Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

You are missing the whole point. It shouldn't have to be modded in.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

I've requested several times that fields for default repair rates for planets be added into settings.txt... but a few more e-mails from other players might help get it added faster.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Thanks, and you're right. It is just so frustrating because I have sent numerous emails about fundamental things and there is no evidence that the emails are even read, much less considered.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Slick said:
"You are missing the whole point. It shouldn't have to be modded in."

See, the problem is that one will never be satisfied with the stock data set, because there are always more stupidities to uncover.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Yes. So, SEV was released 10 months ago; where are all the mods? SEV is the most moddable game I have ever seen and there were numerous people, myself not included, that screamed to have MM make every aspect of the game moddable. So where are the AI mods? Where is TDM? Where is Devnull? Where is Pirates & Nomads? The MM SEV mod website is empty, but promises "Coming Soon". 10 months go by and the most significant mod, Balance Mod, exists mostly to balance the game the way it should have been in the first place. I'm deeply sorry if this offends anyone and I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but it appears to me that making the game so moddable, at the expense of making the game better has yielded only a handful of mods, most of which only change a handful of moddable things. I'm not slamming mods or modders, but it seems to be a waste of effort to me. For each moddable parameter, the game engine has to be able to handle a wide range of different things, there has to be error checking, etc. It seems that this effort would have been better spent on MM just deciding how the game should be and tweaking it to make it work well. After 4 previous versions of SE, MM is surely able to choose wisely.

Yes, since nobody is satisfied with the stock set because of stupidities, where are all the mods to address these? Are we to suddenly expect a mod explosion in the next 10 months? I hopefully await.

For the record, I was happy with the SEIV stock data set with the exception of the crappy AI, which TDM solved.

p.s. Thanks, Kwok for making BM. It sure makes SEV better.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Stock SE4 is pretty terrible in terms of balance, creativity and general sense-making (balance naturally being the greatest concern). It was pretty much a bad conversion of SE3's data, with some new items added here and there.

The MM mod site will probably always be empty. I'd rather keep the Wiki up to date, personally.

For the most part, the mods are posted and discussed on the se5.com site, rather than here. A few of the old guard try to keep Shrapnel in the loop, but all of the new people are over there. There is a stock game AI mod. There are a few mods of the "Devnull" tweak stock and add a few things variety, etc. There is a BSG mod in development, and some talk of a SW mod (though I don't think any real progress has been made on that front). P&N would be pretty boring to reimplement, which is why I suspect noone has really done it yet for SE5. The amount of mods available seems to dwarf what was around 10 months after the release of SE4 (largely due to a much larger initial install base, but still).

Honestly, I doubt Aaron would have given more care to the stock data set if the game wasn't made so moddable. Its not like it takes any extra effort to mathematically balance weapons et all from the get-go. I think he would have just spent more time on the graphics engine.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Slick, you very much have a point. SE4 was an enjoyable game for me right from the start but with an AI that needed some work. So I set down and worked on the AI.
I don't enjoy SE5 however and therefore I don't invest my rare spare time to improve the AI which is now possible on a deeper level. If I would enjoy SE5 as a game you would have seen TDM for SE5 month ago. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

Maybe you're too accustomed with SE4?
SE4 had several features I couldn't stand right from the start, like watching 50 ships fire and move one after another, or no construction spillover to the next turn (while in the early game, the most critical part, you're limited by construction rate, not ressources!). I didn't try any mods, but it's not like they could have solved those problems...

On the other hand, I didn't have any of those show-stopping problems with SEV. It might not be enjoyable right from the start (in singleplayer) now (due to the brain-dead AI) , but I wouldn't bet on that it still won't be by version 1.95!

I also find there's plenty of mods for SEV (more than I have the time to try anyway), even if it's a shame that the progress has slowed down in the past few months for some of them.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

I really don't need to make my point any clearer, but I will. See the "wish list" thread for all the modding requests:

Tell Aaron what's on your wish list

Then show us all where these are all being used in mods.

Re: Some random SE:V questions
 

The features that were actually implemented from that thread are in use. I'm not going to waste my time trying to point out exactly where; the mods speak for themselves.

The stock data set should have been better, yes. But we could only prod Aaron to do it so much during the development of the game...