Proportions Version 2.0 available - Page 10

Arboris · #91 April 8th, 2002, 10:57 AM

PvK,

First I need to tell you that I feel you have done an incredible job with your "Proportions" mod. It is clearly evident that a lot of thought and effort went into the making of this mod. I am truly impressed with the changes that you have made and it's almost like playing an entirely new game.

The curtailing of rapid expansion adds an entirely new atmosphere and invokes a sense of awe as your fledgling empire struggles to expand in the vast expanse of space. I welcome the gradual population growth and the arduous task of populating newly found worlds. While standard SE IV already provides an epic scope. I truly feel that "Proportions" fortifies and expands the importance of each and every colony that you have acquired and thus the Quadrant becomes a very large place indeed.

Each and every colony plays a more significant role and your role as Emperor has never been so important. You work very hard towards colonial development. You painstaking administer population transport routes and must consider military escorts in high player/AI traffic areas. Diabolical opponents can perform raids on your transportation routes and disrupt the progress of your colonies along with terminating the precious lives of your brave world settlers .

I have always enjoyed to immerse myself in the ruling of my empire. "Proportions' allows you to be absorbed by the details and I find it very rewarding experience. Systems become more than mere circles on your intergalactic map. As your empire expands so does your intimate knowledge of all that goes on within.

Super job PvK!

When can we expect the next Version of "Proportions" to be released? I can't wait to see what you will add next.

Nigel Wulf

oleg · #92 April 8th, 2002, 02:58 PM

About AI settings:

I started a game with high AI difficulty and medium bonus. There are two warp points in my home system. One leads to a very nice system with several large and huge planets. There are another 3 warp points in that system. And behind each warp point lies AI home system: Cryslonite, Drushoka and Fazrah. Obviousy, each race claimed this system. I never saw so much bloodshed and destruction in any SE IV game before ! All AI players are far ahead of me in research and ships (3X bonus to home worlds). Huge fleets zip through that system back and forth, obliterating any attempted colonies. The remnants of those fleets occasionally warp to my system. I only allive because Proportions AI is not good with point defence. I think I'll post a story based on this game.

PvK · #93 April 8th, 2002, 05:42 PM

Thanks for the feedback, Nigel Wulf! These were the sorts of effects I was trying to get, and it's very nice to see them happening for other players!

I'm about to release a small 2.1 patch which fixes and improves a few things, and 2.2 maybe for this weekend or next, which will adjust a few of the facilities' Ratings. I think I'm going to be waiting for more testing and feedback before adding much more except tweaks, so I expect to focus on AI improvements. The first Gold patch adds several powerful AI customization improvements that should be very helpful for making the Proportions AI much more effective.

Oleg, your game sounds pretty neat - I hope you do write an account. It is fun and useful to see what the mod does in players' games. AI bonus is quite hard to overcome in this mod, as you can see.

PvK

wr8th · #94 April 8th, 2002, 07:27 PM

Actually, I prefer the slower game and the slowed building up of infrastructure. Too often in the unmodded Version, I'd leave a colony to languish (who cared if it got gobbled up and it was not yet developed, I'll go back in in a couple turns and retake or glass it). No longer. Now it requires attention to develop and defend. My colonization fleet ships (Colony Ships and Pop transports) now carry mines/AFVs/fighters.

The effect of distance is now enhanced, as are the supply planets' ability to extend the reach of your empire. By far, the largest difference is the need for a dedicated migration fleet. Because of it's relative importance in developing colonies' population and production, it cannot be ignored to provide maintenance points for warships. A compromise is to mount some weapons and better engines on some of the Pop transports so that they can act as privateers in times of urgent need (not really meant to act as warships, but to augment the existing fleet).

This past weekend I started 3 different games just to get a better feel for the opening moves of Proportions. Including the efficient engine models, small missile sytems and changed ground pounder rules, this mod should help me kill many hours I'd likely be spending doing something productive like remodeling the kitchen or bathroom or some such frivolity that wives like.

PsychoTechFreak · #95 April 8th, 2002, 07:28 PM

When do you implement upgradable Cities/Metropolis, is it in 2.1 already ? At the moment I would have to scrap a City to build up a Metropole, right ?

PvK · #96 April 8th, 2002, 10:50 PM

Yes, that's right. I have it in 2.1, but I remember why I didn't put it in originally. SE4 does not allow upgrades to intermediate levels - only to the highest level. This means that as soon as you develop Megalopolis, you won't be able to upgrade from City to Metropolis, only to Megalopolis (which will take a long long time). I'll send a request in case it's easy for MM to allow intermediate upgrades, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I'll still add upgrades to 2.1, but this is a kind of annoying limit. If anyone knows of a way around this, let me know.

PvK

PvK · #97 April 8th, 2002, 10:56 PM

wr8th, I'm glad you're getting so much out of the mod. Yes, arming transports (and/or using convoy tactics) can be helpful, also because enemy raiders will have a harder time against them. The maintenance reduction means it's not prohibitively expensive to add some interesting abilities to transports.

PvK

wr8th · #98 April 8th, 2002, 11:11 PM

PvK,

Somewhat off-topic, but I checked your profile and you list yourself at wargamer.com. Co-incidentally, I remember a couple years back looking around for scenarios for some Talonsoft games and coming across that website.

Are you a webmaster for that site? Jes' wunnerin'

PvK · #99 April 8th, 2002, 11:31 PM

I was the executive editor at The Wargamer for some years - now I'm Editor Emeritus (meaning I contribute what time I can spare).

PvK

PsychoTechFreak · #**100** April 9th, 2002, 12:15 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PvK:
Yes, that's right. I have it in 2.1, but I remember why I didn't put it in originally. SE4 does not allow upgrades to intermediate levels - only to the highest level. This means that as soon as you develop Megalopolis, you won't be able to upgrade from City to Metropolis, only to Megalopolis (which will take a long long time). I'll send a request in case it's easy for MM to allow intermediate upgrades, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I'll still add upgrades to 2.1, but this is a kind of annoying limit. If anyone knows of a way around this, let me know.

PvK

I don't think there is a workaround other than hardcode changes. I would say, intermediate upgrades are a must for Mods like this. Just with the unmodded 3 types of easily upgradable facilities it does not hurt much. But until we get intermediate upgrades (hopefully), I think non-intermediate upgrades are better than nothing.

Another nice-to-have feature comes to my mind, I would like to switch on/off facilities, why?
In limited resources games it is sometimes necessary to lay fellow (not sure about the term) a planet, until it regains resources with value improvement plants. Scrapping all of the mineral miners and rebuild them later is not a very economic way.