Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Tested & working
-Heavy shield Generators
weighing in at 200kT, these monsters put out up to 2500 phased shield points. Designed for Capital ships and bases.

-Large Planetary Shields
Sufficient research into shields allwos you to duplicate the wonders of the ancient civilizations with your own (but not quite as strong) Planetary Shield Generators.

-Hardened Bulkheads
Weaving armor into the walls and deck plating allows your ship to resist and contain internal damage better. The protection factor is directly proportional to your budget http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Our new "H.B." technology allows you to build a most excellent "Flagship" design. With as much extra internal strength as you desire, you can take an incredible beating before system failures become critical enough to endanger the Elite crew of your personal ship. This stuff even works against null-space weapons!
If you like this, try our next-generation HB, which resists shield disruptors and tachyon cannons!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 20 April 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I don't know if there is another reason but of all the threads on this board, this one takes the longest to load and to post a reply to. I just assumed it was due to the length of the thread.

[This message has been edited by Nitram Draw (edited 20 April 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Well, most of the threads around here are less than 15 Posts, and so they don't even fill up one full page. They would naturally load faster.

I would think that even a fresh thread would fill up and get just as slow as this in no time.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Because it takes me forever to find things buried back in the thread and my slow box doesn't help much either.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

A Summary of Changes in P&N V1.3
(vs. official SE4)

CompEnhancement
-Mod: Large/Heavy/Massive platform mounts add +1/+2/+3 range.
-New: Sattelite Siege Mount. 2x size, 1.5x damage, 5x cost, range +5, large sats only.

Components
-Mod: Rock/Ice/Gas colony modules require the "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Space Yard I/II/III require the "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Armor I/II/III provides 30/40/50 hitpoints.
-Mod: Emissive Armor I/II/III provides 100/110/120 hitpoints.
-Mod: Shields. Big changes.
"normal" shield generators provide the amount of hitpoints that "phased" shields used to. Normal shields are now only on odd tech levels, 1/3/5/7/9. Phased shields are available on even tech levels, and provide slightly more hitpoints than the previous normal (at techs 2/4/6/8/10). Normal and phased Shield generators I/II/III/IV/V provide 1/2/3/4/5 points of shield regeneration.
-Mod: Shield Regenerators. Available on even tech levels. Provide bonus shield points equivalent to one turn of regeneration.
eg. SRI gives 5 pts regen, now gives 5pts extra shields too.
-Mod: Supply storage reduced in size to 5kT, since engines store the same amount of supplies at 10kT.
-Mod: Small emissive armor I: provides 14 hitpoints.
-Add: Small emissive armor II: provides 20 hitpoints at armor tech lev 6
-Mod: Small shield generators: regenerate 10% of their max strength per turn.
(Unit shield regen is not currently supported by SE4, but when it is, this will start working)
-Mod: Point defence cannons have approx. 50% range, but slightly higher damage.
-Add: Point defence lasers equivalent to PDC, but have full range (upto 8) and approx. 50% damage.
-Mod: WaveMotionGun I/II/III has range boosted to 8/10/11
-Mod: Allegiance subverters require the "Normal" racial trait.
-Mod: Kamikaze warhead I/II/III do 60/120/180 damage.
-Add: Ablative Armor I/II/III/IV/V. 1kT, 8/10/12/13/14 hitpoints. Available for all vehicle types.
-Add: Machine Shop I/II. repairs one component per turn, 40/20 kT size.
-Add: Small space yard. Requires "Nomadic" or "Pirate" racial traits. Repairs one component/turn, builds with 300 resources/turn. 100kT size.
-Add: Tachyon Dampener. 30Kt, 100 hitpoints. Will absorb a fraction of weapon-destroying attacks.
-Add: Swashbucklers. Requires "Pirate" racial tech. 20kT, provides 12 boarding attack power. (note that one crew quarters provides 16 defence-destroy it or use two swashbuckler comps.)
-Add: Swashbuckler Pod. same as above, but 10kT, and available on fighters for "Pirate" or "Nomadic" racial techs.
-Add: Mineral Crystallizer, Hydroponics bay, radioactives collider. These are add-on facilities for the "Nomad" tech resource-generating ships and bases.
-Add: Supply storage I. 1kT, stores 100 supplies, available on fighters.
-Add: Quantum reactor. 20kT, available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Tachyon sensors I/II/III. 40kT, available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Small armor I/II/III. provides 4/5/6 hitpoints.
-Add: Solar Collectors I/II/III. provides 50/100/150 supplies per turn. 20kT. Available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Reduced solar sail. 12kT. provides 1 bonus movement. Available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech. No other tech requirement.
-Add: Small solar sail I/II/III. 5kT, provides 1/2/3 bonus movement. Available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" Racial tech.
-Add: Small Null-Space projector. 5kT, 4 damage at range 1, 4 reload, available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" tech.
-Add: Space Yard. 200kT, repairs 5 per turn, builds with 2000 resources per turn. Requires "Nomadic" Racial Tech.
-Add: Reduced Shield Generator I/II/III. 10kT, provides 25/50/75 shield points, regenerates 2/4/6 points/turn. Provides 30/40/50 armor points. Requires shield tech level 3/6/9. Requires Armor tech 3/5/7.
-Add: Reduced Shield Regenerator I/II/III. 5kT, regenerates 2/3/4 points per turn. Requires shield tech level 5/7/10.
-Add: Heavy Shield Generator I/II/III. 200kT. generates 1500/2000/2500 shield points. Regenerates 50/75/100 points per turn. Requires shield tech level 11/12/13.
-Add: Hardened Bulkheads I/II/III. zerokT. Provides 25/30/35 hitpoints. Non-armor. Protects against (A)/(A)(S)/(A)(S)(W),
Where A=armor penetrators, S=shield destroyers, and W=weapon destroyers.

Facility
-Mod: (Mineral,organic,radioactive generators) I/II/III. Stores 1000/1250/1500 resources. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Monolith facility I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Research Facility I/II/III. Requires "Normal" or"Nomad" racial tech.
-Mod: Intelligence Facil I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Gestation Vats I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Replicant Center I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Space Yard Facility I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Add: Massive planetary shield generator I/II/III. Requires ruin tech "MPSG". Requires shield tech lev 3/6/9. Provides 20K/50K/75K shield points. Very expensive.
-Mod: Temporal Space yard. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Solar Generator I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Add: Pirate's Intelligence Center. Provides 1000 intel points. Requires "Pirate" racial tech.
-Add: Slave Labour Camp. Generates 100 each resource (per star). Requires "Pirate" Racial tech.
-Add: Research Center. Generates 200 research points. Requires "Pirate" racial tech.
-Add: Space Yard Facility. Repairs 5 comps per turn, builds with 1000 resources per turn. Requires "Pirate" or "Nomad" racial techs.
-Add: Large Planetary Shield Generator I/II/III. Provides 5K/20K/50K. Requires shield tech level 14/15/16.

IntelProjects
-Mod: All offensive intel projects require "Normal" racial trait. Pirates & nomads only use defensive. Exceptions: Resource & tech theft.

Racial Traits
-Add: "Normal" racial tech. Allows colony ships, planet-based resource extractors.
-Add: "Pirate" racial tech. Allows access to specialty pirate techs.
a race with low maintenance is highly reccommended if you choose this.
-Add: "Nomadic" racial tech. Allows access to Nomadic techs.

Settings
Max systems = 255
Minimum resource generation = 500
planet percent value loss after death = 30
resource aptitude minimum percent = 25
maximum units/ships per sector = 10,000
maximum units/ships per player = 10,000

TechArea
Armor maximum level = 11
Shields maximum level = 16
"Normal", "Pirate", "Nomadic" tech areas

VehicleSize
-Add: Resource Base. Generates resources each turn. Production can be boosted with plug-in components. 600kT. +60% chance of being hit. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Resource Ship. Generates resources each turn. Production can be boosted with plug-in components. 300kT. Has a +50% chance of being hit. Requires "Nomadic" Racial tech.
-Add: Medium/Large/Heavy/Massive fighter. Size of 20/25/35/50 kT. Massive fighter requires 2 engines per move. Heavy/Massive have unlimited # of engines. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.

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

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 21 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 22 April 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

BUG FIX!!!

The resource plugins & resource ships/bases for Nomads were only operating at 25% of what they should have been, due to me forgetting about the 25% maintenance factor. This has now been fixed.

Thanks go to Kalashnikov for the discovery.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Installation:
1) Create a modfolder within your SE4 folder.
2) unzip "Pirates&NomadsV1.4.zip" into the modfolder
3) unzip "Nomad Race EMPs.zip" into your "SE4\Empires" folder
4) Change your "path.txt" to point to your modfolder
5) When creating a new game, add existing empire, and only select empires saved under this mod.
5b) Edit empires to be sure they are under computer control & using their own minister style.
5c) When creating your own race, choose one of "Regular", "Pirate" or "Nomadic".
If you choose "Pirate", also select characteristics of -9% reproduction, -50% environment resist, -50% trade, and -50% physical strength (ground combat).
These characteristics will ensure you have a truly "piratey" adventure


To get more races to play with:
1) start a new game with many randomly generated empires (no neutrals)
2) set all players to human control, and save them to disk.
3) start a new game, use "add existing empires" to load the races you saved.
4) edit each saved race, and add the Advanced Trait "Regular"
5) Save the race again.
6) Post all your Nomads-enabled races to this message board!

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 23 April 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Installation:
1) Create a modfolder within your SE4 folder.
2) unzip "Pirates&NomadsV1.5.zip" into the modfolder
2b) If you are starting a new game, and not resuming a game from P&N V1.4, replace "Components.txt" with "Pretty Components.txt"
If you want to resume savegames from V1.4, use the default "components.txt" provided, or replace it with "Compatible Components.txt"
3) unzip "Nomad Race EMPs.zip" into your "SE4\Empires" folder
4) Change your "path.txt" to point to your modfolder
5) When creating a new game, add existing empire, and only select empires saved under this mod.
5b) Edit empires to be sure they are under computer control & using their own minister style.
5c) When creating your own race, choose one of "Regular", "Pirate" or "Nomadic".
If you choose "Pirate", also select characteristics of -9% reproduction, -50% environment resist, -50% trade, and -50% physical strength (ground combat).
These characteristics will ensure you have a truly "piratey" adventure

To get more races to play with:
1) start a new game with many randomly generated empires (no neutrals)
2) set all players to human control, and save them to disk.
3) start a new game, use "add existing empires" to load the races you saved.
4) edit each saved race, and add the Advanced Trait "Regular"
5) Save the race again.
6) Post all your Nomads-enabled races to this message board!

Changes in this Version
-Two components files, one compatible with previous Versions of P&N, the other with neatly organized components.
-CSM's now described as "chaped-charge chemical warheads"
-Heavy Bombardment Missiles (same as CSM) have nuclear warheads, and cause quad damage to shields from the EMP. They are double size, and have quad strength seekers.
-Added "crossover" techs which require two racial tech areas. Every 2-trait combination is here http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.
-Added Pirate Hoard facil which stores enourmous amounts of resources.

Changes in this Patch
-Rebalanced the Hardened Mini-shield generators, so they more closely follow the shield & armor development.
-New Comp Enhancements. There are Cheap, Budget, Durable, Premium components. For non-weapons only, they affect hitpoints based on how much you want to spend for each part.
-Bugfix for the crossover techs.
-Replaced "Cheap" components with "normal"... the really low hitpoint stuff was getting hit Last, and that really screwed things up. The AIs will use normal internal components on their ships.
[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 25 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 26 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 26 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 26 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 03 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 03 May 2001).]


[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 13 May 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Installation:
1) Create a modfolder within your SE4 folder.
2) unzip "Pirates&NomadsV1.6.zip" into the modfolder
3) unzip "Nomad Race EMPs.zip" into your "SE4\Empires" folder
4) Change your "path.txt" to point to your new modfolder
5) When creating a new game, add existing empire, and only select empires saved under or provided with this mod.
5b) Edit empires to be sure they are under computer control & using their own minister style.
5c) When creating your own race, choose one of "Regular", "Pirate" or "Nomadic".
If you choose "Pirate", also select characteristics of -9% reproduction, -50% environment resist, -50% trade, and -50% physical strength (ground combat).
These characteristics will ensure you have a truly "piratey" adventure

To get more races to play with:
1) start a new game with many randomly generated empires (no neutrals)
2) set all players to human control, and save them to disk.
3) start a new game, use "add existing empires" to load the races you saved.
4) edit each saved race, and add the Advanced Trait "Regular"
5) Save the race again.
6) Post all your Nomads-enabled races to this message board!

Changes In This Version
-Savegames are not compatible with previous Versions of P&N
-Hardened mini shields have be adjusted again, with the higher levels having reduced shield regeneration abilities.
-Minor edits for typos.
-Components have been rearranged so they fit together better.
-Drop pods are now only available to races that have both organic and religious, since other races cannot make good (non-abusive) use of the pod.
-Solar Sails are now available in a "Solo" model, which does not require any normal engines to move your ship. There is a bug in SE4, which means that "normal" solar sails give zero movement if there are no engines aboard, the "Solo" sails get around this.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Hey just downloaded your mod, found a big error you might want to look at: you have three for the number of tech needed for drop pod but no third tech listed.

Also when I begin a game I get numerous other errors when I tried to let the computer auto generate players. Also I've got several good ideas for new components, if you interested E-Mail me: Zeroadunn@hotmail.com

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Also when I begin a game I get numerous other errors when I tried to let the computer auto generate players. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Sorry. The randomly generated AIs do not work. They need to have the racial trait "Normal", or they end up acting like one-planet neutrals.
To fix this problem, players would have to download completely new AIs, and I don't want to have to do that.
I am creating an AI patcher program to deal with the new propusion system in P&N v2.0, so I might as well have it patch the racial trait choices too.

That is why I included the EMPs for races, which includes that racial trait. I believe I fixed that drop pod bug already, but I'll check.
And any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

------------------
The latest Pirates & Nomads.
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 02 July 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I just started to try your mod.
Good work it’s a new interesting way of playing even for an experienced player.
For my first game I used a nomad race, this negative maintenance was disconcerting at first, but then I realized that the negative values in maintenance cost in the empire status window meant they were actually subtracting a negative number, what is to add.
I took explored with my fist small space yard frigate until I found a nice nebulae system. Then I went to a quiet corner and just started to built a lot of resource ships and stations. Now I have a good number of them, have explored a little and contacted some friendly empires and made treaties so they share some of their research points with me. I’m starting to assemble a fleet of light cruisers and light carriers (I’ve seen other empires using battle cruisers by now).
Aren’t nomads too powerful?
I don’t see why I can’t go on building more and more resource bases there, so in time I will have access to unlimited resources. I believe that in the long run, even if I still have primitive tech I’ll be able outnumber and easily defeat any “normal” empire while my hidden production bases will never be attacked.

On another note, why don’t you post the complete mod tree, that is the directory, the path.txt and all directories inside including data, savegame and empires (to be able to save them without mixing them with the default game ones), and even a pictures\races and pictures\raceneutral (these cannot be added manually) and put modified AI files there. Adding the “regular” race advantage isn’t too difficult, I vote for adding all 20 original races and 6 original neutrals + a few custom races if you want.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>For my first game I used a nomad race, this negative maintenance was disconcerting at first, but then I realized that the negative values in maintenance cost in the empire status window meant they were actually subtracting a negative number, what is to add.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Was this under SE4 v1.45? MM changed some of the hardcode regarding maintenance, so I was a little worried about the nomads.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Aren’t nomads too powerful?
I don’t see why I can’t go on building more and more resource bases there, so in time I will have access to unlimited resources. I believe that in the long run, even if I still have primitive tech I’ll be able outnumber and easily defeat any “normal” empire while my hidden production bases will never be attacked.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Against AIs, you are not at all likely to be attacked militarily. You may become the victim of AI intel attacks, though.
Against a human player, you will find that the nebula you're hiding in may suddenly become a black hole http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>On another note, why don’t you post the complete mod tree, that is the directory, the path.txt and all directories inside including data, savegame and empires (to be able to save them without mixing them with the default game ones)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I didn't realize that the savegame & Empires folders would work that way.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>pictures\races and pictures\raceneutral (these cannot be added manually) and put modified AI files there<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Any idea why you can't just right-click and say "newfolder"? It should be easy to add. Perhaps I will make a P&N v1.7 to include all of these suggestions in a Version without the extreme changes to the game that v2 has...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I believe I fixed that drop pod bug already, but I'll check.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I guess I'll just have to upload the zip file again.

------------------
The latest Pirates & Nomads.
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
Was this under SE4 v1.45? MM changed some of the hardcode regarding maintenance, so I was a little worried about the nomads. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

v1.41, unless there's a new patch or you're a beta tester, that's Last Version

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:

Against AIs, you are not at all likely to be attacked militarily. You may become the victim of AI intel attacks, though.
Against a human player, you will find that the nebula you're hiding in may suddenly become a black hole http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm playing against the AI, but that sounds like a good strategy.

[This message has been edited by Andrés Lescano (edited 06 July 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Andrés Lescano (edited 06 July 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>v1.41, unless there's a new patch or you're a beta tester, that's Last Version<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Oops. you're right. Did the Nomads work properly for you under the latest public patch (1.41)?

------------------
The latest Pirates & Nomads.
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Installation:
1) Create a modfolder within your SE4 folder.
2) extract "Pirates&NomadsV2.0.zip" into the modfolder
3) Change your "path.txt" to point to your new modfolder
4) When creating your own race, choose one of "Regular", "Pirate" or "Nomadic".
If you choose "Pirate", also select characteristics of -9% reproduction, -50% environment resist, -50% trade, and -50% physical strength (ground combat).
These characteristics will ensure you have a truly "piratey" adventure!

EMPs
I haven't created any EMPs for the AIs yet, you'll just have to start random games and save the empires yourself.

Those with Modded AIs
A few clicks of my AI patcher can get your race working with P&N v2, even v1, or the original Pirates Mod (no nomads).
You'll naturally want to tweak it, but the patcher can save you the boring work.

Notes
- Big changes to propulsion, folks... keep a close eye on the speed readout as you design your ships, or you may get a nasty surprise when you try to move your ship! Bigger ships require more engines to move.
- Relating to the above, radioactives are now just as important as minerals, and organic races make use of all three fairly equally.
- Again relating to the propulsion thing, Solar Sails now provide standard movement, not bonus. They are somewhat slower than engines, but they do not waste any supplies. You can make sailing ships go pretty much as fast as you want, at the expense of usefulness.
- Phased Weapons have changed bigtime! Researching phased weapons will get you nothing on its own. Research energy pulse, torpedos, and/or missiles to get phased firepower.
- Accuracy bonuses for weapons are now shown as an ability!
- "Living ships" racial trait gives you new command & control components.
- Phased planetary shields are back! V1.41 P-MPSGs worked! Unfortunately, I couldn't get them to regenerate.
- Mine warheads come in come new types, including Ion, Tachyon, and Null-space!
- Mental Singularity generator now has a Quad2shields damage type.
- Ramming warheads have a Quad2Shields damage type.
- BattleMoons!!! What would you do with 10MT of space? Conveniently impervious to allegiance subverters (but not Boarding Parties), and the size of a small moon. Core mounts for this beast increas a weapon's size 50 times! Ever wanted to see a deathstar-style beam blow away a planet? Try a Core-Mount WaveMotionGun! WOooOOM! 11,000 damage to your target! Heehee http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Massive mount guns seem SO wussy now.
Bwa hahaaha!.
Do watch out for the loan sharks, cause one of these will cost you a fortune in addons.
At least the shipyard worker's union will be happy about a 5-year guarantee of job security http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.
- Whew! Also, there are a lot of goodies that have shown up not-so-recently, and were included in P&N v1.6, such as crossover racial techs. Take two or more at the same time, and get extra cool stuff!

If you find any bugs, please mention them in these forums, and I'll get squashin'.

Enjoy! - Nick Dumas

------------------
The latest Pirates & Nomads.
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
-BattleMoons!!! What would you do with 10MT of space? Conveniently impervious to allegiance subverters (but not Boarding Parties), and the size of a small moon. Core mounts for this beast increas a weapon's size 50 times! Ever wanted to see a deathstar-style beam blow away a planet? Try a Core-Mount WaveMotionGun! WOooOOM! 11,000 damage to your target! Heehee http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Massive mount guns seem SO wussy now.
Nick Dumas
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmmmm.... I wonder if you can put Ringworld & Sphereworld components in those battlemoons... might be nice to build that stuff at a planetary shipyard & then move to an appropriate star...

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Well, yes. Yes you could. You could put 4 ring/sphere components on the moon, and still have enough space for engines to move (400Kt). You end up with 1600Kt to put towards shields or cloaking or whatever.

It would be just a tad expensive though, and you lose the battlemoon when you finish the ringworld/dyson sphere.

------------------
The latest Pirates & Nomads.
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Easy to Use AI Patcher for any of SJ's mods&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Are we all quite happy to be in a post that's this big? Yes, no? probably.

Anyway, I'm about to test out this mod, :-d
If I like it, can I host it? I'll probably write a nice review too. . .

- John http://universalshipyards.tripod.com

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Are we all quite happy to be in a post that's this big? Yes, no? probably.

Anyway, I'm about to test out this mod, :-d
If I like it, can I host it? I'll probably write a nice review too. . .

- John http://universalshipyards.tripod.com

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

"Welcome back, my friends,
To the thread that never ends..."

------------------
Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Bugggggggs, Squishy Bugs. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon9.gif

All tech on, neutral players, 5000 RPoints, Nomads, Religous, 5 Planets.

Froze up the gaem when you press end turn, and click comfirm: Player 2 Taking turn, 30 secs later, cntrl+alt+delete SE4 not responding.

HBUM had a similar prob, Identical infact. Hadrian took out the Nanobots, and it started working again.


Hmmmm! Help, please?

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

What do you know about player two? Are they a neutral?

I neglected to patch the neutrals, and they might be sitting there with nothing to do.

Try using the AIPatcher on the neutrals and see it it helps.

On the other hand, I've had my 1Ghz machine grind away on an AI turn long enough that I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but the AI finished just as I hit the button, and I continued playing.
Try giving it a minute or two, and you should be aware that the "not responding" message only means that the program has not refreshed its screen in the Last 30 to 60 seconds, not that it has actually hung up.
Since SE4 only draws on the screen between AIs, a long AI turn can easily trigger the "not responding" tag.

Please post a description of the state of player two on the turn before (a save game would help too).

------------------
The latest Pirates & Nomads.
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Easy to Use AI Patcher for any of SJ's mods&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I do not know about your mod, but on my map9a by turn 25 or so my ancient race with religious, organic, crystalline can take 3 to 5 minutes just upgrading all designs and deciding what 6 planets to colonize next....

[This message has been edited by LCC (edited 10 July 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I don't have a savegame, because it crashed the game. I'll do some testing though, and see if I get the same problem.

If it is merely the computer taking too long, then isn't actually good enough. A game as 'simple' as SE4 shouldn't take more then a minute per turn, let alone 5 minutes, or 20 minutes on slower machines, or whatever.

Try patching the Neutral AI then, it'd be apreciated.

- John.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I don't have a savegame, because it crashed the game. I'll do some testing though, and see if I get the same problem.

If it is merely the computer taking too long, then isn't actually good enough. A game as 'simple' as SE4 shouldn't take more then a minute per turn, let alone 5 minutes, or 20 minutes on slower machines, or whatever.

Try patching the Neutral AI then, it'd be apreciated.

- John.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I don't have a savegame, because it crashed the game. I'll do some testing though, and see if I get the same problem.

If it is merely the computer taking too long, then isn't actually good enough. A game as 'simple' as SE4 shouldn't take more then a minute per turn, let alone 5 minutes, or 20 minutes on slower machines, or whatever.

Try patching the Neutral AI then, it'd be apreciated.

- John.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I don't have a savegame, because it crashed the game. I'll do some testing though, and see if I get the same problem.

If it is merely the computer taking too long, then isn't actually good enough. A game as 'simple' as SE4 shouldn't take more then a minute per turn, let alone 5 minutes, or 20 minutes on slower machines, or whatever.

Try patching the Neutral AI then, it'd be apreciated.

- John.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I didn't save the Last game, but the same erro has happened twice more, and I got a save game this time.

Neutrals were switched off.
I left SE4 too, even though it said '[not responding] after 2 minutes (cntrl+alt+delete).

Also, I noticed the bubble gel armour stuff has a size of 0kt Zero. That could be a prob. I was thinking the nano-bots for HBUM has a size of 1kt (and seemed to be the source of a similar error), maybe SE4 AI doesn't like components smaller then 10Kt?

Oh, and I re-made the battle, because I thought it bit boring just to copy a moon. ' http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif' - Hope someone likes it.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Oh, and I re-made the battle, because I thought it bit boring just to copy a moon. ' ' - Hope someone likes it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>The battlemoon pic I included is just the default, in case your race dosen't have a pic.

The Pic you have there is pretty cool, and should be included in your race.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Also, I noticed the bubble gel armour stuff has a size of 0kt Zero. That could be a prob. I was thinking the nano-bots for HBUM has a size of 1kt (and seemed to be the source of a similar error), maybe SE4 AI doesn't like components smaller then 10Kt?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I've had those since SE4v1.two-something.
And the AIs in SE4 v1.35 work fine with it, using some, but not too much http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

I still have to try out that savegame.

------------------
The latest info onPirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.0&gt;-
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.6&gt;-
-&lt;SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I think I have the problem now...

The design minister is definitely causing the freeze.

I believe that the minister is abusing the solar sails, by putting tons of 'em on a baseship... After 23 solar sails, the propulsion force exceeds 256, and a range check error occurs.

Sooo...

I'll have to take the solar sails and make them slower than engines, so they'll have to be smaller than their current size. Then we can see if it works.

EDIT: Yep, we have your game running smooth now.
Just copy the attached Components.txt over your old one, and you'll be set.
Basically, I just reduced the size of the solar sails to 7Kt, and scaled back their propulsion effect to 1,2,3 points.

It'll be the same game, but you'll have to put 3 new sails where you used to have one.

------------------
The latest info onPirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.0&gt;-
-&lt;Download V1.6&gt;-
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.6&gt;-
-&lt;SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage



[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 11 July 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Pirates & Nomads V1.7 is now available! The differences between this and v1.6 are:
- AIs have been Patched! Yes, you can now use random AIs in your games!
- Ablative armor prices are now much more reasonable, and close to the price per hitpoints of shield generators. (as in P&N v2.1)
- Plasma Projection Armor, also from P&N v2.1 is included, as a bonus! This spans the gap between regular armor and ablative, by giving more hitpoints than standard armor, but faster repairs than Ablative!
-Emissive, Scattering and Stealth armor have been spread out more, so armor levels 4-6 aren't quite so jam-packed with components.

Also, Pirates & Nomads V2.1 is available!
It's got all the armor changes described above, and the DU AutoCannon, a machinegun-type weapon.
It is mostly minor changes as for as players will be concerned, but there is also hidden support for creating and playing Scenarios.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1&gt;- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-&lt;Download V1.7&gt;- (With default AIs patched)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 and higher&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
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Other Links:
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-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 26 July 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

As a relative newbie, please explain the difference between Versions 2.1 and 1.7. And please tell me its more than 0.4.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Click the edit button on your Posts, and check the delete option (top left corner of the edit page)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>As a relative newbie, please explain the difference between Versions 2.1 and 1.7. And please tell me its more than 0.4. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Both have similarities, since they are both Pirates&Nomads games, but the major difference is that any P&N v1.? has the standard SE4 style propulsion.
P&N v2 uses a totally new propulsion system, wherein the engine requirements change depending on the mass of the ship.

ie. A destroyer (300kT) is twice the size/mass of an escort (150kT). In classic SE4, 6 ion engines move both ships at 6 speed. In P&N v2, the escort would have 6 movement, and the destroyer would have only 3. The number of engines on your ships is limited to 42 (rather than 6) in v2, since that is the point where RangeCheckErrors will occur.

v2 also includes BattleMoons (10MT mobile base), ion/tachyon/null-space mines, and other extras.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1&gt;- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-&lt;Download V1.7&gt;- (With default AIs patched)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 and higher&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
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-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon)
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Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I've never posted here before, but I've come out of lurking finally. P&N is, IMO, one of the best mods out there. However, I'm not that enamoured of the new movement system in Version 2.x. Unfortunately, I can't seem to successfully download 1.7--every time I try, it seems to work, but when I go to extract it, I get the message "Not a valid ZIP archive"

Has anyone else had this problem? Can it be fixed? I really want to try P&N1.7.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I've never posted here before, but I've come out of lurking finally. P&N is, IMO, one of the best mods out there. However, I'm not that enamoured of the new movement system in Version 2.x. Unfortunately, I can't seem to successfully download 1.7--every time I try, it seems to work, but when I go to extract it, I get the message "Not a valid ZIP archive"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Just in case, I've uploaded P&N v1.7 again. The problem is probably related to the internet problems going around right now.

As for the propulsion system, what don't you like about it? Anything in particular?

What it is designed to do is;
-shift the optimum shipsize downwards. Bigger is better, but way more expensive. In some cases, you're best off with a stack of frigates or light cruisers rather than dreadnaughts.
-make bigger ships use more fuel while moving. One solar panel can keep an escort going indefinitely, but not a baseship. You get the same travel range on your ships, but big ships are harder to resupply.
-make movement a step closer to reality. Identical engines will make an Escort zoom through space, but hardly move a heavy Dreadnaught

If you are having trouble designing your ships, remember that there is no real limit to the amount of engines you can add. Keep an eye on the "movement" rating of your ship as you add engines, and don't expect to have the same power per ship as normal SE4. Everybody goes under the same rules, so don't worry that your LC seems woefully weak.

Also, research propulsion early; fuel usage drops, and the ContraTerrene, JacketedPhoton, and Quantum engines boost speed by 33%, 66% and 100% respectively.
When you use quantum engines, you need only half as many - the extra space can go into weapons.


EDIT: I've just downloaded the ZIP, and it works fine under WinZip 8.0. Try D/L'ing it now.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1&gt;- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-&lt;Download V1.7&gt;- (With default AIs patched)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 05 August 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Woo-woo! Thanks, S_J, the new upload done did it. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Looking at the download you just put up, I can tell something was seriously munged with the old 1.7 download, 'cause that one was only 15KB compared to the new one's 430+KB. Bit of a difference, that.

As for what I don't like about the new movement system in 2.x, it just doesn't really fit in with my conception of what a space opera should be like. For me, it also seems to make the early stages of the game go too slowly--colonizers & pop. transports doing about 1mp/turn can take an unbearably long time to reach planets just one jump away from the homeworld. That translates into no outlying resupply facilities for my exploration ships, which slows down my initial planet-grabbing. Of course, all the AIs have the same problem, but the 2.x mod just doesn't fit well with my playing style.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>As for what I don't like about the new movement system in 2.x, it just doesn't really fit in with my conception of what a space opera should be like. For me, it also seems to make the early stages of the game go too slowly--colonizers & pop. transports doing about 1mp/turn can take an unbearably long time to reach planets just one jump away from the homeworld. That translates into no outlying resupply facilities for my exploration ships, which slows down my initial planet-grabbing. Of course, all the AIs have the same problem, but the 2.x mod just doesn't fit well with my playing style.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>How are you designing these colonizers? The AIs get 3-4 Movement on theirs. Just go with basic C&C, the colony and engines. Forget the extra cargo bay - you can use a pop transport later.
With colony, B/LS/CQ, and 6 ion engines, you get 3 movement points, and 10KT extra. Thats not so bad, original SE4 only lets them go 5. 3MP is still 0.4% the speed of light, 1200 KM/s, 4.3 million KM/H.

Also, with Propulsion 3, your engines's supply use is reduced to 6, which allows you to go 70% farther before you need resupply.
Propulsion 2 gives you 25% farther.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1&gt;- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-&lt;Download V1.7&gt;- (With default AIs patched)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Wow! I just looked over some of the new modifications for the PN mod it looks great! However, I have some questions...

Is it compatiable with the TDM Mod Pack?
If not what are the differences or where can you refer me to learn more about the differences?

Can you give a little description on what makes this mod so great, especially AI wise.

Finally, can you either explain or direct me on what files I need to download the PN and how I should proceed.

Thanks

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Hey, funny you should ask... I just now finished repackaging the mod to make it easier to install.

As for your questions:
-P&N cannot be compatible with Devnull, since we both make changes to the same files. Both mods have incorporated ideas from the other, altered to fit in with the rest of the mod, of course.
If you know what you are doing, you could cut and paste sections from both mods in order to make a merged mod. It would likely have many balance issues which you would have to independently resolve.

- Um. no. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif (at least not a "little description")
There are a ton of things here, so I'll leave it to Last, and people don't have to read the whole thing http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

- OK, installing the mod!
Any zip for PiratesMod, or Pirates&Nomads with a Version number below 2.1b must be extracted into a modfolder.
1) Create a folder within SE4
2) Extract the zip into your new folder
3) Set SE4's path.txt to point to the new folder you created.

But for any new releases of P&N,
1) Extract directly to SE4, and the directory structure will be created automatically.
2) Use the "copy of path for P&N _____" text file to set your path.txt. (where "_____" is the Version of P&N you want to play)
You can overwrite path.txt with this file, or copy-paste the text, or use a mod picker utility.

Any of my new releases will be placed into an SE4 subfolder "suicidejunkiemods", and then into a sub-sub folder called "Pirated&NomadsModv2.1b" (or whatever the mod's name is). This should keep everything neatly organized.

------------------
As for AIs in particular; I have made no real serious changes to the AIs. Other people's AIs will work under my MOD, but you must first use my AI Patcher on them. (A twelve-click process, plus browsing through your harddrive using a standard windows "file-open" box)).
AIs will use some, but not all of the new components I have made. The ones they don't use have serious disadvantages that only humans will overcome. Most of these extra components are also intended for a role-playing style, rather than a down-and dirty war. Read: they look cool, and are effective for the first battle, but don't stand up to a long-term war, especially against humans.

Note: Some or most or maybe all of the TDM modpack AIs have been tweaked to go nuts building mineral miner facilities. Due to the increased value of radioactives in P&N2, they are no longer optimized. They will still be better than standard AIs under P&N2, and the standard AIs work just as well under Standard SE4 as under my MOD.

Everything below here is a complete summary of the changes of P&N! Reader Beware!

P&N V2.1b
-Includes everything from P&Nv 1.3 through 1.7 (see below)
- Propulsion requirements are now based on the mass of the ship! No more baseships zipping around with 2 escort class engines... double the mass, double the engines, go the same speed.
Be sure to keep a close eye on the speed stat while you design your ships, or you'll end up with an immobile ship http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
- Because of the engine requirements, radioactive resources are nearly as important as minerals! Be sure to balance your production when building facilities.
- Solar sails provide standard movement, not bonus, so they WILL stack. They are somewhat slower than engines, but do not waste supplies. (Sail Size is reduced to 7KT, to fix a minister bug)
- Phased Weapons have been deeply altered. Phased weapon tech gets you nothing by itself, but allows you to use phased Versions of your missile, torpedo and beam weapon techs. Research "missile weapons", "Torpedo Weapons", and "energy stream weapons" to get phased variants.
- All weapon accuracy bonuses are now shown as an ability. There is no more mystery, that WMG now says +30% accuracy when you click on it.
- "Living ships" racial trait, gives a smaller bridge and crew quarters component, and lifesupport components provide 1 repair/turn.
- Phased Planetary Shields! Woohoo! now you can protect those citizens better. Comes in 20K, 50K and 75K strength facilities, but requires shield tech levels as well.
- Mine Warheads come in Ion, Tachyon and NullSpace varieties, just laugh as your enemy's ships sit immobile and defenseless.
-Mental Singularity generator now has a Quad2shields damage type
-Ramming warheads have a Quad2Shields damage type
- BattleMoons! 10MegaTons of military might, convieniently impervious to psychic alliegiance subverters (not Boarding parties), and the size of a small moon! Core mounts boost weapon damage by 50 times (size by 25x). Try the 11,000 damage core-mount WMG - WOOoooOOM goodbye planet!
-Ablative Armor is now a reasonable price, and has been increased in size to 3KT. It ranges from 6 to 8 HP/KT... at best, this is equal to a phased-shield V, but takes a long time to repair.
-Plasma Projection Armor has replaced ablative armor as the top tech armor. It ranges from 8 to 14 HP/KT, 75% better than shields, but it takes forever to repair, since it comes in 1KT chunks. Thus, one repair bay III can only repair 112 hitpoints of PPA in one turn.
-Emissive, Steath and Scattering armor have been smeared out over the armor tech area, so they don't all get researched at the same time. They cover levels 2 through 8, rather than 4 to 6.
-DU autocannon. Just a 1/6th size DUC, but has a 5% accuracy bonus since you can "spray and pray"

A Summary of Changes in P&N V1.3 through V1.7
(vs. official SE4)
CompEnhancement
-Mod: Large/Heavy/Massive platform mounts add +1/+2/+3 range.
-New: Sattelite Siege Mount. 2x size, 1.5x damage, 5x cost, range +5, large sats only.

Components
-Mod: Rock/Ice/Gas colony modules require the "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Space Yard I/II/III require the "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Armor I/II/III provides 30/40/50 hitpoints.
-Mod: Emissive Armor I/II/III provides 100/110/120 hitpoints.
-Mod: Shields. Big changes.
"normal" shield generators provide the amount of hitpoints that "phased" shields used to. Normal shields are now only on odd tech levels, 1/3/5/7/9. Phased shields are available on even tech levels, and provide slightly more hitpoints than the previous normal (at techs 2/4/6/8/10). Normal and phased Shield generators I/II/III/IV/V provide 1/2/3/4/5 points of shield regeneration.
-Mod: Shield Regenerators. Available on even tech levels. Provide bonus shield points equivalent to one turn of regeneration.
eg. SRI gives 5 pts regen, now gives 5pts extra shields too.
-Mod: Supply storage reduced in size to 5kT, since engines store the same amount of supplies at 10kT.
-Mod: Small emissive armor I: provides 14 hitpoints.
-Add: Small emissive armor II: provides 20 hitpoints at armor tech lev 6
-Mod: Small shield generators: regenerate 10% of their max strength per turn.
(Unit shield regen is not currently supported by SE4, but when it is, this will start working)
-Mod: Point defence cannons have approx. 50% range, but slightly higher damage.
-Add: Point defence lasers equivalent to PDC, but have full range (upto 8) and approx. 50% damage.
-Mod: WaveMotionGun I/II/III has range boosted to 8/10/11
-Mod: Allegiance subverters require the "Normal" racial trait.
-Mod: Kamikaze warhead I/II/III do 60/120/180 damage.
-Add: Ablative Armor I/II/III/IV/V. 1kT, 8/10/12/13/14 hitpoints. Available for all vehicle types.
-Add: Machine Shop I/II. repairs one component per turn, 40/20 kT size.
-Add: Small space yard. Requires "Nomadic" or "Pirate" racial traits. Repairs one component/turn, builds with 300 resources/turn. 100kT size.
-Add: Tachyon Dampener. 30Kt, 100 hitpoints. Will absorb a fraction of weapon-destroying attacks.
-Add: Swashbucklers. Requires "Pirate" racial tech. 20kT, provides 12 boarding attack power. (note that one crew quarters provides 16 defence-destroy it or use two swashbuckler comps.)
-Add: Swashbuckler Pod. same as above, but 10kT, and available on fighters for "Pirate" or "Nomadic" racial techs.
-Add: Mineral Crystallizer, Hydroponics bay, radioactives collider. These are add-on facilities for the "Nomad" tech resource-generating ships and bases.
-Add: Supply storage I. 1kT, stores 100 supplies, available on fighters.
-Add: Quantum reactor. 20kT, available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Tachyon sensors I/II/III. 40kT, available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Small armor I/II/III. provides 4/5/6 hitpoints.
-Add: Solar Collectors I/II/III. provides 50/100/150 supplies per turn. 20kT. Available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Reduced solar sail. 12kT. provides 1 bonus movement. Available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech. No other tech requirement.
-Add: Small solar sail I/II/III. 5kT, provides 1/2/3 bonus movement. Available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" Racial tech.
-Add: Small Null-Space projector. 5kT, 4 damage at range 1, 4 reload, available on fighters. Requires "Nomadic" tech.
-Add: Space Yard. 200kT, repairs 5 per turn, builds with 2000 resources per turn. Requires "Nomadic" Racial Tech.
-Add: Reduced Shield Generator I/II/III. 10kT, provides 25/50/75 shield points, regenerates 2/4/6 points/turn. Provides 30/40/50 armor points. Requires shield tech level 3/6/9. Requires Armor tech 3/5/7.
-Add: Reduced Shield Regenerator I/II/III. 5kT, regenerates 2/3/4 points per turn. Requires shield tech level 5/7/10.
-Add: Heavy Shield Generator I/II/III. 200kT. generates 1500/2000/2500 shield points. Regenerates 50/75/100 points per turn. Requires shield tech level 11/12/13.
-Add: Hardened Bulkheads I/II/III. zerokT. Provides 25/30/35 hitpoints. Non-armor. Protects against (A)/(A)(S)/(A)(S)(W),
Where A=armor penetrators, S=shield destroyers, and W=weapon destroyers.

Facility
-Mod: (Mineral,organic,radioactive generators) I/II/III. Stores 1000/1250/1500 resources. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Monolith facility I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Research Facility I/II/III. Requires "Normal" or"Nomad" racial tech.
-Mod: Intelligence Facil I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Gestation Vats I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Replicant Center I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Space Yard Facility I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Add: Massive planetary shield generator I/II/III. Requires ruin tech "MPSG". Requires shield tech lev 3/6/9. Provides 20K/50K/75K shield points. Very expensive.
-Mod: Temporal Space yard. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Mod: Solar Generator I/II/III. Requires "Normal" racial tech.
-Add: Pirate's Intelligence Center. Provides 1000 intel points. Requires "Pirate" racial tech.
-Add: Slave Labour Camp. Generates 100 each resource (per star). Requires "Pirate" Racial tech.
-Add: Research Center. Generates 200 research points. Requires "Pirate" racial tech.
-Add: Space Yard Facility. Repairs 5 comps per turn, builds with 1000 resources per turn. Requires "Pirate" or "Nomad" racial techs.
-Add: Large Planetary Shield Generator I/II/III. Provides 5K/20K/50K. Requires shield tech level 14/15/16.

IntelProjects
-Mod: All offensive intel projects require "Normal" racial trait. Pirates & nomads only use defensive. Exceptions: Resource & tech theft.

Racial Traits
-Add: "Normal" racial tech. Allows colony ships, planet-based resource extractors.
-Add: "Pirate" racial tech. Allows access to specialty pirate techs.
a race with low maintenance is highly reccommended if you choose this.
-Add: "Nomadic" racial tech. Allows access to Nomadic techs.

Settings
Max systems = 255
Minimum resource generation = 500
planet percent value loss after death = 30
resource aptitude minimum percent = 25
maximum units/ships per sector = 10,000
maximum units/ships per player = 10,000

TechArea
Armor maximum level = 11
Shields maximum level = 16
"Normal", "Pirate", "Nomadic" tech areas

VehicleSize
-Add: Resource Base. Generates resources each turn. Production can be boosted with plug-in components. 600kT. +60% chance of being hit. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.
-Add: Resource Ship. Generates resources each turn. Production can be boosted with plug-in components. 300kT. Has a +50% chance of being hit. Requires "Nomadic" Racial tech.
-Add: Medium/Large/Heavy/Massive fighter. Size of 20/25/35/50 kT. Massive fighter requires 2 engines per move. Heavy/Massive have unlimited # of engines. Requires "Nomadic" racial tech.

P&N v1.5

-CSM's now described as "chaped-charge chemical warheads"
-Heavy Bombardment Missiles (same as CSM) have nuclear warheads, and cause quad damage to shields from the EMP. They are double size, and have quad strength seekers.
-Added "crossover" techs which require two racial tech areas. Every 2-trait combination is here .
-Added Pirate Hoard facil which stores enourmous amounts of resources.

-Rebalanced the Hardened Mini-shield generators, so they more closely follow the shield & armor development.
-New Comp Enhancements. There are Cheap, Budget, Durable, Premium components. For non-weapons only, they affect hitpoints based on how much you want to spend for each part.
-Bugfix for the crossover techs.
-Replaced "Cheap" components with "normal"... the really low hitpoint stuff was getting hit Last, and that really screwed things up. The AIs will use normal internal components on their ships.

P&N v1.6
-Hardened mini shields have be adjusted again, with the higher levels having reduced shield regeneration abilities.
-Minor edits for typos.
-Components have been rearranged so they fit together better.
-Drop pods are now only available to races that have both organic and religious, since other races cannot make good (non-abusive) use of the pod.
-Solar Sails are now available in a "Solo" model, which does not require any normal engines to move your ship. There is a bug in SE4, which means that "normal" solar sails give zero movement if there are no engines aboard, the "Solo" sails get around this.

SE4 V1.7
-Cleaned up components file, now everything is in a nice order, with all of the armor types grouped together and stuff like that.
-Reduced the price for ablative armor to reasonable levels, and added plasma armor
-Spread out armor technologies.

Wow you're pretty devoted if you've read this far! http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1&gt;- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-&lt;Download V1.7&gt;- (With default AIs patched)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Really short Summary, and a test of my new Sig links.

P&N Classic: This is exactly the same as P&N v1.7, but is zipped up in a much more user-friendly way. Use winzip, and extract the files into your SE4 directory.
The mod will create a path.txt file, but not overwrite your current one.
It will also neatly package the mod into a "SuicideJunkieMods" folder in SE4.

Big features of P&N v2.1b:
-Battlemoons. Don't get much bigger than that http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
-Propulsion based on the mass of the ship! If you have an LC (400KT), it requires twice as many engines just to keep up with a Frigate (200KT). It also burns twice as much fuel per square of movement. Works out a lot better in practice than you might think!
-Ablative Armor & Plasma Projection Armor. Super-strength armor that rivals shields for combat effectiveness! Provides more hitpoints but takes ages to repair after the battle. Ships are very unlikely to survive a second wave, since they won't have time to repair. You definitely need to use a mix of shields and armor in your fleets, if not your individual ships.
-A whole set of New components, facilities and vehicles! These allow pirates to make a living plundering trade routes in the darkness of space, and for nomads to survive without planets to support them.
-Shields have been serioiusly messed with. All shields regenerate a small amout each turn, normal and phased generators alternate through the tech levels, there are mini Versions of shields & regenerators, and a crossover tech between shield and armor.
-Point defense is split into Lasers vs. Cannons. Lasers have roughly half the damage of cannons, but have enough range to protect the entire fleet. Cannons are very powerful, but only extend two squares, leaving the fleet exposed.
-BuckyTube Gel armor. Zero KT of space, but really expensive. It is not always hit first like armor, but advanced Versions protect against null space, tachyons and shield disruptors. You can get 6,000 hitpoints worth of this stuff on a ship, but it'll cost you close to $100,000 minerals.
-Crossover Techs! If you choose to take more than one 1500 point racial tech, you get a bonus of having a crossover. For example, Religious + Organic = GenEngineered Fanatics! A 1KT "drop pod" contains a commando who can take on 2 or 3 militia units on his own! He feels right at home commanding a troop unit too!
Temporal + Organic gives you the Temporal Cloning Vats! Fill up a solar system in no time at all.

And that's all I can think of for Really Important changes from SE4 original.

(Still really long for a "short description, though")

EDIT: Found a bug in my sig. Should be good now.

EDIT2: Yep works now.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1b&gt;- (Now with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download P&N Classic&gt;- (The final release of P&N v1.x, with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 09 August 2001).]

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 09 August 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

So let me understand what your saying,
your Mod will work with TDM but not with Devnull mod?

And if I decide to continue to use the TDM mod inconjunction with your mod I will have to run a AI patch modifier?

Anything else.

Thanks for the info I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO USING THIS MOD

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Yes.
Devnull changes the same files as my mod does, so one mod overwrites the other in a bad way.

TDM only changes AIs, while P&N does not change the AIs, so it will not conflict with my Mod.
I DO have a patched Version all of the standard AIs included in my mod, but they can be overwritten with no ill effect.

D/L the AI patcher from my sig, read the readme.txt if you wish, and follow these steps.
1) run the AIPatcher.exe
2) click mode, and choose the mod you wish to patch for. (P&Nv2 is the default)
3) Click "browse...", and find the "AI_general.txt" file for your ai, select it, and press open.
4) Click "Patch AI General". The status bar should blink a few changes at you in less than a second.
5) Click "browse..." and select your AI's ship_design.txt.
6) Click "Patch AI ship design". The status bar will again flash a bunch of changes, and may take as long as two seconds on a really ancient machine.

This will create four extra files in your AI's folder. A backup General.txt, an general.txt.PATCHED, a backup shipdesign.txt, and a ship_design.txt.PATCHED file.

7) Use the .patched files for P&N v2, and use the backup files to restore the AI to normal operation.

NOTE: if you check the box at the top right of the window, the AI patcher will automatically overwrite your AIs files, basically doing step 7 for you. Be sure to only click the Patch buttons once per file when this option is enabled.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.1b&gt;- (Now with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download P&N Classic&gt;- (The final release of P&N v1.x, with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

or install each mod into a seperate directory and switch between them using the mod-chooser.

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

I would reccommend checking out the Mod Launcher, by Matryx.

And I now have P&N v2.2 out!
Just D/L and extract to your SE4 folder.

Unpacking the zip will not overwrite your path.txt; I feel that that is a bit too invasive. You just change your path.txt whenever you feel like playing P&N.

P&N V2.2 changes:
-Changed: Living Ships racial trait cost increased to 500.
-Added: Big Thinkers racial trait. All units are increased 25% in size.
-Added: Tiny Race racial trait. Bridge, Lifesupport, CrewQuarters and Auxiliary Control are reduced 30% in size.
-Added: Pack Rats racial trait. Crew quarters gain cargo storage ability.
-Added: Expanded Automation. One fewer Lifesupport and crewquarters is required on every ship.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.2&gt;- (Now with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download P&N Classic&gt;- (The final release of P&N v1.x, with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

First I want to congratulate you on an excellent mod. Great Job. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

I was just wondering why PBW isn't supporting it since it supports so many other mods?

I would love to try it out against a bunch of other people. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

Thanks for the advert Suicide Junkie http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif

Good to see P&N V2.2 is out. I'm downloading it right now.

I do have some Queries / observations on the way Nomads work.
I noticed that several areas now have no effect as a nomad (depending on play style)...
*Physical Strength : You only have 1 planet : Put to 50%
*Intelligence : You barely have any research centres : Put to 50%
*Cunning : You never get (enough) intelligence facilities so you can bung this down to 50%
Reproduction : You can't build colony ships -&gt; can't settle new planets. So why do you need to reproduce? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
Tolerance : See Reproduction.
Happiness: You only have one planet and that only needs to Last long enough to get your resource collectors up.
Political Savvy : You never have enough to make trade worthwhile : put to 50%
Minerals Extraction : You never Extract minerals so it has no effect
Organics Extranction : Same
Radioactives Extraction : Same
Ship Maintenance : If you increase your bonus you effectively penalise your harvest by the same amount -&gt; no change

* unless you plan on using troops to take over other player's planet and relevant facilities

Following all these you can get :-
Physical Strength : 50%
Intelligence : 50%
Cunning : 50%
Environmental Resistance : 50%
Reproduction : 91%
Happiness : 50%
Agressiveness : 125%
Defensiveness : 125%
Political Savvy : 50%
Mining Aptitude : 25%
Farming Aptitude : 25%
Refining Aptitude : 25%
Construction Aptitude : 150%
Repair Aptitude : 150%
Maintenance Aptitude : 80%

And you still have 725 points free!
Of course what I end up doing is reducing Ship Contruction and picking more advantageous racial traits. E.g. + 1 move.

Maybe if you change the way Nomads work and have them Remote Miners and Solar Collectors instead of negative maintenance?
Just my views. Feel free to trash them / ignore at will.

------------------
The Unofficial Space Empires 4 Mod Utility V1.7 (Revision 3)
------------------
Download as a .ZIP &lt;HERE&gt;
Download as a .RAR &lt;HERE&gt;
Download as a .ACE &lt;HERE&gt;
Check a Screenshot of it&lt;HERE&gt;

Check an Alpha Shot of my Mod Editor (Unreleased) &lt;HERE&gt;

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

One thing to note about the mod launcher : It only detects mods that are 1 directory deep
So when you extract Pirates and Nomads V2.2 you need to extract it into \&lt;SE4Directory&gt;\Pirates or something similar rather than \suicidejunkiemods\pirates&nomadsv2.2

SJ : Dont suppose I can hassle you to change the format of the .Zip file can I? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
And also to include a ModInfo.txt in the mod's root directory? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon10.gif
I can even provide one for you if you want.

------------------
The Unofficial Space Empires 4 Mod Utility V1.7 (Revision 3)
------------------
Download as a .ZIP &lt;HERE&gt;
Download as a .RAR &lt;HERE&gt;
Download as a .ACE &lt;HERE&gt;
Check a Screenshot of it&lt;HERE&gt;

Check an Alpha Shot of my Mod Editor (Unreleased) &lt;HERE&gt;

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

One Last suggestion SJ : You haven't allowed for Miniaturised, living, automatic, packrat ships http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
I picked all of them because it'd be Excellent to have all of the bonuses.. I see you have some linked up (e.g. Miniaturised Crewquaters(Packrat) )
Perhaps there should be Miniaturised Neural Tendrils(Packrat)
That or make a note that Living Ships don't have crew and so can't store cargo in their quaters *and* that living ships can't be miniaturised or automated.

*Finally* Weapons Platforms are units as well, yet aren't included in the Big Thinkers racial trait's effect.


------------------
The Unofficial Space Empires 4 Mod Utility V1.7 (Revision 3)
------------------
Download as a .ZIP &lt;HERE&gt;
Download as a .RAR &lt;HERE&gt;
Download as a .ACE &lt;HERE&gt;
Check a Screenshot of it&lt;HERE&gt;

Check an Alpha Shot of my Mod Editor (Unreleased) &lt;HERE&gt;

[This message has been edited by Matryx (edited 10 August 2001).]

Re: A pirates life for me...
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Maybe if you change the way Nomads work and have them Remote Miners and Solar Collectors instead of negative maintenance?
Just my views. Feel free to trash them / ignore at will.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That sounds pretty good.
If I could make all of the shiphulls zero-maintenance, then your 500 basic production, plus any remote mining you do would fund the construction of additional ships.

In the beginning, nomads would remote mine resources, building ships with the profit, and would be forced to move to new territory when their remote miners run dry.
When they run out of uninhabited worlds, Nomads would jump in, attack a world, strip mine it of resources, then leave before the player can muster a defense force. The difficulty would be in taking planets with minimal losses, so you can actually make a profit after rebuilding lost ships. They would probably turn into pirates, and capture ships as a budgetary mainstay.

Pirates would be able to make better use of planets, with slave labour camps (they could even follow the nomads wake, putting slave colonies down on the large, zero value worlds).

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>One thing to note about the mod launcher : It only detects mods that are 1 directory deep<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Could you possibly expand the program to search multiple levels?
I thought that the &lt;author&gt;\&lt;specific mod&gt;\&lt;files&gt; directory structure was really neat and tidy (and maybe a little innovative, too http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif).
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>SJ : Dont suppose I can hassle you to change the format of the .Zip file can I?
And also to include a ModInfo.txt in the mod's root directory?
I can even provide one for you if you want.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Players could always move the P&N folder to &lt;SE4&gt;\&lt;P&N&gt;. Just a click-and drag away.

I think I'll create my own ModInfo.txt, and make it a 50Kb monster detailing all the changes from SE4 classic http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>That or make a note that Living Ships don't have crew and so can't store cargo in their quaters *and* that living ships can't be miniaturised or automated.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You got it! I would have put more of a description, explaining these limitations, but they are fairly logical, and took up too much space on the screen.

Living Ships's C&C components are all brain, no body. You don't usually store your old junk in your brain or spinal cord. The living ships from a packrat race would just insist on having a cargo bay or two installed http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.
Miniaturization occurs because your CREW is smaller, and need less open space. The living ships are not of your race, just the minds/brains of your race, enlarged to use the ship as a body.
Automation decreases the crew complement required to run the ship. A living ship has a crew anywhere from zero to one (inclusive), depending on your point of view. You can't reduce that any further without losing control of your ship.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>*Finally* Weapons Platforms are units as well, yet aren't included in the Big Thinkers racial trait's effect<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Well... OK. That would make them 250KT, 500Kt and 750KT in size.
I'll have to bump up the price of the trait, then too.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.2&gt;- (Now with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download P&N Classic&gt;- (The final release of P&N v1.x, with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)