-gun, devastating against infantry and light-skinned vehicles. Unique naval units from medieval age to enlightenment the Dhow, with upgrades to cannon-armed Omani Boom. Add the Somali Pirate Skiff in Information Age! In the air, from Industrial the CR-42, an Italian-built biplane of superior manoeuver and speed, and the British-built Pom-Pom 40mm Gun Antiarcraft unit.
Persians: Add the Assyrian infantry and Scythed Chariot (ancient, chariot may be spawned at towe absent the stable); Immortals-Anusiya stay only up to classical age; then upgrade to the Daylamite Warrior (fine sword-armed infantry) for the medieval age; add the Qizilbash cavalry and Ghulam infantry (gunpowder), the Afghan Tribesmen (from Enlightenment all the way to information with upgrades to Mujaheedin and Taliban); the unique Stinger anti-aircraft infantry unit; the Caspian Cossacks (cavalry cuirassiers, Industrial). Ships: the Phoenician "Hippogalloi" models for ancient age (tub-shaped with horse heads on the prow), faster than all others. In the air, Modern Age American-built Phantom jet fighters.
Romans: Legions should only exist in the Classical age, with an upgrade to Imperial Legions; the rest is utterly ahistorical in a horrendous way. In the ancient age the unique Samnite (hoplite-like infantry unit). In the medieval age the Capitanei heavy cavalry, to be upgraded to shiny armored Condottieri in the Gunpowder era; and the Communal Milites (sword-armed infantry), always for medieval. Pikemen to evolve into colorful Swiss Guards with their halberds for Gunpowder era. Unique Genoese Mercenary Arbalest (costlier but stronger crossbowmen) for medieval age. Unique Carabinieri (not common cavalry carabineers, but rifle infantry) evolving from Industrial to Modern. Unique Alpini infantry (hard to kill and hard to bribe) from Industrial to Info age able to cross mountains if feasible, or with movement bonus over steep terrains. A unique torpedo bomber for anti-shipping duty in the Modern Age is the SM 79 Sparviero nicknamed "Gobbo Maledetto" (can both bomb objectives on land and torpedo ships at sea: feasible?). Add the Mangusta attack helicopter as unique Information age air unit.
Russians: All Russian foot infantry, explorers etc should be able to cross rivers without movement penalty, and to cross woods like the Lakota explorers. Bonus also for movement over snowy (Arctic) terrain if possible. If rivers can be made navigable, set the unique Koch (from medieval to gunpowder, each unit giving a small gold bonus), evolved from the classical age dart-spitting Monoxyla dugout raider, to do also that. Unique Varyag (Viking-like axeman) and Druzhina (stronger pikemen?) warriors for medieval; the Tabor (aka Wagenburg) wagon fort spitting darts and (upgraded to Gulyay-gorod) bullets respectively for medieval and gunpowder age; Boyar cavalry (later upgrading to Uhlans for Enlightenment) and Strel'tsy musketeers for Gunpowder Age. Cossacks from Gunpowder onwards only. Tatar heavy horse archers (little hit points but fast and cheap) for Gunpowder and also Enlightenment (historical, some were to be seen even in Napoleonic battles...). Unique Modern age T-34 Tank to be upgraded to T-72 then T-90 in Info; unique Modern age SU-76 self-propelled Anti-Tank Gun.
Spanish: Leave the unique Scutari swordsmen only in medieval age, otherwise it's senseless and ahistorical. Add Balearic Slingers (accurate, fast and stronger) from ancient to classical age, Numidian cavalry in classical age to be upgraded to Andalusian cavalry (Moorish) in medieval to Hidalgos firearm cavalry raiders in Gunpowder; add Peasant Guerrillas for Enlightenment (in hiding, knife-fighting in meelee and slow-firing muskets at range), the unique American-built Gatling gun for Industrial, International Brigade infantry unit for Modern (vulnerable but can't be bribed by spies), also Russian-built T-26 light tank for Industrial (stronger than others) and Legion Tercio infantry from Industrial onwards to Info. On the sea in the Gunpowder Age the unique Manila Galleon (or China Nao), slow, robust and heavily armed commercial unit that doesn't count with caravan and brings gold between friendly ports.
Turks: Add Hunnic Horse Archer unit in classical age (rapid-firing and fast), upgraded to Tarkhan Horse Archer in medieval, Timariote in gunpowder and Sipahis in Enlightenment. Another unique line of cavalry (light raiders) starts with Turkmen Ghazi in medieval upgraded to Akinci in gunpowder age. Add in the gunpowder era a unique Kilij unit, melee infantry armed with the eponymous terrifying scimitar of "Deadliest Warrior" memory ;) Add a unique Gallipoli Trench Mortar for Industrial, and American-built F-14 Tomcat jet fighters as upgrade in Modern. On the sea unique unit the cannon-armed Xebec from the Gunpowder to the Enlightenment age (takes place of Frigate, slightly smaller and less armed but cheap, faster and manouverable).
Unfortunately, the 'enslaving' idea can't be realized on the level that I'm modding (mostly .xml files) and would require some serious coding (and skill in said coding, which I don't have).
The idea of wonders having special bonuses based on who's controling them is also a bit idealistic I'm afraid. Wonders are ESPECIALLY tricky to mod without the game going haywire and there is no system currently in the game that would check which wonder is under which owner and give him bonuses for said wonders (of course without serious coding). Also the number of wonders is limited to how many can 'fit' in the wonder menu. Also making new wonders just plain doesn't work, because they end up without any powers whatsoever (all the powers are tied to them in a seperate file which is hardcoded in the game), so no go I'm afraid, but I had the same idea.
The Ages could TECHNICALLY be split/added, but I haven't tried it. However, as everything else in this game that is modded, I would have to remove a tech in order to add one, so adding a new age is already tough (because of the set number of age icons in the library and interface) and also because I would have to remove one or more existing techs to add the new ones that come with the new age (as well as the age itself). The same principle applies to units and unit graphics.
As for adding units (and unit skins/models that go with them) there are many things to consider, not just historical accuracy. First, I have to see if a certain unit type can be modded AT ALL without getting a CTD. Then I have to check how many 'unused' unit entries I have left in the files and if I can afford to add one more unit at all. Then I have to figure out which model and texture I'm going to use for it; this also brings up the problem of figuring out how many 'unused' unit graphic entries I have (some units have more than others). Also another thing I consider is how the unit would make sense based on the nation's powers (for example, Ranged Cavalry would be a better addition to Mongolia than America, since Mongolia gets a lot of bonuses for Ranged Cavalry). And finally, after I've added and set the stats for the unit I have to check in-game several times to see if it works right and tweak it accordingly. It's a tedious process and it's mostly based on trial-and-error.
In further versions I will try to add more unique units to fill the gaps that some civs have at certain ages. This of course means I have to take existing units (in the files) and mod them. As of right now I have about 7-9 free unit spaces that I can use (by removing the CTW generals). The others will have to remove certain existing ones which I've already written down to be the least missed.
I will check your propositions for the new units if I need an idea for one, thanks. And if you have any remarks as to balance in general or bugs that need to be fixed, you can write them up, as I need data from several playthroughs and I mostly play against the computer (which may or may not suck depending on which civ I give him, which in turn gives me inaccurate data in regards to balance).
Good answer. Things are like I expected/feared, mostly. The game wasn't conceived in the first place to be highly moddable by users (as any respectable game should be nowadays!), still it offers intriguing space for manoeuver.
An interesting sidewise project could be that of creating nations specific for age-set games (sub-mods with their tribes and graphic files), mostly not existing in the original game, such as (examples) Assyria for ancient, Carthage for classical, Hungary for Medieval, Switzerland for Gunpowder, Portugal for Enlinghtenment, Austria-Hungary for Industrial, Sweden for Modern or the Pseudo-Caliphate for Info age. But that would require, just like my earlier, well, "modest suggestions" (ahem), an army of modders with plenty of time and abilities.
If I only gave you a hint of the range of appliable ideas, I can consider myself satisfied. "Steal" them also from other mods shamelessly, if you like them.
Keep up the good work!