Mod/Extension Posted

[Ebonyknight]

Talenn,

What settings have you found that work for you smaller ship/faster speed idea? I was going to bump up the number of engines one each so that DD was 7 and ES was 9.

But you mentioned something about the missle speed. Does this make them faster than missles? Where can you edit missle speed to compensate for this? How does it all play out with the faster ships?

Let me know about your mods (both of you actually).

[Tampa_Gamer]

Missile (Seeker) speed is adjusted in the "Component.txt" file in the ...\Data directory and yes, unfortunately I think that would create an imbalance with early Seeker speeds, they recently tweaked the speed in the 1.11 patch to further balance this concept. I do like the ideal of additional uses in late games for smaller ships though. . .

[Talenn]

EbonyKnight:

I have added the 'Streamlined Hulls' Tech Area to my set and my initial tests show that it is working.

Basically, I have it set so that at level 5 Ship Construction, a new area opens that when researched gives you access to the 4 new, faster Hull Types. I also gave them an increased (5%) defensive bonus to make them seem more attractive later in the game as well. I may increases this defensive bonus as well in an effort to make the small ships viable into the later stages of the game.

My new Hull Types are capable of 8 Engines for the ES/FG/DD and 7 for the CL. I was hesitant about allowing these speeds in the early game when the weapons are so slow and short ranged. I wouldnt want to tweak the Missile Speeds any further at this point either. I think they are fine as they are overall.

I'll let you know how it works out in the games I'm playing. If you make the changes and notice something you like or dont like, please let me know as well.

Talenn

[Baron Munchausen]

I must question whether all of these things work the way you think they do. Not all abilities transfer from components to facilities or vice versa, and MM has not clearly documented which ones do or do not.

The "Change Ground Defense" ability description in abilities.txt says it changes GROUND combat. Given how tough it is for troops to conquer a planet, maybe this is not a good idea right now. But, yeah, the ability has been there for a while and MM has not got around to making a facility to use it. Same for Planetary Shields. There's nothing but the "artifact" technology. I have added both types of facilites to my custom techs.

The "Combat to Hit Dec" ability doesn't work with Weapons Platforms, just like multiplex tracking. In both cases the planet's attributes super-cede the units abilities. I doubt that either of these works with facilities either. Have you verified that this works somehow?

There is also no reason to think that adding research point generation to a component would work. I tried it a long time ago and it did NOT work. It is certainly possible that the game has been changed but there was never any announcement of this. Have you tested this and proved that giving a Medical Bay this ability actually produces any research points? Or that adding intelligence point generation to the various sensors really produces any intelligence points?

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 27 November 2000).]

[Talenn]

All:

Baron is indeed correct about the 'Point Generation' on Components. I hadnt added that part of the Tampa_Gamer's Mod to my set but decided to try it out as an experiment. The points are not added.

Baron:

Well, in the absence of any information, its trial and error. In this case, he was not able to accomplish what he wanted, but at least an effort was made. As a tester, you have access to far more info than the end user. At this point, I'm just as happy to see someone experimenting in this fashion so we can all benefit.

If you have any further info that we can use (and obviously only if doesnt violate any NDA's ), please throw it out there whenever/wherever you can. It might save some of us alot of time in trial and error mistakes if we know that someone else has already tried it.

Thank for the catch on Tampa_Gamer's mod and please add your input to any other mod discussions. Experience is very helpful with these types of mods methinx

Talenn

[Jubala]

quote:

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Originally posted by Talenn:
I have added the 'Streamlined Hulls' Tech Area to my set and my initial tests show that it is working.

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Sounds great. I'd like to see the filechanges you made.

A question. I assume it's impossible to retrofit an old frigate to a design based on the new streamlined hull, right?

[Tampa_Gamer]

Baron:

Thanks for the info! This is exactly why I posted the Mod as Version 1.0 - to get this kind of feedback. Could you possibly post a short list of abilities that do no cross-over between facilities/components based on your tinkering and what other beta testers have posted in your forum? The way the documentation reads now, this is never explained, so it could save a lot of time for everyone. I did some preliminary testing on the "Combat Hit Dec" ability and the Resource Point Generation, but obviously I was not thorough enough. I apologize to anyone who wasted the time installing those specific mods, but this is all new to me and we are all learning the "undocumented features" at the same time!

Anyway, can any of you explain exactly what the .emp files do and how you can make them (or read them for that matter). I saw some posted on the Hyperion website and am curious how they effect the game.

P.S. - I would like to see how others are modifying their files, please post your mods and take a few minutes to explain how you did it (similar to the readme.txt in my mod). This not only helps others understand what you did (so they can offer pinpoint feedback like Baron) but it also serves as an educational tool for the rest of us.

[This message has been edited by Tampa_Gamer (edited 28 November 2000).]