Question about Racial techs
 

I know racial tech areas cannot be captured. What I was wondering was if you removed the flag, would it be captureable even if it needed a racial tech area before it?

What I mean is this. Say you have a tech tree like this:
Crystalline Technology (racial area 4)
Crystalline Weapons (NO racial area)

And made a ship using Crystalline Weapons, would you be able to capture, analyze, and research it? But not Crystalline Technology?

The idea is to have specific techs able to be captured and duplicated, but not others.

Phoenix-D

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Not sure... but I think that should work out that the unflagged techs are transferrable. But it's just an educated guess.

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

You could probably remove any special tech from any trait but you would have to be able to research it. This would mean making any required tech available for everyone or moving the specific tech you want to another tech tree. Moving it might screw up any AI that use the special tech.

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Sorry.
You can't steal racial techs, even if they aren't directly under a racial tech. I've anaylsed phong ships and not been able to get shard cannons.

You certainly can't research stuff you don't have the "tech that opens the tech area that the component is in"
eg. I steal shield tech from some alien. I don't even have physics 1, but I get shield tech level 1. I cannot research shields, but I can still build ships with Shield Generator I's on them.

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

But I think that's exactly what he wants... not to be able to research the racial techs, only to be able to build what he steals.

Just tried it in the game, I'm sorry to say that it does not work...

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

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Odd, because I just tried it myself and it did work.. (I'm smacking myself for not just doing this earlier http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif )

Setting crystalline tech and weapons to racial area zero meant I could analyze and produce the stuff I captured.

Unfortunately, two problems crop up. Capturing an anazlying a ship w/ crystal armor and a Shard Cannon on it gave me EVERYTHING from those tech areas- i.e. I got the facilites too! Ick. I'm assuming it works like this for normal captures too?

More importantly, setting HIGH for the starting tech level gave everyone that stuff to start with. Oh well, at least it's possible to do it.. should help some with my mod.

Phoenix-D

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Well, it didn't work like that when I tested it! I set tech to high too... no one got the Organic Tech (where I changed racial tech to 0)... are you sure you didn't change crystalurgy too (or remove the prereq. of crystalurgy)? Well, I'll test it again to verify either your or my results (well atleast verify it to me http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif)


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

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

I set crystaline technology and weapons to racial area 0, leaving their prerequisite of Crystalurgy alone.

Phoenix-D

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

If you want to prevent certain racial techs from being learned by other races, Do this:

Add another tech requirement, and make it the pre-requisite crystal tech (the one that is still a racial tech area)

So, the Shard cannons would require only "crystal weapons" tech, and be stealable, but the facilities require the tech area that you can't steal (crystallurgy, i think), so you can't build them!

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

That's what I'm going to do for my mod.

Applying it to the 'standard' set would be tricky.It would require some fiddling with the tech costs though, might torque the AI, and could make an imbalance- it lets you get just the tech areas you want without paying for the extra stuff. But if I try to eliminate that, and boost the costs, I hurt the player that DOES want them both..

Phoenix-D

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Doesn't that kind of shaft the guy that chooses the crystal trait? Shouldn't that trait cost be reduced?

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

As I said, I'm using it for a mod, not applying it to the main game http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Doing it in the main tech areas would need much tweaking.

Phoenix-D

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

There aren't many unique techs available on ruins and most of what is found isn't really useful. It would be cool if a trait or weaker Version of a special tech tree was able to be found in a ruin. Having a whole new tech tree open up halfway through a game would make it more interesting. Only trouble is the AI wouldn't research them. Too bad there isn't a way to set the AI to research "any tech" at a certain point.

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

This is what I'm changing UNIQUE techs too in my mod:

Removed all former "techs"
All given techs can be research to lvl 3 (start with lvl 1)

1) Monoliths... I removed monoliths from stellar manip, and made them unique

2) Resonance Weapons: Shield deystroyer (much better than the old Version), then Engine deystroyer (ditto), finally weapon deystroyers (ditto again)

3) Resonance shields... phased shields that automaticlly renerate 25% of their max per turn.

4) Resonance Engines... about as good as cotra (lvl 3 is as good as photon) But uses very little supplies (2/1/1)

5) Resonance Field Distorters: VERY good ECM's

6) (To be added) Resonance Sensors: one of the best sensors in the game (my sensors/cloaks are heavily modded)

any more ideas?

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

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Create a few resonance trees. One gives facilities, one gives weapons, one gives shields and armor etc. That would be cool. You find the weapons and think you got it made only to find out your opponent found the shields that neutralize them!

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

I don't know if this will work but you could try it.
Set up some of the special racial techs as Ruins techs. Then you may find the odd specialized tech and it would allow you to analyize higher levels. Don't know if it would work though without removing that tech from the main racial tech tree.

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

Does anybody know if you can create negative racial traits, which repay some racial points and exclude tech areas or single techs for that race ?

-e.g. minus 2000 points: exclude gas colony,intel facilities or cloaking techs

-minus 1500 points: nebbish/unlucky race which attrack bad events

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

You can't *exclude* techs unless you're willing to rewrite the tech tree a bit and make them racial techs.

Phoenix-D

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

I did try the negative racial trait, but it only caused lots of problems... (I tried making an 'Unlucky' trait.)

Re: Question about Racial techs
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>You can't *exclude* techs unless you're willing to rewrite the tech tree a bit and make them racial techs<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's what I did for the Pirates&Nomads mod, and it's surprisingly easy to do once you get started.