Best Mods To Get?

PsychoTechFreak · #1 May 28th, 2001, 09:12 AM

The difficulties that I think of with MODs is the AI and related to that: the patches of SEIV which come out almost monthly. If you do any changes to components, add new things, scanning and obscuration, pirate/nomad stuff etc. pp then you always have to change EVERY AI (research strategy, use of new components and so on), right ?

I think that's the main reason for TDM modpack, not to change the original data, because you always have to fiddle around with the AI data every time when a new patch is released.

Or am I wrong with this? At the moment, this concerns are the main reason for me not to use any MOD which do changes to the original data, or do you change the AIs every time? I guess this would be a bunch full of work!

#2 May 28th, 2001, 09:24 AM

I have played over 20 strategy games in the Last 16 years. This is the best ever. Unlike other games (Civilization, Master of Orion)the AI does not cheat, so you have a level playing field. As time goes by the AI will get smarter due to all the people working on it. So that complaint will go away.

PsychoTechFreak · #3 May 28th, 2001, 10:21 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PsychoTechFreak:

...At the moment, this concerns are the main reason for me not to use any MOD which do changes to the original data, or do you change the AIs every time? ...

I use the other Mods also to test them, try out new things and such, I like the very good ideas from every modder... but in my main gaming I just use the TDM modpack, because of my AI concerns.

Suicide Junkie · #4 May 28th, 2001, 03:18 PM

quote:
At the moment, this concerns are the main reason for me not to use any MOD which do changes to the original data, or do you change the AIs every time?

quote:
The difficulties that I think of with MODs is the AI and related to that: the patches of SEIV which come out almost monthly. If you do any changes to components, add new things, scanning and obscuration, pirate/nomad stuff etc. pp then you always have to change EVERY AI (research strategy, use of new components and so on), right ?

My Pirates & Nomads mod changes the components and facilities and tech areas, but I've tried to arrange my changes so that they don't screw up the AI.
All the amazing new components that AIs don't use come with some fairly big limitations; so they fit in more of a roleplaying style, and aren't so effective in a down and dirty war

EG. ablative armor: amazing amount of hitpoints, but costs a fortune and takes years to repair.
-hardened bulkheads: unlimited hitpoints, but costs even more, and also "leaks damage" into the internals.

I don't change the AI, I just worked my components around them.
And with any new patches, I just use the list of changes to add the new bits to my mod, rather than starting over from the patched files.

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 28 May 2001).]

PsychoTechFreak · #5 May 28th, 2001, 05:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
...I don't change the AI, I just worked my components around them.
...

SJ, maybe I'm a little bit puzzled at the moment... Let me see if I got it right:

I could use the AI-races from TDM modpack with your mod? If I copy TDM into a folder like TDM_SJpirate and then overwrite this folder with your mod?

The AI would not use the additional/modified components, but this would not hurt?

Suicide Junkie · #6 May 28th, 2001, 06:33 PM

quote:
I could use the AI-races from TDM modpack with your mod? If I copy TDM into a folder like TDM_SJpirate and then overwrite this folder with your mod?
The AI would not use the additional/modified components, but this would not hurt?

Yes they would! The only condition is that you must create a new EMP file for the race, since my mod has extra Racial Traits.

All you have to do is:
1) Put both mods into the same directory, then run SE4.
2) Start a random game with lots of random opponents, then set them all to human control.
3) Save every race to a new EMP file such as "Nomads TDM Cuecappa.EMP"
4) Start a new game.
5) Choose "add existing empire" to add all the races you saved.
6) Edit each race, and give them the racial trait of "Normal", then save them again. You can now play these races anytime by adding them manually. (randomly generated AIs never worked with my mod)

7) Upload the EMPs to these Boards for everybody to enjoy!

The alternative is to add an extra line to the TDM races, so they choose "Normal" as a racial trait by default.

Any race without the "Normal" trait will be unable to build colonizers or resource extractors and will certainly die (unless they're controlled by a human

).

quote:
The AI would not use the additional/modified components, but this would not hurt?

The AI will use some of the new/altered components, but the ones it does not use will not hurt it. In fact, I have been surprised by some of the things the AI did.
One time, the Phong attacked with fighters, but the medium and heavy fighters were using a handful of my 0kT armor! Not so much that the fighters got too expensive, but just enough to make them really tough to kill (150 points of armor each fighter)

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 28 May 2001).]

PsychoTechFreak · #7 May 28th, 2001, 10:53 PM

Great, thanks for your detailed advice. At the moment I'm just wondering about the interim steps 2) and 3)
but I think I'll find it out...

quote:
Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
[quote]
2) Start a random game with lots of random opponents, then set them all to human control.
3) Save every race to a new EMP file such as "Nomads TDM Cuecappa.EMP"