Re: Balance Mod
 

I am 25 years into my first Balance Mod game. I have already completed all the Research, and was a little annoyed that I couldn't find a "scrap facility type" option in se5. I would favor certain cost increases for higher level techs, especially the way too cheap civic achievements and the progressive upgrades of the final techs of each branch (eg atmosphere converters levels 2+).

The one se5 change I'm most wanting has nothing to do with the Balance Mod... I would like a way to sort component lists and facility lists other than the first built order... maybe with a configurable order via a text file or from the empire screen.

The Balance Mod is a must! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Balance Mod
 

BTW, I think we all asked this question. Scrap Facilty = CTRL K (momentary brain loss.....is that correct?? lol)

Re: Balance Mod
 

Heh, I wanted to be able to scrap all my research facilities on all my colonies at once... like you could do in SEIV.

Re: Balance Mod
 

So why hasn't Aaron incorporated your Balance Mod into Stock SE V? Lets face it, no one plays stock SE V any more. Your mod is the only thing that really makes the game playable for any duration.

Re: Balance Mod
 

I bet it will come out after ver 1.49 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif just as ya see the [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/icon05.gif[/img]GOLD [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/icon05.gif[/img] ver comes out LOL

Re: Balance Mod
 

+

Legal issues, probably.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Will any of these improvements correct whatever problem there is in creating a sphere or ring world? I really, really want to create one, but in my 1.06 game, I never could find out the correct procedure to make one.

Re: Balance Mod
 

I haven't had the teck levels for a number of versions to create one, but you have to make sure there are enough of the right components, only one star in the system, and make sure there are no non component ships or colonies(and maybe even units)within 6 spaces of the sun.

:Edit:

I forgot to post this, and I don't know if it has been addressed, but in 1.07 I kept running into a problem with ground combat. If during the space combat, while troops are being deployed, a planet launched fighters, and at least one fighter was damaged to a point where it had no movement, but was undestroyed, during ground combat I would be unable to conquer the planet. It seems the fighter would be stored back on the planet after the space combat, but for whatever reason would not be there during ground combat, and if it has no movement it will not launch in subsequent space battles. The only solution I've found is to have ships bombard the planet, at the cost of my own troops, till the lone fighter is destroyed, in which case the planet immediately falls under my control without any further ground combat.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Find updated scripts here to fix AI Fighter Bomber designs with no weapons:
http://www.captainkwok.net/files/v108ScriptFix.zip

Note that it will take a bit of time for the race to replace their old fighter bombers.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Kwok I observed a strange problem in BM 1.07 with AI team mod:

Until stardate around 2012.0 the team mod seems to function as expected with no combats occuring (according to the red bars during turn processing) between AI empires. Every AI empire is at war with me. Now something changed as I observe several combats between AI's and if I control the treaties between them, they change almost every turn between "no treaty" and some kind of treaty. No war declaration between AI's but no treaty is of course enough to trigger combats. I am still at war with every AI empire.
Do you know how the AI team mod is suppose to work?
Is this something for MM to fix or something in BM?

Re: Balance Mod
 

I think what is happening is that they are becoming angry enough with each other so that they break their treaty but then next turn the scripts tell them to make a new treaty. What I need to do is make a condition for them not to break their treaty. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: Balance Mod
 

Exactly. I checked their mood against each other and it was all angry or murderous. They make a treaty, next turn they break the treaty, and another turn later they make a treaty again!
Would that change you intend to make be effective in an ongoing game??

Re: Balance Mod
 

I can provide you an AI patch for that later today.

Re: Balance Mod
 

That would be absolutely fabulous! Thank you very much Kwok.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Hot dog! I tend to play "team mode" games exclusively in single player, and run into this problem *all* the time. Any kind of patch to address this would be awesome!

Thanks, Kwok.

Re: Balance Mod
 

It turns out that I have conditions for team mode in place already for AIs in team mode not to break their treaty or declare war on each other. Might require a bit more investigation. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

If you can e-mail your saved game Q, it will help to troubleshoot.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Kwok I sent you the savegame by e-mail as the upload here didn't work.
Are you sure you already have the insruction not to break the treaty in your scrips?
I looked at the BM 1.05 Scrip_AI_Politic.txt (did you post somewhere the newer scrip versions?) and didn't find it. There are instructions to make treaties and not to to declare war, which seems to function, on AI team empires, but where is this instruction not to break treaties with AI empires?

Re: Balance Mod
 

The "break treaty" section was right after the "declare war" section. I've modified them all last night anyway to reduce the lines of script and it seems to be working correctly.

However, I've noticed from the save game that Hippocrates sent, a few errors with the AI's fleeting routine that I'm in the middle of fixing up. I should be able to post an updated set of scripts this afternoon.

Re: Balance Mod
 

I keep getting news reports of planets joining me due to my sabotage, but the planets are only forming new breakaway empires. Is this problem in stock se5 too?

Re: Balance Mod
 

There supposed to form new empires... so it's more of an error in the project description.

Is the race you're targeting much smaller? Are you finding it too easy to cause their planets to revolt? How many points are you using on intel versus this empire?

Re: Balance Mod
 

Sorry Kwok, if I repeat my question again but will your AI team mod patch be effective in an ongoing game or only for new games??

Wouldn't it be good if the anger level was also greatly influenced towards friendly by the AI team mod? As far as I understand the treaty elements are determined by the anger level and in the team mod a high level of cooperation treaty would be optimal.

Re: Balance Mod
 

The race is much smaller... I think my intel generation is over 500k. I stopped the sabotage because it was just too crippling to the AI... but oddly, the AI still successfully complete their own small intel projects against me with 70% of my points left to defense.

(Create Planet has failed twice on me during turn processing... I think the ship was left with zero movement points before the turn processing with just the create planet order left in the queue... it creates a planet but there is no planet afterward.)

Re: Balance Mod
 

Is leaky Intel maybe a bit too leaky?
I play a normal game and at least 4 or 5 intel projects break through my defense every turn.
This is a normal 1.08 game with all 13 empires known by me. My Intel points per turn are 3360, the other empires have 0, 0, 1220, 1230, 1360, 1770, 3050, 3180, 3515, 4655, 6420, 12265 points.

Is this by design?

Re: Balance Mod
 

If I do my turn in BM1.08 and our PBW game is BM1.06. What are the reprecussions of that?

My single player game is 1.08, but we are 1.06 PBW and i'm running only one copy of the game on my pc.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Actually, your game on PBW has been running 1.05. The version labelled on PBW as 1.05+ is still running 1.05. So if you've been ok using 1.06 and the server is running 1.05 it's possible that you using 1.08 when the server is using 1.05 will be ok too.

However, I'm loading 1.08 on the server soon, so it won't be a problem for long.

Geoschmo

Re: Balance Mod
 

wahoo on 1.08!

any ETA?

Re: Balance Mod
 

Yes, the mod is ready to go on PBW. You'll want to check with your game owner on the percise timing of upgrading in your game, but it's ready when he is.

Geoschmo

Re: Balance Mod
 

What exactly does it mean 'folder name 1.05+' for BM1.08? Is that anything I need to be concerned with as a game admin or as a player?

Thanks,

Javaslinger

Re: Balance Mod
 

It essentially means a game started in v1.05 on PBW can be upgraded to v1.08.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Kwok I took your AI Politics Script file from version 1.08 and inserted this under the break treaty section:

// Don't break our treaty with AI players if we are using AI team mode
if (Sys_Is_Game_Using_Teams()) then
if (Sys_Empire_Politics_Is_Player_On_Our_Team(sys_lon g_Player_ID, plr_index)) then
set new_msg_type := 0
endif
endif

Recompiled the AI main script cfs file and replaced the old ones with it.
To my great joy after two turns all 10 AI empires had again treaties with all other AI empires!

Re: Balance Mod
 

That's how I changed it as well. I had it setup if the player wasn't on our team to break the treaty, but it was being "overwritten" by another condition that followed, allowing for the treaty to be broken still.

Re: Balance Mod
 

excuse my ignorance, is it the mod or just another game bug that leaves me with half a dozen separate populations of conquered amon'krie on the same planet? What I would give for them to merge, at least eventually.

Re: Balance Mod
 

Are they under different flags?

Re: Balance Mod
 

They all seem to have my flag. Seven distinct groups of Amon'krie that are identical, as far as I can see. Early on I did sabotage the Amon'krie causing some of their planets to revolt, however, when I started conquering them there was only one breakaway empire left. The Amon'krie are now fully conquered, and I have been spreading them into my new systems.

Re: Balance Mod Updates
 

Greetings!

Just wanted to keep those interested informed of the upcoming plans for the Balance Mod.

I'm working on v1.09 to be released with the next SE:V patch. So far it's a few AI improvements and a couple of data file fixes. It should also be compatible with the German/French versions of SE:V, assuming that capacity is added by the patch.

After that, I'll be working on v1.10, which will definitely be a save-game and PBW breaking version. It will feature major AI updates (stellar manipulation usage, cloak usage, etc), a new set of override slots and whatever data file tweaks that are felt necessary. This version will likely be posted at the end of the summer since I'll be away most of July and will need a significant amount of time to test with the AI work.

If all goes well with v1.10 and there's no real issues with it then I'll consider it the final version for now. That will give me the time to work on the new Galaxy Mod.

Re: Balance Mod Updates
 

Kwok,

Can you add a new combat tactic for players and the AI to use. As you may have noticed I really love fighters in the game and I'm trying to get them to a good play level.

We need a combat order for Carriers to get them to behave better in combat. If you have them set to "Don't get hurt" they fly away from the fight launching fighters in a line of spreadout fighters making them VERY ineffective. If you have the carrier move towards the enemy it launches fighters in a manor it should having them arrive in a nice strong group together versus being vastly spreadout.

What I'm asking for is a combat order geared towards Carriers. The order needs to be rather simple:

• 1. Fly towards the enemy launching fighters.
  2. Once empty switch to "Don't get Hurt" and move away from the enemy.
  3. If you have a fighting carrier then just use one of the other orders for it.

The new order will be very useful for players and the AI.

Re: Balance Mod Updates
 

I actually was going to put a weapon on Carriers, which would allow them to use the Max Range Strategy without running away and launch their fighters in more of a "cloud". There's no real way to get the AI to launch as you have suggested that I know of.

Re: Balance Mod Updates
 

Kwok if you introduce such major changes in 1.10 with new AI activities like stellar manipulation, I would be prepared to at least one more version 1.11 to fix some imperfections you might discover after the public launch of 1.10 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif .

Re: Balance Mod Updates
 

Is this something we could ask Aaron about? Just a new option to check if cargo is empty. True/False.....if empty the ship retreats = True.

Re: Balance Mod Available for SE:V
 

What is the word on the next patch release date?

Re: Balance Mod Available for SE:V
 

I'd guess it would be the Monday before July 4th - but that's only a guess.

Re: Balance Mod Available for SE:V
 

Looking at your BM Tech Chart.

To steal Technology requires:

AS61 - Sabotage - Empire Wide
AS58(3)

Or is it the Espionage Empie Wide to steal tech?

Any certain level? or higher leveles equals higher chance?

what does: └[IP] Research Stolen (1:10) mean, especially the numbers in parenthesis.

Re: Balance Mod Available for SE:V
 

That tech area becomes available at level 3 in Intelligence Services. Improvements in the tech area will improve the efficiency of attack points for that area. The parenthesis with the range of levels shouldn't really be there since the projects themselves don't have levels, so I'll get rid of them for the next update. It's the intel area, such as Empire Wide - Espionage, that have actual levels. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Check the first page of the tech chart to see the format of the chart and explanations for abbreviations etc.

Re: Balance Mod
 

I thought for v1.10 that I would like to increase maintenance rates (back to original stock levels) to slightly curtail the mod's expansion rate and the amount of objects in play to improve general performance.

The current rates:
Ships: 25%
Units: 5%
Facilities: 5%

Proposed Rates:
Ships - 25%
Units - 10%
Facilities - 10%

A welcomed move?

Re: Balance Mod
 

I don't think that will slow down the expansion rate.

More efficient ways would IMO be:
- reduce research point generation
- reduce resource point generation
- increase colony module cost
- increase facility cost

But that is just my opinion.

Re: Balance Mod
 

How about colony resource consumption? Right now they consume very little in the way of resources.

Re: Balance Mod
 

It could slow down the expansion rates a little bit, but 1000 minerals/turn instead of 500/turn for a construction Yard won't make that much of a change.
(= still better than now?)

It will make a change after that though, when you build up the insfrastructure on your planets, satellites, weapon platforms and troops. So it should slow down the build up a little bit.
(= GOOD?)

I think it will help extensive empires a little bit, because the area (=productive planets) grows faster than radius (=system to put defenses into), and stationnary defenses will be more expensive.
(= BAD?)

It should help momentum (agressive) empires a little bit, since stationnary defenses will be more expensive to mantain.
(= GOOD?)

Also fighters will be more costly to maintain.
(= GOOD?)

Ressource bonuses and techs, reduced maintenance will become more important.
(= GOOD?)

I fear it will make the mineral planets more important, thus expansion could become even more important!
(= VERY BAD!)

Re: Balance Mod
 

Add a maintenance modifier that increases with empire size (whether it be number of planets, number of units, etc) making items more expensive for larger empires (simulating an increase in bureaucratic inefficiency or corruption). That could slow down expansion for larger players.

Re: Balance Mod
 

That would make the problem even worse... you'll want to get more planets to compensate.

Re: Balance Mod
 

That would be great! Could that be modded?