Babylon 5 Mod

[Ragnarok-X]

Originally posted by pathfinder:
What would one have to modify to cut the build time for facilities? Costs (as in minerals, organics, radioactives?)?

pathfinder,

- either decrease the costs for the facilitys (usually especially minerals)
- increase the basic build rate (in settings.txt)
- increse pop modifiers (so more pop will increase the build rate
- increase build rate for spaceyards (so planets with spaceyards can build way faster)
- decrease cost for spaceyards (so planets can get faster spaceyards which enable faster building.

[Goatfoam]

Guys, I couldn't download the expanded facilities file from the Babylon 5 site, for the great war. Could someone email it me please?

[Goatfoam]

Nevermind, it was my download manager causing the problem.

[Timstone]

Bumpski!
Grumbler must still have problems with his internet. Last time we spoke he told some stupid electrician had cut his telephoneline. Hope he'll be back soon.

[grumbler]

Okay, back in battery. Some sewer maintenance guys (I think one of them was Ed Norton) cut my buried phone line and the interim "hand-laid" line had so much noise my modem couldn't connect at speed. Some fora I could get to, but this one kept timing out.

I managed in the meantime to fix some facilities problems, and found that i could get the Ai to build small ships, but still have this major problem: the AI will build escorts now, but still seldom anything larger (but occasionally up to Heavy Destroyers). What is the limit 9for I can only think there must be one) on the time that the AI will spend on building any ship?

Here is the crux of the mystery, as far as I can tell: the AI will design every ship its tech allows. However, even though AI_D_C calls for all warships to be called "Design Type: Attack Ships" the resulting designs are ALWAYS called by their hull size, e.g. Light Cruiser (and once one gets past HD, it is always the hull size next above the one it is actualy using). Naturally, since the AI_C_V never calls for the construction of anything with a Design Type of "Light Cruiser" the LC design cannot enter the construction queue. I believe that all the designs that are e.g. "Heavy Destroyer" I have seen are upgrades to existing ships - but how can the AI upgrade to a design it cannot build?

This has been a real show-stopper. In three months of testing and tweaking I haven't found the solution. Can it be that there can only be the single design type of Attack Ship (size 10 kt - 5,000 kt) as in the core game? I cannot believe this, as I remember this function working in the base B5 mod, and it had as I recall a bunch of attack ship types.

however, I cannot make it work, and would appreciate any help anyone can give.

I do have a workable "prototype" for everything else, barring weapons (which Timstone has a great design model for). Facilities work, but need to be "racialized." Engines, reactors, and all of the ship, base, and unit components work. Even the "discovered" technologies now seem to work, except the "unique ship class" which the AI won't build because of the aforementioned problem.

Does anyone have ANY thoughts on the lack of AI-built larger warships? It will build battleship-and-above-sized troop transports, minesweepers, and whatnot but not warships.

[TNZ]

Well, this is what I’m doing in my adaption of the Star Trek Mod with the AI design creation files and AI Construction vehicles files for warships. The AI builds the three class of starships without a problem.

AI Design Creation file:
Name := Explorer Class Starship
Design Type := Attack Ship

Name := Medium Class Starship
Design Type := Attack Ship

Name := Heavy Class Starship
Design Type := Attack Ship

AI Construction Vehicles file:
AI State := Exploration
Num Queue Entries := 22
Entry 2 Type := Explorer Class Starship
Entry 2 Planet Per Item := 120
Entry 2 Must Have At Least := 2
Entry 5 Type := Heavy Class Starship
Entry 5 Planet Per Item := 30
Entry 5 Must Have At Least := 2
Entry 6 Type := Medium Class Starship
Entry 6 Planet Per Item := 60
Entry 6 Must Have At Least := 4

[pathfinder]

Grumbler: On construction of ships---make sure that you put the larger ships size on top in designcreation. Take note how the B5 Version Val & I did ( eg battleship is "on top of battle cruiser). Had similar problem in "original" B5 mod until I got that order straight.

[ June 26, 2004, 03:05: Message edited by: pathfinder ]

[PvK]

The ship construction is weird and has been explained in several other threads. This may not be clear, but in a nutshell, ships of the same BASIC type (Attack Ship, other hard coded values) count against the amount requested in that file, even if they have different custom names, so:

Build 5 attack ships
Build 6 MYattackShipClass
Build 17 MyOtherAttackShipClass
Build 3 MyThirdAttackShipClass

Will get the AI to build 5 Attack Ships, then 1 of the next type (6 minus 5), then 11 of the other type (17 minus 6), then NONE of the third special type, because there will already be 7 attack ships by the time it falls through to that line, and it only requests 3.

PvK

[pathfinder]

Grumbler: If that doesn't work. Maybe look at the construction vehicle file(s) and see when larger ships can be built; sometime there are turn limits in those (eg only escort until turn 20).

[Timstone]

Alrighty then, Grumbler is back in business!!
Let's hear a cheer for technology and a little bit of oldfashion luck.

*Cheers loudly with a brewski in his hand*

Grumbler: I've come up with a variety of weapons everyone can live with. The Ancients (if we ever include them that is) will get fewer weapons becasue they simply don't have many wepaons, they're just hideously strong. And the younger races get a little bit more weapons. Not every race has an equal number of weapons, but they're a little bit cheaper to chose. The engines, I must admit I haven't worked on them yet.

Me being here in Italy (still), isn't helping a lot. I'm mailing from a cafe in the hotel I'm staying. Lucklily I have my beautiful secretary with me (my GF), so it isn't just work, work, work. The best thing is, I getting payed to travel around with my GF and solve cool problems. Yeah, this rocks. Too bad I can't spend as much time as I want in making nice 3D models and the B5 mod.

Oh, lately I'm busy with another little mod. Nothing special, but it might be fun when I complete it. Some cool ideas in that mod. I might add. The basis of the mod isn't my idea (unfortunately), but still it's going to be great. IF I finish it.

Edit: Oh look, my number of Posts is equal to ten times the gravitational constant;
9,81 m/s^2.

[ June 26, 2004, 14:42: Message edited by: Timstone ]