Is this possible in a mod?
 

Can you create two different types of Warp Points?
Example: Type 1 have a select set of pics and can only be used for making connections to systems that are less than 50 LY. Type 2 have a different different set of pics and can only be used for making connections to systems that are more than 100 LY.

This mod would have no Warp Point making capabilities, all of the Warp Points are created at the start of the game. Type 1 are all placed in the center of the system. Type 2 are all placed on the outer boundary of the system.


Can Events have more than one affect tied to them?


Can Happiness modifiers stack?

Can Condition modifiers stack?

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

"Can you create two different types of Warp Points?"

Sadly, all warp points will randomly use any pictures available to them. You could make one and only one picture for Normal warp points, then one and only for Unusual warp points. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that you can have the pictures matched to location in system or distance of the connection. You can only do this manually in the map editor.

Alternatively, you could create one of the types of warp points in a game and save the map. This still requires lots of manual map setup though.

"Can Events have more than one affect tied to them?"

No. They are one effect per event.

"Can Happiness modifiers stack?"

Which happiness modifiers?

System happiness facility ability is only best per system used.

Planetary happiness facility ability stacks with system one. Further, multiple planetary facilities on the same planet stack with each other.

Both of these stack with events that affect happiness according to Happiness.txt.

"Can Condition modifiers stack?"

The planetary Conditions Improvement Plant ability (as well as Value IP) stack. You can build 10 of them on the same planet for 10x the effect. The system wide abilities do not stack, however. Only the best in the system will be used.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

During game creation you have the option of creating warp points randomly in the system or along the edge. Is it possible to have all the points in the center during the auto generation?

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Sadly, no. Its either on the edge or almost random (almost because the diameter they are placed on typically correlates to the direction of the destination system).

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Is it possible to design a component that once it is used the vehicle is destroyed?

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

No.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

A couple of the stellar manipulation components destroy the ship as a side effect of what they do (star destroyer, black hole creator).

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Can you start off a game so that a planet could have a maximum population of 8000, but you onlly start with 100M people?

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

If you were to set the planet capacity to 100, and then give everybody racial traits that expand planet space by 8000%, you'd get that.

Everyone would have to take your super Advanced storage techniques trait, tho.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

My friend and I are recreating a RPG world that he designed many years ago. He has a history created for the setting, and we are designing a mod that is being played during an earlier point of time than what the RPG players are typically set within. In this universe there are two different methods of innerstellar transportation. At the start of the setting only the first method of transportation is available.


1. Hyperspace - Travel through semi-normal space. All starting warp points will be "Nav Points". You go to these nav points to get on course for the charted cooridors between systems. These routes only go to neighboring systems, much like the road system back in the 1930's in the US. To travel from New York to Chicago took forever, since you had to drive THROUGH all kinds of small towns and other cities.


2. Jump Gates - These are ancient objects that were left behind by a long dead alien race. At the start of the setting they haven't been discovered. Once discovered the technology isn't able to replicated. These ancient devices come in sets, exactly like warp points. When you fly through these Jump Gates they increase the speed of your already existing Hyperspace engines by something like 10 fold.


So the objective is to recreate these alien artifacts within the game's limitations.

We want them to not be reusable. So once you "place" one of these gate sets in place you can't go off and place more sets in place without having a cost associated with their creation.

Anyway, I figured out a workaround. Stellar components use supplies right?

- Create a Warp Opening stellar component that can only be placed on a specific drone vehicle.
- Have the component use enough supplies to empty the drone of its supplies.
- Have the component destroyed for good measure.
- Following turn the drone is destroyed.

The resources put into building the drone really simulates the amount of resources an empire must expend into finding the Jump Gates and getting them into position (since the drone units won't cost any maintenance). These drones are going to be super expensive to simulate the rarity of the alien objects.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

I'm not sure drones can give Stellar Manipulation orders. Their order set is highly restricted (Attack basically), so the SM button may not appear for them. That aside, it should work fine.

A possibility would be to remove all ways of repairing ships. I doubt you would like that, though you might justify it given your story. Another alternative is to make the component use a *lot* of supplies (as high as the game goes, if possible), and also provides these supplies. So, when the component is used, all those supplies are gone. If you make everything else use a lot less supplies, you should have a component that can only be re-powered by using five hundred ships or some such. This time, you would have to remove all "free supplies" stuff (Resupply Depots and Quantum Reactors basically).

A more interesting way is to create an Ancient Empire (or a slightly more inspiring name) with unique access to the Ancient Technology race trait (this trait would behave like Crystalline, Religious, etc). This Empire would then be able to research, build and repair the Ancient stuff, and give it/sell it/get it captured by the other Empires. However, you cannot repair components if you do not have access to all the requisite technologies, so these components would effectively be one-shot.

That approach is only worthwhile for a multiplayer game, of course, unless your idea of a fun game is to abuse the AI. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

In a quick test, I made a drone with a gravitational condenser. It had no stellar manipulation button while on a warp point.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Ugh, damn it =(


Most games I play the AI doesn't really get to the point that it is making warp points. When they do it appears to be a bit random and not to helpful for them. The Warp Point tech is best used in the hands of a human player. Now AIs going around destroying stars is nasty. =)


The Ancient empire isn't around anymore, creating a race that can be conquered.... wait a second.....

Taking Alneyan's idea a step farther, what about creating an empire that is INVISIBLE. All of their ships have innate Cloaking ability that makes them never be detected. They would be designed like the pirates/raiders that I've heard talked about. They'd have to be designed so they never go hostile, don't know if that's possible, especially with Team Mode turned on. Even so, give them very restricted tech so that they never have weapons, and then would never attack anyone... though they could stumble upon someone or even mines. Anyway, they'd be designed to create "Gates" which would be slow moving ships that only have room for the gate. Analyzing the vehicle will get you nothing since it is all built off of racial tech. These "Gates" would be detectable, so they could be "discovered". Of course the race would have to not respond to any diplomacy.

Undetectable Cloak
Easy to do

Non-hostile Race
Make all activities to include enemy ships in system to generate goodwill towards other AIs.

Wandering Race
To avoid all the gates from being produced in a single system.
Give them only one mode, or have ALL of their modes do one function.... build "Gates".
Control the rate of production by giving them low production rates. Will allow the gates to have low maintenance costs once they're captured.

Mines
Only seen fighters and drones being able to be immune to mines and drones at a Settings level.
Could give them so much Armor or a Minesweeper ability that it's impossible to destroy them with a mine.... but they'd be clearing mine fields.

Randomly build "Gates"
These gate vehicles wouldn't have any cloaks. They could boarded and taken into custody

Never responds to diplomacy
Empty Speech file?
Set the highest Treaty to be no treaty?

Remove Homeworld or make it Invisible
Don't know how to remove it, will have to look into the Pirates mod see if they've done it.
Invisible by hiding it in a storm with complete obscurment. Though I don't know if this can be designed in the autogeneration capability, and make it not possible for other players.


Unable to colonize
Don't give them any colonizing tech, though they start off with colonizing tech of their homeworld.

Protection against Intel Projects
Give them the ability to produce LARGE amounts of Intel points, but only ever spend it on Counter Intel.


How would you prevent other AIs from just destroying these "gifts" instead of capturing them

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

If they are never visible, it doesn't matter if they're non-hostile. And if the AIs AREN'T hostile, they'll never capture the gates.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

The playing AIs can declare war on the Invisible AI. I just don't want players getting messages about some invisible race declaring war on them. =)

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Can the Random event frequency be setup to happen almost every other turn?

Since you can change the Random event file to include only warp point open and close events, this should create a map that is constantly rearranging warp connections.

If you start with a map with no warp points connections, you would probably need more opens than closings. 2 to 1? So that over time the total number of warp connections increase.

Are the warp points opened truly random? (IE. No limitation on distance?)

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Your comments do bring up an interesting point. I wouldn't want this invisible AI race "Using" the gates. =(

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Events can only happen once per turn at the most, for all races combined. It would work as an add on to existing WP's, but it wouldn't work very well if there were no WP's at the start of the game.

If the ancient race had a racil tech, you could give them a facility at the start that used the sector ability to cloak their planet. Just add the ability to a facility that the game setup calls for on their homeworld.

The diplomacy for an invisible AI could be chalenging though. I think you could keep them from making treaties easily, and setting them to get friendlier from other players ships and planets works pretty good, but they may still send general messages with no text if there is nothing in the speach file. Maybe a line like "Your race isn't ready for our secrets." or something like that.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Any ideas on keeping the ancient race from using the gates? =) They're suppose to be dead... can't go using stuff when you're dead. =)

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

If you make them neutrals, they will not be able to travel through (any) warp points. That's about all you can do, short of making their ships have no practical deep space range.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

You could make the components harder to use, by toying with supplies in particular. Ditch the Resupply Depots and similar stuff, and make the Warp Opener use up all the supplies on board the vessel. Engine drain will remove a few of these supplies, making the Warp Opener impossible to use.

The other players will be able to power up the device again by resupplying it with the standard means.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Excellent point Alneyan.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Actually, regular players wouldn't be able to charge it up enough...

They would need to be able to build a single ship with more supply storage than the component requires per shot.

A flock of smaller supply ships won't work, since supplies are shared such that all ships get the same amount.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

They would. Resupply Depots are infinite, and aren't exactly high tech; Quantum Reactors would work for more flexibility.

All you need to do is make the engines use *some* supplies; 1 point per engine is all it takes. Solar Collectors would be enough to correct a low supply expense.

That, and the Warp Opener does not need to use many supplies, but merely all the supplies on board the vessel (which can be any amount, depending on how the vessel is designed). 3,000 could be powered up by a lone supply cargo with 6,000 or more.

I would recommend using a special tech trait for the Ancients that includes *all* their components, so as to make the computation easier... That, and Ion Engine I on Ancient ships would look odd. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

If all their components are based on racial techs, then nothing would be repairable by normal races. Which makes sense in this case, I just wanted to point that out. If the component is destroyed on use, it will only be useable once, ever.

Also you might want to keep them from using self destruct devices on all their ships, maybe by removing their reaserch ability with a trait.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

OMG!!!! That's right!!!! =)

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

The problem with the supply restricting the use of the device is that the normal AIs won't be able to use them either.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

The suggestion earlier involved deleting resupply depots and quantum reactors.
So no, they wouldn't.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

I'm keeping resupply depots and dumping quantum reactors.

I don't think the supply thing will be an issue, since each device will only ever be used once. I can have it need 500 supplies, put it on a ship with only 500 supplies. Then the second the ship is moved it can't use the component.

Problem is that once in the hands of the AIs I want to have them use it... they'd have to fleet the gate with another vessel to make use of it.

Anyhow know what AI logic is built into the use Warp Point openers? To me it always seemed random.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

I think there was 2 different ways of making them. One was to make the component use alot of supplies and the AI would use them and open WP's, with the chance of them being taken by other players for use. The other is for them to use all the ships supplies but at a reasonable amount, so players could recharge them with solar panels when they took them, but restricting the AI in resupply so they would just build them and not use them. Kind of like a relic ship.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Bah, I get it now. I did mention it was *only* for the Ancient Empire earlier, but not in another post where I re-stated that idea.


I'm not sure I see much of a way to help the regular AI, really. You might consider allowing them to cheat with regards to this particular problem, though that would require yet another AI-only trait. Since I doubt the AI is going to make intelligent decisions, you could make the Ancient Warp Openers re-usable... *when* in the hands of the mundane AI, and not for the Ancients or the human players.

Basically, make an AI-only racial trait in addition to the Ancient-only racial trait, with Ancient-only allowing to build the Warp Opener ship (making the component restricted to said vessel). So, the regular AI cannot *build* Warp Openers on their own, but they could research them, and hence repair them. The human players cannot do any such, of course. You may be able to achieve the same with clever ship-building AI files; I have no clue about the AI scripts.

Hmm, it's getting complicated, and I'm not sure you like the thought of the AI-cheating anyhow. That, and the human players could benefit from it, if the AI starts doing too much opening.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

If they can repair it, they can add it to designs.

You'll probably have to give the ancients the only hull which is big enough to fit the component.

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Won't the AIs only build the ships you've designed for them to build?

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

Which is why I said "making the component [Warp Opener] restricted to said vessel [Ancient-only]".

Re: Is this possible in a mod?
 

An ancient-only mount might work too.
Does SE4 check the mount tech requirements when doing repairs?