New tech mod plan
 

I've attached what I have so far. No actual "code", just some design docs.

The idea here is to make the SE4 tech tree more of a tree and less of a bush. I'll also be adding cross-linked techs and attempting to correct some perchived imbalances. Plus the new tech tree allows for more specilization. Don't want storm creators, but do want star creators? No problem. Want fast, nimble ships? Can do.

Ex:
Point Defense Weapons, researched by itself, gives you NOTHING. But once you research, say, Projectile Weapons, you get Point Defense Cannons. Research Rockets, and you get point-defense rockets. Just research projectile weapons OR point-defense doesn't get you the PD guns. You have to have them both.

Researching ship construction now opens up three fields:
-Escort Construction
-Cruiser Construction
-Capitial ship construction

Each hull size now has improved Versions (heh, heh, 90% bonus to defense escorts..), and the larger hulls have penalties to defense. I've added a few sizes as well.

I plan to change intel a bit as well, to help out the AI. It'll be split between espianoge (sp) and sabatoge. Just tell your AI to research sabatoge only, and no more AI using attacks it can't effectivly respond to.

Like the P&N mod, I plan on having optional newtonian movement, and empires will need to be patched to work.

The intersting part- if it works- will be this: default AIs will still work with a minor mod. I'm making the default and new tech trees 0 point racial tech areas.

What I need: look over what I've posted. I'd like feedback on that and the idea itself. Right now, that's it.. but I've never done any AI work, so people willing to convert old AIs to the new tech tree would be very much welcome, as would playtesters http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

Nice, so far it looks good from what I can see. A few minor criticisms, however:

1. Frigates can now become harder to hit than a small fighter (or just as hard to hit), and harder to hit than a large fighter. Somehow, that just doesn't seem quite right.
2. There are no more 2000+ kiloton chassis, as you've modded the Starbase to be only 1500 kt. This means that the components needed to make ringworlds and sphereworlds can't be used, as nothing is big enough to handle them. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it would be nice to know. If you changed the size of those components to fit on your current starbases, that would mean that baseships could be fitted with them as well, so planetary shipyards could be used to make the components which could drastically alter the way ringworlds and sphereworlds are created.

I like the idea though. It could add a lot more specialization to the game, as well as give new uses to the smaller capital ships.

-Hotfoot
"Now, what about minaturized weapons?"

Re: New tech mod plan
 

There are a lot of good ideas in there. The amount of work it will take to propogate a redesign like that through all the mod files is daunting.

Good Luck,
LT

Re: New tech mod plan
 

Hotfoot: I was going by memory on the sizes, I may need to fix that one way or the other http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif (there will also be a one size lower stellar construction, FYI)

I'll take the effect on the fighters into account. I hadn't planned on the fighters (or bases, baseships, sats) being upgradable, but I guess I better..

The ship upragdes go like this.
Starting: Escort I
Research: Ship 1
Research: Escorts 1, get Corvete I
Reseatch: escorts 2, get Frigate I
research: escorts 3, get Destroyer I
Research: Escorts 4, get Corvete II
etc. for each class.

I plan on (eventually) adding 4 more racial traits: Energy Race (new tech tree), Totally Organic Race (new tech tree), miniturization, Swarm (new tree). Mini is self-explanitory, and I didn't think of it until you mentioned it http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Swarm, simply put, cuts your costs to 1/3. It will probably be a 3000 point trait..

Hopefully componets.txt and techareas.txt don't have upper file-size limits http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

LT411: the design will probably take the longest. I don't plan on making major changes to components, so components.txt will only be a change of tech areas for each component, and that can be copy-pasted easily. There's no upper limit to family names, so I'll just slap a 999 or something on the front to set these apart for the AI. Techareas.txt will be the big change, and will probably take a bit.

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

More component ideas..

WP mounts that extend range a bit.
Base ""
"Planetary Fortification" mounts that make a WP much tougher, at the cost of adding to expense. Like mounts that double or tripple the hit points of all components, plus the normal effects, simultating using the planet itself as a shield.

Jammers- 10k missiles that do minimal damage. Designed to present PD with a large amount of targets to fire at.

Sprint missiles- missiles that reach their max range in just one or two turns.

Small weapons- I may let some of the smaller weapons fit on ships, to round out that Last 3 kt you can get stuck with with certain mounts.

Hardened Structure- non-armor armor http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

As you can probably tell, I'll be shamelessly borrowing from other mods. This extra stuff will be added Last though, I want to finish reorganizing the SE4 tree first.

I'll be starting work on this tonight.

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

Well, you can forget about the "advanced colonization" tech areas. SE4 goes nutty when you try and make new colonization modules..

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

Update: the work on techareas.txt is pretty much finished, I think. Still needs to be balanced, and I'd love to find a way to get the advanced colonies working, but the framework is there.

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

OK, just learned about what the AI does when it encounters mines.

What ELSE does the AI research automatticly?

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

(Yes, I'm going to continue bumping this thread with updates)

OK, progress. Components.txt- almost finished, just need the decoys. Facilites.txt- finished. techareas.txt- finished. airesearch default.txt-finished.

I also modded the Happyness types a bit, made neutral into Xenophobic and added a seperate Neutral type. Also changed the defaultstratagies.txt to make a little more sense (ex: why the **** is the secondary stratagy for Maximum range.. POINT BLANK? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif)

I also found a little problem with the family numbers. See, every time I've added a new item, I just stick 999 on the end. But SE4 doesn't like it when that number goes over 65535; it barfs saying "unable to load components.txt" without giving a specific error. Very aggrivating to track down, that.

I should have a beta Version of this mod up later.

Phoenix-D

Re: New tech mod plan
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>What ELSE does the AI research automatticly?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Probably SM if it feels cut off from the rest of the universe.