Re: Devnullmod
 

So, once I get 1.3 tested and put out, anyone interested in doing a PBEM game with this mod? I'd sure like to play against some humans at this point =)

Re: Devnullmod
 

DEFINITLY! Would love to play this mod by email.


http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

------------------
"The Empress took your name away," said Chance.
Owen smiled coldly. "It wasn't hers to take. I'm a Deathstalker until I die. And we never forget a slight or an enemy." -Owen Deathstalker.

Re: Devnullmod
 

OK, it's posted. Use this thread to discuss errors, new features for 1.4, etc.

Download at http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/For...ML/000018.html

[This message has been edited by Devnullicus (edited 10 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

Just noticed that changing the Point Defense Mounting only increases the range at no extra cost http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif

Also, you have always listed 150kt for the size requirement on small mountings when you really have changed it for satellites and the like =)

looking good though http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon10.gif

Cant get enough.

------------------
DM Matryx
Author of Dominatio Cosmicum

Re: Devnullmod
 

Yow... HUGE mod. I'm very impressed. I think I might have to install this one.

If you ever do combine this with TDM I think we should lobby MM to make it part of an official patch.

------------------
"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so, Brain, but if they called them sad meals, kids wouldn't buy them.
"

Re: Devnullmod
 

Very nice Devnullicus,

I´ve played your Mod for four and a half hours straight. Awesome work.

Give this man a virtual beer ...

Re: Devnullmod
 

Pesonally I don't get why you are trying to get the Devnull and TDM mods put together. The TDMer's have always stated their goal is not to change the basic structure and tech trees of SEIV, just to tweak the ai to play smarter and to add some races not present in the basic game to give more variety and challange.

Devnull mod has a lot to offer, but it seems to me to have a different goal. From the begining he has been adding techs and lots of things that really change the way the game is played in some cases. This isn't bad at all, but it doesn't seem to me to be compatible with the TDM mod in principle.

Dev, if you are hoping that being part of the TDM mod will validate your work, I don't think you need that. Your work has many fans in the forums in its own right. It stands on its own as a wonderful piece of work with much to offer.

In my mind if, you put them together you will have the Devnull mod with TDM races and ai scripts. I'm not saying thats a bad thing, but it does eliminate what I thing is the TDM mods greatest asset.

I do hope that if the decision is made to incorporate the two together, the TDMer's will still maintain a seperate basic tech mod for those of us that want to have the option.

Geoschmo

Re: Devnullmod
 

I have really enjoyed playtesting devnullmod over the Last two weeks but agree that TDM and devnullmod should not be lumped together. I do feel strongly that devnull mod should be made compatable with the TDM modpack which is I think the current emphasis.

Re: Devnullmod
 

The only pain I found with having more than one mod was switching between them. Someone has posted a program in the mod section to allow you to choose which mod you will use. I haven't tried it, I'm still at work, but if it works as advertised my problem is solved http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Devnullmod
 

I do not want or intend to become a part of the TDM-ModPack. That is a separate mod and should remain so as their goals are much different than mine. I simply want to incorporate their good ideas into my mod for more enjoyable play.

There are three reasons I want to combine TDM-ModPack with DevnullMod, one of which is now invalid.

1) I really like what they've done with their AI for the standard races. It puts what I've done to shame, simply because their work is more well-rounded. I've mainly concentrated on tech, while they've modified every aspect of their races to be better. I admire their work and want my mod to be the best it can be, so therefore would like to have their standard racial AI in my mod so that it's better than what I currently have.

2) DevnullMod is, in many ways, an amalgamation of mods (including my own). When I see someone else's mod that I like the ideas, I want to include it. Partly though, this is because I'm trying to save myself some work -- if someone else has already done a good mod in an area, why should I redo their work? Since I put out DevnullMod 1.3 without TDM-ModPack, this reason is now invalid as I went ahead and re-did the files for the 4 standard races in TDM anyway.

3) I like the new races in TDM-ModPack and think it adds a lot to the game. Again, since DevnullMod is an amalgamation of many mods, I want to include other peoples' excellent work, and I think the new races are excellent work.

I do not feel like I need "validation" for my mod. The reason I do this mod at all is because I enjoy the process of creation. I don't even really >PLAY< SE4 all that much, really. I just like modding it =) I began this mod in the first place as a way to make the game more enjoyable for myself, but mainly to make the AI tough enough to be a little challenge. I think in this Version of the mod, I'm much closer to that than I was. In my current game, I'm actually seeing some really interesting things.

On turn 21, for example, I had the Cryslonites come at me with a fleet of 2 destroyers armed with ER Shard Cannon II's and Crystal Torpedoes. Pretty impressive for turn 21 for the AI, really. I still trounced them, but that's not the point -- the game is much harder than it was, and so I'm happier.

I'm going to continue tweaking the mod and for the next Version, I'm already planning some interesting new things -- new racial traits (I really like what Zippy has done with his Energy Race trait), new races that take advantage of combo-tech, and more combo-tech as well. I'll never really run out of ideas.

What I'm hoping is that this mod becomes accepted enough that I can get about 10 or so people to play via email with me =) But sine that hasn't happened yet, I'm working on the AI so that I can play solo and enjoy it.

Re: Devnullmod
 

BTW, I forgot to mention in the Readme for the mod Nerfman's invaluable help in testing this mod. He is the reason behind a number of the changes in mounts, etc this mod as well as the reason it has fewer bugs than it otherwise would have. I am rectifying my oversight now in the readme, but that doesn't fix the one that people already have. So I'm publicly thanking him for his help thus far and I hope that he'll continue to help me test new Versions in the future =)

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Matryx:
Just noticed that changing the Point Defense Mounting only increases the range at no extra cost http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, good thing it only works on bases and immovable things, eh? Would make ship PD a whole lot more deadly if it was allowed on ships. A great idea by Daynarr, actually. Helps defense bases a lot.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Matryx:
Also, you have always listed 150kt for the size requirement on small mountings when you really have changed it for satellites and the like =)
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oops, you're right. I just fixed it, though, so the descriptions should be good for next Version.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Thanks Lee, but I haven't done much, yet. I am toying around w/ some more ideas to send you. I will get them out to you later tonight.

Re: Devnullmod
 

BTW, Nerfman, my email has been real flaky lately =(. Did you get my reply to your list of questions? I re-sent it again, but never heard from you as to if you got it the second time around.

Re: Devnullmod
 

I got it both times, but the first time it wasn't complete. It was flaky alright, but all is cool now.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Q : I´ve build some fast couriers with eight quantumengines II and a solarsailII. The ship will not move more than seven fields instead sumthing above ten.

Is this ok ?

Very nice mod with some very interesting tech, btw. Highly recommended.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Excellent Mod, well worth the wait.
Your idea of combining PD and minesweeping got me thinking (a dangerous situation http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif). Combining items in this manner really helps the AI.
There seems to be some other ways to help the AI in this way. Adding solar supply generation to the solar sail seems to be a natural combo. So does supply storage and cargo capacity.
I would like to test these ideas with your mod but I don't know a lot about how the AI Design Creation file works.
Does anyone know how the game works when a Misc. Ability is called for in a ship design if there are two components with that ability, in addition to other abilities, which would the game choose?

[This message has been edited by Marty Ward (edited 12 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

Bluecher: not sure what's going on with that. The Last time I tried something like that, it worked fine and added the engine speed, engine bonus, and solar sail speeds together just like it should. But that was a while ago I tried that. I'll try it again as soon as I have a chance and try to fix it if I can.

Marty: The only advice I can give is to change the files and experiment =) The way I learned was to look at other people's changes to the files and I experimented a lot. If you do end up making some of those changes you talked about, though, I'd love it if you posted them so I could consider rolling them into the next Version of the mod. Your ideas sound interesting and I'd be interested to see how they balance.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Ok, I checked it again . In the design screen my fast courier has eight Q1 engines and one solarsail 2. Should move 13 , moves in reality 7 .

Ive attached the savegame, if you want to look into this. ( sno02.gam )

Re: Devnullmod
 

Dev,
I was checking out what the AI builds and noticed a few oddities that I thought I should mention. All occured with High Tech start.
HE mount weapons show no damage on certain type weapons. Must have to do with the reduced range of the HE mount and a normally short ranged weapon.
!!!! Shipyard ships/bases are being designed and built with two yard components and getting the benefit of both!!! How is this possible and why can't I do it with a planet???
Have seen an number of designs with tremendous amounts of shields/hardened shield generators and few (1-2) weapons. Don't know if this is done on purpose or not.
Have seen mines with armor (Cue Cappa).
The Taera and Serageti only build up to cruisers and space stations, nothing larger.
The Phong only build up to space station.
This appears to only effect their initial designs. After 40+ turns they seem to build the larger ships.
Love the mod. Will post any other things that seem odd here.



[This message has been edited by Marty Ward (edited 14 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Marty Ward (edited 14 May 2001).]



[This message has been edited by Marty Ward (edited 14 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

Dev, have you come out with one for 1.35 yet? I also run into my 1st range error I have no idea what turn for I hade to start it over and was a long time between saves. Keep up the great work http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Never mind I found it http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif

------------------
mottlee@gte.net
"Kill em all let God sort em out"

[This message has been edited by mottlee (edited 14 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

Marty: Thanks for the feedback! I'll look into these and let you know what I find. It's quite likely some of those are due to typos on my part (armor on MINES?? sheesh Bad Devnullicus, no biscuit). If I can fix them with minor typo fixes, I'll put out a minor Version update with the fixes. I don't usually test with high tech, so it's not surprising I miss some things like that.

Mottlee: Devnullmod 1.3 is for Version 1.35 of se4 =). If you get range check errors, see if you can post your save game to here, it's possible I can track down what file the error is in.

Bluecher: Not sure what is going on with your game. In my game, I've created a fast escort with quant engines, solar sail III and it moves 14, just like it should. I'll keep digging though, maybe it's specifically a problem with quantum II engines...


[This message has been edited by Devnullicus (edited 14 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Marty Ward:
The Taera and Serageti only build up to cruisers and space stations, nothing larger.
The Phong only build up to space station.
This appears to only effect their initial designs. After 40+ turns they seem to build the larger ships.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is a feature of original SE4 AI, not a bug. The idea is that the larger ships & bases are too expensive/time consuming to build in early stages of the game, so most of the AI have a line "max tonnage" or something like that. I think there's a total of 3 of these lines in each AI, the first two Lasting 20-40 turns each, and the Last one being the ultimate limit for that race.

Re: Devnullmod
 

I wonder if that feature could be used to give a variety of ship designs to the AI? Could the turns between the switch be lengthened or could more lines be added for example.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Well, these are the appropriate lines from "*_AI_Settings.txt":

Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 1 Amount := 510
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 1 Num Turns := 20
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 2 Amount := 610
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 2 Num Turns := 40
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 3 Amount := 0
Max Ship Size Tonnage From Start 3 Num Turns := 0

I assume the "0" entries in the "Start 3" lines mean unlimited (a standard established in other text files for SEIV).

I don't think you can change the number of start points, but it looks like you can change the turn limits and tonnage sizes...

Re: Devnullmod
 

Cool! Thanks for explaining what those lines mean.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Marty Ward wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Have seen an number of designs with tremendous amounts of shields/hardened shield generators and few (1-2) weapons. Don't know if this is done on purpose or not.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can you provide a specific race that was/is doing this? It will help me track it down. So far I haven't seen this (though I have seen the AI putting way too much PD on designs).

BTW, I'm working on an update to fix a lot of these kinds of bugs. Will hopefully be out in the next day or so.

Re: Devnullmod
 

One idea would be to give each race starting armor, kind ok like what you did w/ PD. I think the largest issue w/ the AI and PD is that they are trying to use the mini mounts as armor. Add another level of armor and give everyone armor I (make it like 30kT damage per space so that researching chemistry is still worth your while). Make armor II like 60kT or so [I hope these numbers are right - guessing off the top of my head from the office at lunch]. That way the computer will have crappy, but at least partially effective armor to use if it hasn't discovered Chem/Armor yet.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Want you to know Dev, that the cu cappa have used steller on me and it was cool.
They first came over to one of my good planets and destroyed it into an astroid field,excellant. Then a few turns later the announcement came that the cucappa had built a planet. Congradulations on a fine mod as this little baby is awesome.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Having a great time with this mod, a real challenge and loads of fun!
My mistake on the heavy shield/low weapon ship, it was the Cue Cappa attack repair ship. Thought it was a normal attack ship.
The HE mount range modifier in the ComponentEnhancement file is -4 and the description reads -1. I assume the modifier should be -1.
You may want to check out the Super dreadnaught boarding ships, all races. They have about 20 boarding parties on them. Is that how they are supposed to be?
I still don't understand how the AI is putting two spaceyard components on their ships. I would love to be able to figure that one out.


[This message has been edited by Marty Ward (edited 16 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Marty Ward:
Having a great time with this mod, a real challenge and loads of fun!
My mistake on the heavy shield/low weapon ship, it was the Cue Cappa attack repair ship. Thought it was a normal attack ship.
The HE mount range modifier in the ComponentEnhancement file is -4 and the description reads -1. I assume the modifier should be -1.
You may want to check out the Super dreadnaught boarding ships, all races. They have about 20 boarding parties on them. Is that how they are supposed to be?
I still don't understand how the AI is putting two spaceyard components on their ships. I would love to be able to figure that one out.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Glad you're having fun! So am I. I'm hard at work fixing all the balance problems though, especially with fighters =) The next mod should be out in a day or two and has totally reworked small weapons and how they interact with large ships. Fighters are now useful but not godlike..as they should be.

This next Version will mainly be a maintenance/bugfix Version intended to fix bugs and balance things. There's a few new things (new mounts), but mainly things are the same, just less buggy =)

BTW, the High Energy Focus Mount description is wrong. It should be -4 range. and 1250kT (not 1500 as the description says). oops.

I haven't seen any Superdreadnought boarding ships with 20 boarding parties. Sounds scary =) But it also sounds like a good challenge that the AI should be doing. Think about it this way. As a human player building a boarding ship, woulnd't YOU build a ship that had as many boarding parties as would fit? I would =) Efficient.

There is a definite bug in SE4, I've noticed where AI designs ignore the "One Per Vehicle" restriction. This is why AI ark ships still have 2 colony components (*SIGH*). Nonetheless, I forgot to put that restriction on shipyards in DevnullMod 1.3. This is fixed in Devnullmod 1.4. However, the AI will still ignore it until SE4 is fixed.

[This message has been edited by Devnullicus (edited 16 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

If you leave the HE modifier at -4 then some weapons will do no damage with the HE mount, their normal range is less than 4, Temporal Shifter for example. Some AI's use the HE Version of this as their main weapon, leaving the ship very under gunned.
Also I don't think a human player could even create a ship with two yard components on it, somehow you have overcome this restriction. I think that is great, just wish I knew how it happened!

[This message has been edited by Nitram Draw (edited 16 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Nitram Draw (edited 16 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bluecher:
Ok, I checked it again . In the design screen my fast courier has eight Q1 engines and one solarsail 2. Should move 13 , moves in reality 7 .

Ive attached the savegame, if you want to look into this. ( sno02.gam )<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Geeez, that's REALLY bizarre. Looking at your save game, you're totally correct -- they only move 7. They have 8 engines (quant I) and a solar sail II. The design says it moves 13, but when built, it only moves 7.

I've looked at the data in the files (Components.txt) and it looks fine. I tried building this same design in my own game and it works fine (move 13). [Edit: ok, I put crew quarters on -- I'm used to that =) ]. I'm completely stumped. =( Looks like an se4 bug, maybe?? No idea.



[This message has been edited by Devnullicus (edited 16 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

Ah, ok, problem solved. Sort of.

Apparently, the problem is the lack of crew quarters. Not sure why, but without crew quarters, the movement seems to be limited in fast couriers. I am looking into ways around this, but if I can't fix this, I guess I'll just have to require them to have crew quarters like all the other ships. Ah well. A good idea that SE4 shot down.

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I haven't seen any Superdreadnought boarding ships with 20 boarding parties. Sounds scary =) But it also sounds like a good challenge that the AI should be doing. Think about it this way. As a human player building a boarding ship, woulnd't YOU build a ship that had as many boarding parties as would fit? I would =) Efficient.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's not efficient, thats a waste of space.
ALL your boarding parties die after one attack, so you just have more components to repair later.
A much better idea would be to replace half of those BPs with shield regenerators.

Then, you can capture a ship, and your shields jump back up before you can get hurt, then you escape.

The only reason to have that many BPs is if some enemy ship had an equivalent number of security stations, but you can always blow up security stations with your main guns.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Ah, ok. Interesting. Having never used or been attacked by boarding parties, not sure how they work. I Will obviously have to playtest this. If this is a bad design, then expect to see it fixed at some point. If anyone has ideas on how to fix it, feel free to post them here.

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nitram Draw:
If you leave the HE modifier at -4 then some weapons will do no damage with the HE mount, their normal range is less than 4, Temporal Shifter for example. Some AI's use the HE Version of this as their main weapon, leaving the ship very under gunned.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmm, that is a definite problem. I think the way to solve that one is to change the design for races that use that weapon to have a special design for SD's that don't use that as their main weapon. I'll cogitate on that one for a bit and come up with a reasonable solution. I definitely like the short-range/high damage mount, though and want to keep it in the game.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Also I don't think a human player could even create a ship with two yard components on it, somehow you have overcome this restriction. I think that is great, just wish I knew how it happened!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did not do anything different that I know of in this area than in the regular SE4 files. I suspect that regular SE4 games have this same problem (bases with more than 1 shipyard), I just haven't tested it. The "One Per Vehicle" restriction definitely DOES work for humans and so we cannot design such ships. The AI designs, however, ignore this restriction, so far as I can tell =(

Re: Devnullmod
 

Version 1.31 is here!

Note: There's some pretty significant changes to components this Version, but I do not have time to update the AI
to use these changes. I will be updating the AI for these changes in Version 1.4 (as well as all the planned
new changes =) ). This Version is mainly intended for human vs. human play. Nonetheless, except for some
missile changes, the AI &gt;SHOULD&lt; need very little tweaking to do ok. Use these changes with the AI's at
your own risk, but the risk should be small. (How's that for slippery? =) )

Mods By Devnullicus:
-Reworked Small Weapons to do more reasonable damage. Fighters should not overwhelm ships in 1 hit any more.
Zeno42's Component Modder with the new feature of range/size/damage ration is an invaluable tool! Thanks Zeno!
-Reworked small weapons to be more equivalent to their large counterparts in number of weapons and tech levels
required.
-Decreased mini-point defense cannon damage to be more balanced with other PD weapons
-Put all missile types (external mount/heavy/sprint in their own weapon families so that AI could differentiate
between them and make better designs)
-Reorganized Components.txt a little more (I missed some weapons at the end Last time)
-Took off top two levels of armor/ablative armor. Too powerful.
-Changed cost of Pulsed mount to only be 150% instead of 200%
-Added some new mounts to Satellites, bases, and Weapon Platforms (ER, Pulsed, and High Energy Focus)
-BUGFIX: fixed description for High Energy Focus mount
-BUGFIX: Fixed description for Pulsed mount
-BUGFIX: Fixed descriptions for light mounts on satellites, weapon platforms, and bases so that they don't talk
about being only allowed on escorts or larger =)
-BUGFIX: Removed Armor "ability" from Mini Point-Defense Cannons as it was causing AI to make screwy designs
with way too much PD.
-BUGFIX: Ablative armor should only be available for larger ships (ship/sat/base)
-BUGFIX: Fixed Space Yards Components (Base and Ship) to have the restriction "One Per Vehicle". The AI
ignores this in it's designs (due to a bug in SE4, I think), but nonetheless, the restriction should
be there for when the bug gets fixed.
-BUGFIX: Fast Courier movement was limited if there were no crew quarters, so I made crew quarters a required component
of the vehicle. Raised the hull size to 210 kT to compensate.
-BUGFIX: Made Temporal Shipyards the Same Facility Family as Regular Shipyards and gave them higher roman numerals
so now space yards upgrade correctly when you research temporal shipyards.
-BUGFIX: CueCappa DesignCreation file was putting armor and shields on mines (?!)

Re: Devnullmod
 

May I ask why you see the ablative armor as too powerful?

It is quite tough in terms of hitpoints, up to 60% stronger than shields per KT, but they cost a lot, and take ages to repair.

Eg. Take a 4 shield BB/DN (160kt defence). gives 1400 shields. 1400 hp. of ablative armor takes up 100kT.
Looks good, BUT:
-armor can't regenerate during battle
-1400 hp armor takes 13 turns to repair with a repair bay III!
-armor dosen't come back between fights during the same turn!
-Costs 4x the price per KT!
-shields cost 0.47 minerals per hitpoint, while ablative armor V costs 5.7 minerals per hitpoint (12x the price of shields)

Also, the Ablative III's have roughly the same costs as the V's, but the provide fewer hitpoints.

The ablative armor is "one-shot survivability, at a price."

Ships with only ablative armor will not survive a second battle.
Ships with only shields might not survive the first battle.

[end rant]

Re: Devnullmod
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
May I ask why you see the ablative armor as too powerful?

It is quite tough in terms of hitpoints, up to 60% stronger than shields per KT, but they cost a lot, and take ages to repair.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, I vaguely remember changing the costs of the armor in my mod. I don't remember if I made it cheaper, but doing my own analysis (which I admit is basically off the top of my head and is mostly an intuitive grokking of the entire component list working together as a whole), the Ablative Armor seemed slightly too powerful at the upper levels. Besides which, it was the only armor that had 5 levels instead of 3.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Eg. Take a 4 shield BB/DN (160kt defence). gives 1400 shields. 1400 hp. of ablative armor takes up 100kT.
Looks good, BUT:
-armor can't regenerate during battle
-1400 hp armor takes 13 turns to repair with a repair bay III!
-armor dosen't come back between fights during the same turn!
-Costs 4x the price per KT!
-shields cost 0.47 minerals per hitpoint, while ablative armor V costs 5.7 minerals per hitpoint (12x the price of shields)

Also, the Ablative III's have roughly the same costs as the V's, but the provide fewer hitpoints.

The ablative armor is "one-shot survivability, at a price."

Ships with only ablative armor will not survive a second battle.
Ships with only shields might not survive the first battle.

[end rant]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

All of what you say I agree with. However, I still stand by my assessment that levels 4 and 5 were tougher than I wanted to put into my mod. *shrug* I'm sorry you don't like the change. It really isn't a personal attack on you so there's no reason to "rant" on me =) IMO, it's a very minor change.

------------------
How's my Programming? Call 1-800-DEV-NULL


[This message has been edited by Devnullicus (edited 17 May 2001).]

Re: Devnullmod
 

1...8...0...0...3..3..8..6..8..5..5!
*oh hold*
*answering machine*

Hi, I just wanted to call back and say everythings fine. If the ablative armor is weakened, you may consider merging two components to get 2kT, 24hitpoint segments, so the repair situation isn't quite so bad.
On the other hand, if you still see the armor as too tough, leave 'em 1kT each.

Keep on moddin' http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

*click*

Re: Devnullmod
 

Good news! I just heard back from the TDM-ModPack guys and they approved my mods for their races (with a few understandable caveats). So I'll be making up another update soon with the TDM-ModPack races included. Woo hoo! =)

Re: Devnullmod
 

Cool!

Re: Devnullmod
 

Thank you and the ModPack guys VERY much

Re: Devnullmod
 

Have you thought about modding the resource extraction facilities to store resources? The idea came up in a thread a few months ago. The suggestion was to allow extraction faciltiies, resupply depots, space ports, and space yards store resources. I've tried that in the Last few games I've played and it seems to help out the AI quite a bit. They don't run out of stored resources anywhere near as fast as they used which comes in handy when they run into upgrade cycles for their facilities.

Re: Devnullmod
 

What's the disadvantage of External Mt Missiles? They're quite powerful that small and not very expensive to research.

I don't know how armour actually works, but how about making the external missiles armour (hit first since they're OUTSIDE) and give them a negative damage resistance. I don't know if latter would work but it would simulate the explosion if the NUCLEAR WARHEADS would be hit.

Just my 2 cents, great Mod.

Re: Devnullmod
 

I think external missiles have a reload rate of 30. This means they can only fire one time per combat.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Glad you like the mod.

The disadvantage of ext mt missiles is that they can only fire once in a combat. Once they shoot, they're gone...and you're out of weapons (if that's all you armed with).

As for making them armor (along with other things as armor), I tried this for a while, but it turns out that this really screws up the AI designs. What happens is that it considers these things as "armor" when it designs ships and so you end up with designs that have no actual armor, but lots of wierd components like ext mt missiles or other things that weren't meant to be used like that. So I made them non-armor again and the AI is again designing good ships.

I actually really like that idea of resource storage combined with resource generation. I'll have to test it a bit and see how it works out balance wise. Maybe you'll see it in the next Version of my mod. Thanks for the idea!

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How's my Programming? Call 1-800-DEV-NULL

Re: Devnullmod
 

If you are playing against the computer and always resolve combat tactically, try this weapon systems out.

1st - Design a Small Satellite that is simply the computer plus 7 external mount missiles.

2nd - Load Each ship with at least a sat launcher and some cargo. Each pair (launcher plus cargo) costs 50 kT and can hold 2 sats and launch 1 a turn.

In combat, fly at the enemy and then discharge a satellite every turn. The end result is that in the space ot would take to launch 5 ext. mt. missiles you can now launch 14 missiles (7 missiles for two turns). Also, you can make up other POD type satellites. Make a few "Planet Buster" sats for extra help glassing worlds, or whatever. The only real drawback is the lack of movement of the pods. That is why one shot only weapons work good. You can launch the sat and then attack w/ it all in 1 turn.

Also, if you have to retreat for repairs, just drop off the POD satellites on a warppoint to hold the line while the fleet pulls back.

BTW another drawback w/ ext mt. missiles is the cost. A major planet w/ a shipyard can only make one of those PODs a turn while it mike make 6 or so of my regular satellites.

Re: Devnullmod
 

Sorry to be taking so long on the next patch, but my life has taken another 90 degree turn as I got promoted at work and our project was released and now we're suddenly busy again, so my gaming/modding time is about nil =) Anyway, at some point, I will continue modding. The good news, by the next time I put out a mod, it will be compatible with the next SE4 patch (which should be out) =)

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How's my Programming? Call 1-800-DEV-NULL