AI Anger Data File

LintMan · #1 December 5th, 2000, 01:09 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Talenn:
Lintman:

I've been toying with the idea of changing the number of RPs that Research Centers generate too. Out of curiousity, what change did you make (up or down?) and why?

I bumped the numbers up to 700/800/900 (I think - but it might have been 800/900/1000 - I changed it to match the mineral facil output) for research levels I/II/III.

I bumped it up because when I applied the patch during my current game, I lost 20% of my total research points due to the computer facils becoming non-cumulative, and also some techs had skyrocketed (more than tripled) in cost. I started my game at low tech, and wanted to see the whole tech tree. I already had a huge empire going with 40-50 planets, and I was barely managing to get 200K RP's/turn post-patch. It seemed that at my current rate, the game would be over (the AI players were way behind) long before I got to the coolest techs.

I don't know if I'll keep the points at this higher level, but it does seem to me that in a low-tech start, you'll never get up to those highest techs in a game with the research points set at 500/600/700.

There's just so many techs to get and not enough research points to get them. What I'd really like to see is the amount of research points doubled, but only if you spread your points among several fields. I.e.: if you research 3-4 techs at once in different areas, you'd get a big bonus percentage that you'd lose if you put all your research into one area. That way, it would encourage wide coverage of more tech areas (instead of narrowly following just one branch at a time), while allowing decent progress to be made in all the areas.

Talenn · #2 December 5th, 2000, 01:27 AM

Lintman:

Yes, I play low-tech start and on a small map too so most of the games are resolved by the light cruiser era of technology. I was toying with upping the numbers to see the better techs in the smaller games as well.

I tried playing on a larger map, but 100+ turns of build-up to find that there was NO competition was pretty boring. The AI seems to really only have a chance when the conflicts are early and brutal...ie before the player can put his/her superior ship building and expansion management to good use. In the early 'frigate wars' the AI does a fair job, and at the very least it trips you up long enough for OTHER AI players to get a jump.

Talenn

Repo Man · #3 December 5th, 2000, 05:36 AM

I am probably the only one who tried this, but I reduced the research by a factor of 10 for one game. The effects are rather interesting, I felt there was a whole world of technology out there, and I would never run out of things to research. I have to say, its pretty scary when light cruisers show up and you are still 5 years away from producing them.

My next game may be a forever war varient, increasing the tech by a factor of 10 or more. Each ship will be obsolete as it rolls of the shipyard. Not unlike my clunker of a computer.

JDL · #4 December 5th, 2000, 04:53 PM

What data file did you change to change the research factor?

JDL

LintMan · #5 December 5th, 2000, 09:48 PM

I don't remember the exact name, but I think it was something like Facilities.txt or FacilityTypes.txt.

Basically, you want to edit the file that has all the facility types listed in it. Look up the research facils in the file, and one of the properties will be how many research points the facility gives. Just raise/lower the number as desired.

[This message has been edited by LintMan (edited 05 December 2000).]