Empire specific components, tech - possible?

[Elowan]

This question may have been fielded before but damnficanfindit.

Short of adding a Racial Trait - is there a Q&D (quick & dirty) way to make a component/tech/what-ever specific only to your empire?

Changing a Racial Trait prevents the game loading other empires by name without you resaving all the emps.

[pathfinder]

I may be wrong but make a new tech in techarea.txt and ONLY that race researches it in the AI_research.txt file. You'll probably have to make some kind of component pics, make a list of the component/tech levels in AI_component.txt plus put pics of the component in the component pic file.

[geoschmo]

Elowan, what you are trying to do is the definition of a racial trait, and it is impossible without changing the racial traits file.

However you are slightly incorrect. You can change the racial traits all you want, you just can't add or subtract racial traits form the file without redoing all the .emp files. You could make severl dummy racial traits that have no value and give no tech, and then change them later and set them up the way you want and it won't cause problems with the .emp files.

Geoschmo

[Elowan]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
... However you are slightly incorrect. You can change the racial traits all you want, you just can't add or subtract racial traits form the file without redoing all the .emp files. You could make severl dummy racial traits that have no value and give no tech, and then change them later and set them up the way you want and it won't cause problems with the .emp files.

Geoschmo

Yes - I could. But #1 - after adding those dummy traits - I'd still have to save the other emp files. Yes?

Also #2 - that racial trait - dummy or no - would have to appear (actually would) appear in the selectable traits at game start. Yes?

[Elowan]

Originally posted by pathfinder:
I may be wrong but make a new tech in techarea.txt and ONLY that race researches it in the AI_research.txt file. You'll probably have to make some kind of component pics, make a list of the component/tech levels in AI_component.txt plus put pics of the component in the component pic file.

Hmmm - I'll look into that.

I did look at that file and you may be right! How about it Geoschmo? Anyone try that?

[ August 18, 2002, 18:05: Message edited by: Elowan ]

[Suicide Junkie]

#1: Yes, but you would have to redo the EMPs anyways. This way, you get it out of the way once, and don't have to re-redo the EMPs next time you want to add racial traits.

#2: Yes, but just have them do nothing, and say "This is a mod expansion slot. Do not choose."

[gregebowman]

Speaking of .emp files, how do you create them? I recently downloaded some race files, and they didn't have the .emp files included? HOw do I go about creating them?

[Suicide Junkie]

1) Start a game with randomly generated AIs.
2) Click the Clipboard menu (top left), click players, and uncheck all the AIs.
3) During each AI player's turn, Click the Clipboard menu, and "Save Empire". Don't bother saving the ship designs; the AIs will always overwrite them anyways.
4) When saving give the file a good description, such as "Rage 5000 rp"

[geoschmo]

Elowan and Pathfinder, The AI_research file only affects the way that the AI behaves. You could in fact keep an AI from ever researching a basic tech by simply excluding it from the AI-Research file, but you won't be able to prevent a human player from researching it that way.

Geoschmo

[Baron Munchausen]

Warning:

The AI_Research file is used first by the AI. Once it gets to the end of that file it seems to go and research anything and everything it can find. I have no idea what 'plan' it uses but it does seem to gain tehcs it was not programmed to research. Most of you don't obsessively play games into the late stages so you probably haven't seen this... But I have.