quote:
Originally posted by Tampa_Gamer:
Wow - this is going to be a tough one to make a program for! To the best of our knowledge, the AI will go through the design several times until the ship is filled. The biggest wishlist would be able to somehow determine how the AI will construct the design based on what you have entered (i.e. shields per x, etc. The problem is the other two variables - (1) tech level of various components (reached or not reached) and (2) whether the next higher hull size is available yet. That being said, maybe we could enter these variables as assumptions and then run something similar to your "analyze prerequisites" in your tech modder. Anyway, I am rambling - but this is the biggest pain about the design file b/c it forces you to play the game and inspect the AI race designs periodically, then flip back to the text file to modify more.
Tampa, I was thinking along the lines of leveraging the work I've already done on the AI Tech Queue modder. You'd merely enter a research point total, and the current techs and tech levels would be determined from the Research File. You'd select a design template from a drop-down list, enter a tech point total, and press a button to be presented with a representative AI ship. What I've got to figure out is how exactly the AI uses the Design Types File to design ships at a given Tech level. What's the current state of knowledge on how the AI fills up the ship based upon the Space per One entries??
--Zeno