Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

You know what would make this even better? Modify the AI files so that they create empires taking into account the adjusted costs.

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

Thanks Ran-Taro!

Yes Deccan, that would be good. Anyone feel like doing the work? It's a fairly time-consuming project which I won't have time for until maybe February of next year, so if anyone wants to supply the AI files, I'll include them in a patch to the mod once they're ready.

PvK

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

Actually, what would be even better would be to do this for the TDM modpack Version AI's...

PvK

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

PBW Anyone http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Wouldn't the re-balancing of relative values mean the whole AI's would need to be remade, not just the general files?

I guess just the general files would do in a pinch, but I'm guessing this mod would make for a greater variety of effective AI tactics in research etc...

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

Hmm, a difficult question. You'd of course want to be sure to keep any racial tech areas. I don't think you'd want to change the research order, or the ship designs. Offhand I'd think the main issue outside the AI_General file would be the design construction AI file, which determines how many of a ship to build, because if the AI has lower resource or maintenance reduction values, it may not be able to afford as many as it could before. I'd only expect that to be an issue for TDM modpack races which were highly tweaked in that regard, and/or that took heavy advantage of the cheap maintenance reduction in the unmodded game.

I'd actually think the unmodded AI's would tend to be better off in Balance mod than the TDM ones, inasmuch as the unmodded ones weren't very well optimized, so they'll benefit from the Balance mod giving them balanced value for points. I expect the existing TDM races take a lot of advantage of the unbalanced unmodded empire costs, so they'll be in worse shape, relatively speaking. All the more reason to work with those files if one were to make custom AI's for the balance mod.

PvK

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

Sorry for this slightly (well, okay, really really really...) offtopic idea, but I lacked a suitable place to bring this up, and seeing as this mod is about "balance", I had an idea that might bring some more balance to the game, or at the very least, open up new strategies.

Before I get to the meat of it though, what strikes me most about SEIV is that there isn't just ONE set strategy for weapons and ships and what not. You have options. You have counter measures upon counter measures upon counter measures. That's fun becuase you have to keep being flexible. Every game can be slightly different.

Well, one thing I have noticed, and one thing I have seen repeated is the short half-life of fighters in the game. Yeah, you can make them still work in late game, but really, you're just building fleets to get chewed up by those pesky Point Defense weapons.

So i ask you, what is the counter measure to overcome point defense?

Beam weapons.

But the answer is the problem. Beam weapons are your only real long term solution. So much so, people tend to neglect the Torpedo and Seeker techs. It's a dead end, right? So everyone is running around with beam weapons, not much variety there.

So here is what i was thinking, a new component.

Call it the "Shotgun whatever".

The idea behind this component would be that it shoots out a bunch of cheap seekers to overwhelm the enemies Point Defense, thereby allowing your fighters and more powerful torpedos to get through.

Now, in order to simulate the "overwhelming shotgun" effect of these, the size of the component should be small- maybe 1 - 5 Kt. So you could put dozens on a ship. Now the damage caused by these seekers would be negligible because they are little more than 'dumb rocks'. So maybe 1-3 points of damage, if any at all.

What this does is provide an enffective means to COUNTER point defense. (One need look at the Missle Defense argument to see what I am getting at).

Sorry for the intrusion. I will delete this post if any feel it neccessary. But it would be nice to get some feedback on this.

Does anyone think the AI coulb be modified to implement something like this?

Cheers.

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

*sees no reason why it wouldn't work. good idea.*

on the other hand, what i know about ai modding could be fit on one page.

[ October 15, 2003, 20:41: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

If you have the peace time and spare resources, drones can provide the shotgun. PD has problems with shielded ECM drones. Combine with fighters and/or seekers, and some nasty no-maintenance stuff will get through the PD. Drones which launch their own seekers are also good for generating a large swarm. However, PD is still very powerful and cost-effective in the unmodded game.

PvK

Re: PvK Balance Mod Version 1.1 posted (for SE4 Gold Version 1.91 - Patch 4)
 

I just made a new Version 1.1 of PvK Balance Mod, for seamless use with SE4 Gold Version 1.91 (Gold Patch 4) which was just released.

There are no changes except to make it so no 1.91 changes will be undone by applying the Balance Mod.

See the link below my signature.

PvK