Rage Race and Ship Set 3.00
November 13, 2002

These files have been tested with Space Empires IV version 1.78 only.

Introduction:

This is my first attempt at creating a Space Empires race. I wanted to create a race that would provide a challenge to a human opponent and be less vulnerable than usual to some of the tricks a human can use against the AI. I think I have been fairly successful. One important note is that, since this is a no-atmosphere race, this race would be at a disadvantage in a quadrant where moons had been disabled or reduced. If you want to use this race in a quadrant with no moons, I would recommend that you edit it to have a different atmosphere type.

From the race descriptions:

The Rage is a race of organic machines originally designed for war. There is a limited shared intelligence across the race, with stronger ties to those units that are near by. For some reason, the Rage seem to only be able to thrive on planets with no atmosphere. The reason for this is not known. The most surprising aspect of this race is its emotional nature. This may be due to the fact that while their external appearance is mechanical, their processing units are primarily organic.

The Rage society is a limited collective in which processing (thinking) is distributed across a network comprised of the individual units. The processing is organized into local groups that are working on the same project. Therefore, while information is theoretically known across the entire network, in practice it is used in a more localized fashion. Overall strategic decision making is controlled by the Primary Sequencer. This unit is the closest thing to a ruler that this society has.

There is not a lot of information on the origins of the Rage. Most scholars believe that they were originally created as intelligent war machines. They then out lived (or perhaps destroyed) whatever race created them.

The files included:
1) Rage race files - these files contain new Rage Collective scripts that define the Rage race. These files should go in 'Pictures\Races\Rage' folder of your Space Empires IV.
2) Rage emp files - emp files for the Rage race that will enable players to add this race easily when starting a new game. Just use the 'Add existing race' button in player's menu when creating a new game. The emp files are created for 2000, 3000 and 5000 race point games. The files should go to the 'Empires' folder.
3) Rage design name file - rage.txt design name file that the Rage will use for their ship designs. This file goes to the 'Dsgnname' folder.
4) Rage speech file - This file provides the text for messages sent by the Rage.
5) Rage ship set - These files should go in 'Pictures\Races\Rage' folder of your Space Empires IV.

Version History:

Version 2.41
	-Added Drone Attack strategy to strategy file and .emp files.

Version 2.4:
	- Added AI file settings required to be compatible with v1.57.

Version 2.3:
	- Added long range colonizers to the design and construction files.
	- Created a new troop transport design and revised the research and construction
	  files to allow deployment of troops and troop transports for planet invasions.
	- Revised the planet types file to improve radioactives production.
	- Other construction and research tweaks to improve performance.

Version 2.2:
	- Revised the research file to use the Tech Area Min Percentage field to optimize
	  research of some dependent projects.
	- Improved the research and usage of stellar manipulation technology.
	- Improved research and construction in the "Not Connected" state.
	- Other design, construction and research tweaks.

Version 2.1:
	- Added a custom Planet Types file.
	- Reworked Research file to include High-Energy Discharge Weapons.
	- Reworked Design file to allow construction of several specialized attack ships, as
	  well as cleaning up a number of other existing designs.
	- Reworked Facility Construction file to improve balance of production of minerals
	  and radioactives.
	- Reworked Vehicle Construction file to improve balance of ship and unit types
	  produced.
	- Other design, construction and research tweaks.

Version 2.0:
	- Updated to work with SEIV Version 1.35.
	- Modified vehicle construction file to provide defense earlier and to not
	  build ships quite so fast.

Version 1.2:
	- Removed cloaking device from most ship designs.
	- Added mine sweeper components to attack ships.
	- Added medical bays to population transports.
	- Allow trade alliances.
	- Other design, construction and research tweaks.

Version 1.1:
	- Fixed problem causing destroyers to be produced after larger hulls were available.
	- Various improvements to research, design creation, politics and construction files.
	- Rework of shipset with suggestions from Universal Shipyards.
	- Added Rage 5000 Mech .emp file for those wanting the Rage to be a Mechanoid race.
	- Added more design names to Rage.txt

Version 1.0:

	- First version of the Rage Collective.

Credits:

- Thanks to members of the Shrapnel Games Space Empires IV forum for suggestions and bug
  reports.
- Thanks to Daynarr for his excellent Sergetti Mod. While the Rage and the Sergetti behave
  somewhat differently, I spent a lot of time looking at the changes made to the Sergetti
  to gain an understanding of what types of changes I needed to make to the default files
  to get the behavior I wanted.
- Thanks Tampa_Gamer for his Drakol Mod. Even more so than above, the Rage and the Drakols
  have little in common, but studying the changes made to the AI helped me greatly in
  seeing how to get the behavior I wanted.
- Thanks to Mephisto for his Earth Alliance Mod. It seemed to be a very good race for
  me to use as a sparring partner for my AI. In addition, I learned a lot about setting
  up carriers from his mod.
- Thanks to Malfador Machinations for a game system with more depth and playability than
  I have ever seen before.

Contact Information:
- You can e-mail me at mputman@home.com

Notes:

- When I started this project, my main interest was in working with the AI. I wanted to put   together some sort of ship set to go with it, so I downloaded Pov-Ray and started playing  around with its scripting language. I started with some simple shapes and then put them  together in different ways. In the end, I was quite pleased with the results. It certainly isn't the most intricate ship set around, but it is more than I expected it to be.
- I wanted to create an AI that could hold its own against just about anything. So far in my tests, it has done pretty well, though a human should still be able to beat it on an even basis. It won't be easy to missile dance with, though.... :)
- This mod is still in development, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
- This mod may be freely distributed as long as you don't modify, add or delete any files included.

Thanks for your interest!

Mike (Alpha Kodiak)