Babylon 5 Mod

[Jamorobo]

Originally posted by pathfinder:
Question on the AI_research: I did most of the AI in a quick, easy build. What are recommendations on making them unique (in how fast they research their race weapons and race-unque techs). Also, should I take out the weapon research that is not used in the AI_designcreation?

This is so the AI can cut to "the chase" so to speak and rapidly get tech it needs...

Also....post here if I left a tech out of a race's AI_research file. So many areass, I forget things

I'm not sure if i've said this already but all races are only building ECM level 1 and no higher at the moment. This has probibly been changed allready though.

The ai also need more PDF on it's ships as i can easly wipe out 4 light crUsers with 4 heavy fighters!

The ai also needs to defend it's home worlds, in my game at the moment i flew a 24 battle crusier's and a dropship fleet in to 1 of the 3 homeworlds the narn had, so while they huge crusier fleets were charging around the place my fleet had to only contend with 2 relay stations armed with light bLast cannons, 20 pfd weapon platforms and about 5 repair tugs. i simply captured their planet and they went down from first to sixth!!!!!

Well anyway for EA techy uniqueness...

EA used Plasma weapons early on at the start of the minbari war ( The nova class ships had 22 twin linked plasma cannons!!!! ) However i don't recomend this for the ai as plasma weapons suck even thought they are cheap to research.

The main big EA gun is the painfull to research Laser/pulse array ( For those that don't know you need the following to get the first level in this weapon: Physics 2, military science 1, Laser weapons 7, Plasma weapons 7 and a level in adavance laser weapons!!!) This is the holy grail of earth weapons (well kind off )

This means EA ai will need physics 2 to get laser weapons pretty quickly, this should be fine as a good weapon, then military science a bit later to get pulse weapons. (if u want EA ships to use pulse weapons u need to remember that u need a level in particle weapons for every level in pulse weapons).

Particle weapons are needed for the Uni pulse cannon for fighters ( get this up to level 7 and u can fit 2 on a med fighter to get a "starfury" WOW!!! .

Do u think you could make it so large EA ships have 2-3 fighter bays on board. As this is a tatical advantage as well as being like in the series. I do it on my EA ships of Battle cruiser and above as with cobra bay 3's and 3 expanded fighter bays u can hold 18 heavy fighters, this takes care of any other fighters and of any small ships with boarding parties.

Oh that reminds me the ai does not use boarding parties so i never have to put self destruct devices on the ships.

[pathfinder]

Jam: What race do you normally play as? If Shadows...their weapons for fighters are rather long-ranged and strong..

Not sure how to make the AI use more than one PD weapon...anyone know how? May PD as secondary weapon?

I can reset the battlestations (EA Relay station) to use heavier weapons (if I haven't done so already) but they will be used ONLY if the heavier weapons have been researched.

As for the need to do all that research, one thing to remember is one doen't want ALL (IMHO anyways) research to be weapons, infrastructure does have it place, otherwise the AI runs out of materials quick...

Another thing I noticed is that while the EA design fighters with missiles they do NOT build them. Must the AI dude put anotations for each type fighter in the AI_construction_vehicle file in order for them to be built?

Hmmm..all the race I checked have level 9-10 sensor and 6-7 levels combat support (multi-plex and ecm)...I simply have not added the ecm support/sensor support and advanced ecm methods/advanced sensor methods yet.

The ability for launching fighters is in designcreation, not sure how to have AI place fighter bay(s) on ships (as per the show).

[ October 19, 2002, 19:59: Message edited by: pathfinder ]

[Val]

Working on the 1.49.33 release now, added PF's latest AI enhancements and all the shipsets he has sent in. Also added a bunch of pics from the vast assortment Nomor sent in. Worked some more on the components. Made a change to the fighters that might make them a bit less effective against
larger ships. Made some other changes as well and am also working on the Raiders/Nomads to make them more playable.

PF
Would rather have the races go for their unique weapons a little quicker, but the choice to when is up to you.
To get more PD weapons I had made PD one of the required components and had raised the per ton value so they had one, then inserted another PD requirment after a few other 'essential' components(this time with a lowered tonnage so they would take more), this seemed to work in my initial AI.

[pathfinder]

Okies, me will look at the 5 main races and see what I can do to "cattle-prod" them to faster weapons research (though me thinks I did this with the Shadows)

[Timstone]

Val: please hold on with the release of .33. I can make those anmimations work. I'll have them ready the comming monday.

[Jamorobo]

Originally posted by pathfinder:
Jam: What race do you normally play as? If Shadows...their weapons for fighters are rather long-ranged and strong..

-Well i play as Earth alliance most of the time, and my 4 heavy fighters armed with 3 uni-pulse cannons VIII each, took out 4 narn heavy cruisers all armed with 5-6 partical cannon V's and a plasma PDF weapon without a single loss.

Originally posted by pathfinder:
As for the need to do all that research, one thing to remember is one doen't want ALL (IMHO anyways) research to be weapons, infrastructure does have it place, otherwise the AI runs out of materials quick...

-I'm just saying about weapons as the AI at the moment are doing fine with infastructure as they at turn 120 have all their facilities at level 3 except space yards. The only problem with the ai is that although they expand, they do not move population to colonies so facilities take ages for the ai players to build. The ai's only problem at the moment is that it's research is too much to do with infastructure and not enought to do with weapons and combat.

I'll for instance see on the player comparison that the narns for example have about the same amount of tech levels as me, i'll then decide to give them all the light/med/large general weapons techs i have, 3-4 levels of propultion and a few levels in a couple of weapons techs, they except and shoot up 50 tech levels on the comparision chart. This shows that they are researching alot of things to do with infrastructure, but not weapons. I keep having to give research gifts to make the ai challanging to play.

Originally posted by pathfinder:
Another thing I noticed is that while the EA design fighters with missiles they do NOT build them. Must the AI dude put anotations for each type fighter in the AI_construction_vehicle file in order for them to be built?

-It might be that the ai just doesn't need to build them at the moment as it has enought fighters. On a similar note the ai only builds new ships, it is quite happy to have ancient designs rolling around untill they get killed, they don't seem to retrofit old ships in to new designs and especilly do not retrofit bases.

Originally posted by pathfinder:
I can reset the battlestations (EA Relay station) to use heavier weapons (if I haven't done so already) but they will be used ONLY if the heavier weapons have been researched.

-you misunderstood me, i was EA attacking the narns and their bases defending their homewords were NOT upgraded from what they had first built them as and therefore you do not need to change any file, i'm just saying that they don't retrofit their ships.

-On your point about the ai running out of resourses i don't think that is quite true as with the reduction in maintanace costs you can support about 40-60 ships from one homeworld with about 10 mine/refinary things on them and still have enoght left for a large construction que
(this is early on in the game when ships don't cost loads).

-The ai is also not using mines as i've captured several planets where there have been mines on the planet but they have not been launched or to my knowledge used somewhere else.

[pathfinder]

Haven't a clue as to how to get them to move population, only time I have seen the AI do this is when I set the population minister on along with one or two thers when I am playing and not testing AI.

3 uni-pulse, eh?! I only use 2 with rest being reactor, engines and armor.. I had the Shadows with 10 light fighters take out 70+ Minbari frigates, corvettes and destroyers. The light molecular slicer they had (forget the level) had the Minbari outranged by a coupla spaces...no contest Shadows 70+ Minbari 0.

Funny, the EA AI is constantly upgrading the ships and bases....wonder why the Narn aren't...

Oh and Jam, not disagreeing with ya at all. See some of the same things, just mostly don't know what to do about them (me novice at AI stuff)

[ October 20, 2002, 00:40: Message edited by: pathfinder ]

[Nomor]

Val: Personally I'd rather have Version .33 yesterday as I gives me Sunday to experiment, and I want to try making an Abbai Empire file, which doesn't see to want to happen at present?

Timestone: We can always have the animations In .34 on Monday.

[pathfinder]

Nomor: lemme know what ya think of the Abbai shipset. I don't know if Val has done anything to it but it is one of the best I have done (well better than than the Pak'Ma'Ra anyways ). Hopefully Val had time to put some graphics "magic" to it.

[Nomor]

PF: Will do... soon as .33 is up. Can't wait.
Val you have mail.., not a lot.. Hey I just got promoted..!
(Just found that Vorlon OP, in your box now.. )

[ October 20, 2002, 02:46: Message edited by: Nomor ]