Balance Mod Available for SE:V

[Captain Kwok]

I'm still crunching away on v0.97 - it might be available tonight but more likely tomorrow so I can run a few tests.

Besides the colony type adjustments as described a few posts ago, I've also continued to improve the variety of AI designs. Some of the things I'm working on in that respect are:

- Specifying certain design types to use/build based on Empire's character - such as kamikaze ships for aggressive races (Done)
- AI will use multiple armor types (Done)
- Improve unit designs (Mostly Done)
- Restrict certain components to combat ships (To do)
- Ordnance storage added only for ships with ordnance weapons (To do, not likely for v97)

After this version I'll probably jump to v1.00 to go with patch 3 for SE:V (due out ca. Nov 20th) so I can add a few new items and stuff of that sort - so it will be a savegame buster. I'm also aiming to give the AI a number of treaty packages that will not only match the name of the treaty, but will actually be useful for the player and AI... it already does something similar for AI team mode so I hope it won't be too difficult.

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Shinigami: I doubt I will mess around with the default slot layouts unless it becomes an issue of not enough slots for a given design

[Raapys]

Any word from Aaron about improvements in the turn processing times? Even with the Balance mod tweaks I'm finding the waiting to be too long to keep the game enjoyable.

[Captain Kwok]

I haven't much opportunity to play 1.14, but it does have the main fix required to speed up processing times, which is to clear the attack order after combat. That was the main cause of the excessive delay. There are also current processing hanging bugs in AI Alliance voting and also with cargo/population drop offs and the AI. Waiting on 1.15 to see what's been addressed.

[President_Elect_Shang]

Since you are talking about bugs I wrote Aaron Monday in regards to the generational components. I haven’t heard back from him has he said anything to the testers about this getting fixed? I can’t complete my mod until something is done to resolve this issue. Could you please check on it for me?

[Phoenix-D]

I'm hoping 1.15 has some more substantial fixes, since the delay between versions has been relatively high..

[Captain Kwok]

It looks you'll have to wait until tomorrow night for the update...

It looks like I'll have to change the way the design script adds extra components rather than it being just a simple list with the possibility of restricting it to just a single design type. I'll probably end up making up lists of components to add for a variety of design type groups - such as "Combat Ships" or "Support Ships" or "Defense Bases" and so on.

[Captain Kwok]

I've got the design script working along the lines that I described in my previous post and even added a few extra things as well. I devised a system where I consider 3 factors for a component and whether it should be added or not. One factor is the design type, the second is the role of the ship (ie combat) and the third factor is the vehicle type (ship, base, etc).

I need to make a couple more tweaks and do a 50-turn AI test before I'll post v97!

[Dizzy]

!!!

[Captain Kwok]

Greetings.

Version 0.97 of the Balance Mod has been posted. This update focused on improving AI designs and adding mixed-use colony types for them. There were a few adjustments to free up space on some ship types.

Although this version is compatible with previously saved games - I recommend starting a new game with v0.97.

Balance Mod Webpage:
http://www.captainkwok.net/balancemod.php

Code:

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Version 0.97 (17 November 2006)

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1.  Changed - Tech level requirements for Point-Defense Blaster and Point-Defense Beam

2.  Fixed   - Corrected error in Engines Per Move amount for Light Cruisers

3.  Changed - Increased ability amount for Afterburners

4.  Changed - A few minor tweaks to system types

5.  Changed - Reduced crew requirements for most ship types

6.  Fixed   - Vehicle placement type typo in Stealth and Scattering Armor

7.  Changed - Reduced Phased-Shield Generators to 30kT

8.  Added   - New design types for Drones

9.  Added   - New mixed-use colony types for the AI

10. Changed - More tweaking of AI colony type selection

11. Changed - Continued optimization of AI research selections

12. Changed - Continued optimization of AI design types

13. Updated - AI Scripts

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[henk brouwer]

I just started a new game in 0.97, and I can't seem to design weapon platforms. The weapon platform computer core component seems to be broken. If I add one, it's not recognized as such: the game still says I should add a computer core, and I can't complete the design because of this warning.

I started in quite an interesting location with the phong and terrans occupying my neighbouring systems (medium bonus) I have nowhere to expand, and it seems like I'll be at war with both of them in a couple of turns.. Time to look at some other defense strategy .