Possible Bug?

[Atraikius]

From what I understood, and observed for the ones I used empire files for; the min % determines how many additional research projects are placed in the que along with the current project. 100% means only the current project is placed in the que, 50% is the current project and the next project to work on, 33% is the current and 2 additional projects, and 25% is the current and 3 additional projects, how it was done prior to this patch. The AI's of mine that were selected randomly did not seem to be using the %, and were researching as they had prior to the patch (bad because I re-ordered the research order).

MB - Have you checked about the abilities from the general file with this latest patch, it looked like that part was correct with the orks, just thier research was messed up.

[Rollo]

Atraikius,
I tried to reproduce this bug, but everything seemed to work alright. All the AI were randomly chosen and obeyed the Tech Area Min Percent line. The AI that I checked were the Phong, Klingon, Orks, Cue Cappa, Space Vikings, Abbidon, Pyrochette, Piundon, Toron, and Sergetti. I was using turn based movement. Were you using sim move perhaps? I didn't check that. Sometimes that makes a differnce.

quote:

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The min percent only limits the addition of projects, and only the first project in the queue determines how many others will be added.

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I do not think that is how it works. I have posted my theory on the research in a new thread .

Rollo

edit: maybe you just thought the research wasn't working, because you were using three projects with 33? check out the posted link above.

[This message has been edited by Rollo (edited 03 November 2001).]

[Suicide Junkie]

Master Belisarius:

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Other problem is for games with:
a) 2000 starting points, the random AI generator, will not use more than ONE Advanced Trait. If the AI have more than 1 racial trait for 2000 points, then, the others are not used and the points wasted.
b) 3000 starting points, the random AI generator, will not use more than TWO Advanced Trait. ...

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I know that it is not quite as you've said. In my P&N game, I just started a 2K point game, and the 1st AI in the list (phong) are sitting with 2 advanced racial traits (Crystallurgy, Normal)
IMO, the advanced traits are chosen first, then the characteristic modifiers are used. The game stops choosing more adv. traits when the racial points would have gone negative to prevent AI cheating. Another note is that "free" zero cost traits must not be chosen Last, since the trait selection bails out when the spare racial points hits zero (before the free traits would have been successfully chosen).

So, you can have as many Adv. traits as you want, but they have to have a total cost less than or equal to the game setting.

The problem for you is that the standard game traits are all at least 1000 points, so you only get one or two choices.
Try "Advanced Power Conservation" and "Mechanoids", in a 2000 point game. you should get both.
In P&N, a 2000 point game would allow you:
"Pack Rats" + "Tiny Race" + "Expanded Automation" + "Normal" + "Pirate" + "Nomadic" + "Big Thinkers" + "Living Ships" all at the same time (total of 1900 racial point cost). That's 9 advanced traits in a 2k point game.

[capnq]

I started a new game tonight to test something else, and ran into a problem similar to what MB is reporting.

Version 1.49, New Game, 5000 points, Add Existing Empire, Krill. Krill_AI_General says they should have Hardy Industrialists, Propulsion Experts, and Natural Merchants, but in the game they only have Hardy Industrialists.

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Cap'n Q
My first SE IV mod! Hypermaze quadrant
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

[Master Belisarius]

Suicide_junkie:
Really I would like to be wrong!
Please, can you do a test for me?

1) If you have the TDM and 1.49 installed, start a game with 2000 points and random AIs, until one of the random AI's is the Pyrochette or the Aquilaeian.

Edit: you also need to set the Computer Player Difficulty to High, if not, probably the random AI's will not use all the possible points.

2) Change the Pyrochette or Aquilaeian to human control and save this (or these) empires.
3) Start a new game, but using the previously saved *.emp file. You will see that they're not using all the available points.
4) Start a gain, but create the *.emp file yourself, using the AI_general.txt for the empire that you're testing, as reference (and of course for 2000 points).
5) Please check if using manually the data included into the AI_general.txt, the result is over the 2000 points.
6) If you can see what I did wrong, please, please, let me know.

[This message has been edited by Master Belisarius (edited 03 November 2001).]

[Suicide Junkie]

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If you can see what I did wrong, please, please, let me know.

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So far my theory is this:
1) SE4 adds advanced racial traits from the general.txt
- if the total racial points remaining would go below zero, don't add it, and quit. If the points remaining is 0 add the trait and quit.

2) Racial Characteristics are added & subtracted.

What you were intending to do was take racial points purchased in step two, and buy advanced traits in step one.

But, since step two hadn't occurred yet, you didn't have the points available and were denied the trait.

[Master Belisarius]

quote:

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Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
What you were intending to do was take racial points purchased in step two, and buy advanced traits in step one.
But, since step two hadn't occurred yet, you didn't have the points available and were denied the trait.

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Ok, I like your theory. But still we have a bug, right? (Or the manual empire creation must be more restrictive, or the AI random generator have a bug).