Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I posted this once before but I got no comments for it:

Temporal/Psychic: half the size and costs -> 20kT and 750/0/250
Hyper Optics: double the cost (3000/0/1000)
Gravitic sensor: no changes
Tachyon sensor: level 3 tachyon sensor scanning level from 4 to 5 -> the only sensor which see through the red system-wide storm. Level 5 scanner will also see mines though in their description says it prevents level 5 scans. Perhaps mines' cloaking should be rised.

Btw supply storage, ship training and one-resource bonus facilities should removed from unsorted issues.

What if the ship training facility is changed to system wide and only 1% per turn at every level? Only max training increases.

These are also posted before but I think they're ignored http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif If they're poor suggestions I'd like to even hear it.
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• <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">To hit modifiers to weapon description (one dummy-ability which describes the modifier)</font>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Citizen Databank Complex and System Citizen Databank: intelligence 1 for tech area required (when playing without intelligence those facilities won't appear then)</font>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Medical Lab: prevents level 1/3/5 plagues instead of 1/2/3
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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">EDIT: This message appeared to be my 200th post http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ July 30, 2003, 20:18: Message edited by: Asmala ]

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What about the mental singularity generater (MSG)? It is definitely the same type of weapon as those two.

And I still think the following mentioned earlier is a trivial change to help future AI's:
Add a second dummy ability to Resupply Depots to enable them to be called for in both a system wide capacity and a individual planet capacity.
Rollo, SJ, PvK, what do you think of this change?

[ July 30, 2003, 22:39: Message edited by: cybersol ]

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The best thing, IMO, is what I've done with Small Ships -- pick a mass that gets a 0% defense bonus/penalty -- let's say the Light Cruiser, at 400kT. Then decide what interfal of mass (50kT works) gets what % ECM modifier (5% or 10% might work).

So a 300kT Destroyer would get a +10% or +20% ECM bonus; a 500kT Cruiser would get -10% or -20%.

At the extreme ends, the Escort (150kT ... three mass incremetns underweight) gets a +15% to +30% defense bonus; the Dreadnought, at 1000kT, is 600kT "overweight", earnign it a -60% or -120% defense penalty, and the Baseship (at 1500kT) is 500kT evewn MORE overweight, giving it a -110% or -220% defense penalty.

The benefits of this are that it's intuitive and follows a pattern. The actual modifier per mass-increment can be altered for certain classes of ship (i.e., all transports may have a worse ECM modifier ... all carriers may have a better ECMmodifier than their mass might otherwise indicate ... etc).

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm sure you can call for resupply depots on any planet you feel like.

AFAIK:
1) The AI will automatically build one per system, guaranteed.
2) The AI will follow the build instructions for planets including any calls for resupply depots.

AI modders, what say you?

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

[quote]Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:

Quote:

...AFAIK: 1) The AI will automatically build one per system, guaranteed. 2) The AI will follow the build instructions for planets including any calls for resupply depots. AI modders, what say you?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">1) nope, only when called for
2) once a resupply is built, the AI will ignore further calls in this system

So yes, the AI treats Resupply Depots as a system wide ability. Not sure if it can be tricked into building more by adding a bogus ability. I never tried.
Which begs the question, cybersol: Why would you like to have the AI build more than one depot in a system? Just curious.

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Presently, you call for resupply depots with the ability "Supply Generation" in the AI_Construction_Facilities. It is the only ability Resupply Depots have in the unmodded game. It is a system wide ability, so that multiple calls on different planet types result in only one resupply depot per system. This is great for most planet types (mineral, farming, etc). But construction yard type planets that build and retrofit ships might want a resupply depot on the planet regardless of whether there is already a system wide one. For instance, as a human player I put resupply depots on planets that are likely to do engine retrofits. If you add another ability that does nothing to resupply depots, then you can call for that ability instead of "supply generation" to get additional resupply depots for construction yard type planets. For instance, this is possible in proportions mod because resupply depots have the additional ability "emergency resupply" that is not system wide. This change would help mostly because the AI does not handle resuply or retrofit very well in some cases (colony ships never resupply for instance, retrofit ion engine I to ion engine II, etc).

Hope this better explains what I was thinking.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">As I alluded to above, because the AI performs useless engine retrofits (and the occassional useful one) that leave the ships mostly stranded. Warships will limp to the nearest resupply depot and lose only a little time, but colony ships never resupply so they lose supply permenantly, limping across the galaxy trying to colonize. Currently, I add supply components, lots for colony ships, to get around this somewhat. It would still be nice to have the option to use a resupply depot on every planet with a shipyard, thus saving the component space for other things.

All around it was a minor frustation I ran into, much less annoying than the armor issue. It would be really great if the armor fix gets into wide public use. Have you suggested the armor fix to Mephisto for possible TDM inclusion as well? Back in the day it contained some minor data mods to help the AI (dummy research tech for instance).

[ July 30, 2003, 23:39: Message edited by: cybersol ]

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Personally I tend to put QR's on all my ships (I'm usually up to battleships or dreadnoughts by then anyway). I tried doing the 1-QR-per-fleet thing but my supply-pig Null-space Dreadnoughts would run dry during a combat intensive turn. I lost an entire fleet that way. There are disadvantages to trying to exploit the QR.

With the talisman-supersensors I meant that the AI cannot use multiple offensive sensors (only takes the best AFAIK). This gives the player an unfair advantage.

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">true, I think if the Talisman is going to be nerfed (something I do not like) and reduced to a supersensor, it would be good to give it the same component family number as Combat Sensors. It shouldn't stack then.

Rollo

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

Very well, just wanted to make sure.

Emergency Resupply sounds like an excellent choice for the ability, though.

Re: SE4 Stock Balance Mod
 

Summary
Unsorted Issues
- Fighters & Missiles too weak / PDC to powerful
- Climate Control Facilities too weak
- Medical Lab plague prevention effect too low
- Talisman too powerful
- Quantum Reactors too powerful
- PDC, PPB too powerful
- Torpedoes, Graviton Hellbore, Incinerator, too weak.
- Ship Training too powerful
- Not enough room for Weapon Platforms
- High level Intel ops too effective
- All of the new damage types not used
- Fighter Rocket pods -> Seekers?

Trivial Changes:
- Add redundant tech requirements to Standard armor allowing AIs to call for it in design creation.
- Reduce Price of Quantum reactor to benefit AI
- Separate Normal and Phased shields component family. (Split them in terms of "Show only latest" and the upgrade button)
- Add ability descriptions for weapon to-hit bonuses

Minor Changes:
- Smoothing of low level PPB improvements as below.
- Increase range of WMG & HEM to 10
- Improve efficiency of Supply Tanks relative to engines. (Decrease size? Increase storage?)

Moderate Changes:
- Make standard Training Facilities System-wide for the benefit of AIs. Psychic Trait Version trains 2/turn vs 1/turn for standard to keep it worthwhile.
- Scale up damage of ROF 2 weapons
- Increase Planetary shield strength by 5x
- Graviton Hellbore changed to Skip All Shields
- Double Effect of Shield Regenerators
- Individual resource bonus facilities 50% more powerful than all-in-one facilities.
- Small CS/ECM doubled in effect to keep up with ship-CS/ECM.
- Small accuracy bonus for torpedoes (~10%)
- Small accuracy penalty for PPB (~10%)

Suggestions of note:
- Phased Polaron Beam Average Adjustment
[b]</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Research Cost: 15k
Weapon Damage At Rng := 30 25 25 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weapon Damage At Rng := 35 30 30 25 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weapon Damage At Rng := 45 40 40 35 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weapon Damage At Rng := 50 45 45 40 40 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weapon Damage At Rng := 60 55 55 55 50 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0</pre><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[ July 31, 2003, 02:26: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]