Happiness...driving me to dispair

gravey101 · #1 August 12th, 2002, 07:43 PM

I always thought the natural decrease was a tendancy to become unhappy over time. Isn't this what drives the planet to indifferent on turn 3 with no other events ?

geoschmo · #2 August 12th, 2002, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gravey101:
I always thought the natural decrease was a tendancy to become unhappy over time. Isn't this what drives the planet to indifferent on turn 3 with no other events ?

Not if the values in the text file are consistant. Negative numbers make your population happy, and positive ones make your population unhappy. The natural decrease is a negative number, hence it should make you happy. It's almost like there is another hard code number that is atually a gradual increase that is being factored by the natural decrease. Because as I said you can raise your races happiness characteristic and cause the indifferent stage to be delayed. Noramlly it takes three turns, but when I raised happiness to 5% it takes 7 or 8 turns to turn indifferent.

Geoschmo

geoschmo · #3 August 12th, 2002, 07:57 PM

BING! Lightbulb moment!

The natural decrease is exactly that, a decrease. It is subtracted from your current happiness level, instead of being added like all the other happiness factors. So a negative number for natural decrease makes populations unhappy(because subtacting a negative is adding), while a negative number for everything else makes your populations happy (because adding a negative is subtracting). Kind of a goofy way to do it. But it reminds me of the combat to hit defense values that were so confusing to me before too.

Thanks for triggering taht little thought process Gravey.

Geoschmo

[ August 12, 2002, 18:59: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

gravey101 · #4 August 12th, 2002, 08:03 PM

I agree with what you say, but the term natural decrease makes me wary. Is it a double negative? I.e. if the natural decrease is the amount that is taken away from the happiness level each turn then a negative natural decrease will raise the hapiness score and thus lower the happiness level. Who knows? That was the only explanation I could give to why starting planets went to indifferent with nothing apparantly happening.

gravey101 · #5 August 12th, 2002, 08:05 PM

heh heh

you were just ahead of me there!

:-)

geoschmo · #6 August 12th, 2002, 08:27 PM

Yep, I tested it. Made the natural decrease a positive number and homeworlds stays happy for about 8 turns and then goes jubilant. Dang, no wonder it's been so confusing trying to figure this happiness stuff out.

Geoschmo

Q · #7 August 12th, 2002, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Yep, I tested it. Made the natural decrease a positive number and homeworlds stays happy for about 8 turns and then goes jubilant. Dang, no wonder it's been so confusing trying to figure this happiness stuff out.

Geoschmo

Very interesting Geoschmo. Thank you for this explanation.
Did you test what happens if the colony starts angry? Because the negative natural decrease lowers as far as I observed the happiness level only to indifferent and I have the impression, that if you start at angry then it will improve the happiness until again indifferent is reached. But I might be completely wrong about this. However if you use your test model with a positive natural decrease the happiness should go to riot when you start at angry if I am right.
And have you any idea what the "Natural Decrease for Other Races" does??