Adamant Mod Discussion Thread

[CovertJaguar]

Kamog Wrote:
Those weapons look magical and at the same time, technological as well... excellent work!

Magic really isn't all that different from science. A mage spends as much time theorizing and performing experiments as any scientist. The scientific method still holds true. The only difference is that magic doesn't care about the laws of physics and other standard scientific restrictions. It operates by a separate set of rules that cannot be reconciled with scientific laws.

Magical apparatus will take on a form similar to any device ever made, whether magical or technological. Energy must come from somewhere, in this case the crystals feed directly off of the Mana Shard Generators. The energy must then be converted and channeled into a useful form, this is done by the crystals and the "brass" tubing. And, Volia, instant lightning bolt or whatever else you need. [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Lightning.gif[/img]

[Fyron]

Of course, magic spells usually channel energy from other planes, such as the elemental planes and negative energy planes. So, it appears that the energy does indeed come from nowhere.

[CovertJaguar]

Only from a scientist's point of view.

[CovertJaguar]

And behold the Cone of Cold (Otherwise known as "The Snow Blower" ):

[Ed Kolis]

Isn't that a cylinder, not a cone?

[CovertJaguar]

Picky, Picky, Picky... Lets just say the snow will fan out as it travels.

[CovertJaguar]

I have been fiddling around with nomads and pirates against the AI. I was playing a nomadic race and was trying to get a functional pirate AI working. The pirate AI isn't doing very well, but it will build pretty good boarding ships. The AI can capture ships right? I'm not mistaken am I? Never actually seen them do it yet. Anyways, I had some questions and suggestions regarding the nomads and pirates.

Nomads:
--Why are the research teams limited to 10 per vessel? I would like to be able to build dedicated research bases and ships, but with only being able to put 100kt of research teams on the vessel hinders this somewhat.

--Research teams should count as cargo on cargo vessels so that I can make dedicated research ships.

--You need to make a decision concerning the research outPosts, they are useless currently. Either make them large enough to put a maintenance reducer on them or remove them entirely.

Pirate:
--Pirates can capture colony ships and then colonize planets with them. They have nothing really useful to build on those planets though. Would it be terrible to give the pirates access to the forced labor production facilities to put those enslaved populations to use.

--Pirate are supposed to be hard to find right? I was wondering if it would be reasonable to give the pirates a system cloak component for their bases. It can be large (1000kt - 1500kt) and expensive. It would require a base just to house it. It doesn't need to be as high a level as the monster cloaks. A good set of sensors could see through it. This wouldn't be too powerful would it?

Please forgive any false assumptions I may have made and feel free to correct me.

[Fyron]

CovertJaguar said:
I have been fiddling around with nomads and pirates against the AI. I was playing a nomadic race and was trying to get a functional pirate AI working. The pirate AI isn't doing very well, but it will build pretty good boarding ships. The AI can capture ships right? I'm not mistaken am I? Never actually seen them do it yet. Anyways, I had some questions and suggestions regarding the nomads and pirates.

The AI can never properly handle pirates or nomads...

Nomads:
--Why are the research teams limited to 10 per vessel? I would like to be able to build dedicated research bases and ships, but with only being able to put 100kt of research teams on the vessel hinders this somewhat.

To encourage spreading them out amongst different vessels.

--Research teams should count as cargo on cargo vessels so that I can make dedicated research ships.

That seems rather odd to me... why would a transport make a good research hull? You can just use a warship hull...

--You need to make a decision concerning the research outPosts, they are useless currently. Either make them large enough to put a maintenance reducer on them or remove them entirely.

I already have, actually. Just not yet in a released Version...

Pirate:
--Pirates can capture colony ships and then colonize planets with them. They have nothing really useful to build on those planets though. Would it be terrible to give the pirates access to the forced labor production facilities to put those enslaved populations to use.

Possibly... pirates aren't really supposed to be generating their own resources to begin with. Perhaps a weakened Version...

--Pirate are supposed to be hard to find right? I was wondering if it would be reasonable to give the pirates a system cloak component for their bases. It can be large (1000kt - 1500kt) and expensive. It would require a base just to house it. It doesn't need to be as high a level as the monster cloaks. A good set of sensors could see through it. This wouldn't be too powerful would it?

Hmm... possibly.

[CovertJaguar]

Imperator Fyron said:

The AI can never properly handle pirates or nomads...

Well it kind of works, they will never be a threat beyond their home system and any surrounding systems, their largest problem is that they lack the resources to maintain more than a dozen ships or so, that and the fact that they are being picked on by a neighboring AI. They will be little more than a flavorful nuisance like the neutral AIs. That is if the AI can capture ships. My test subject is in no condition to attempt it really.

That seems rather odd to me... why would a transport make a good research hull? You can just use a warship hull...

I don't know, call it habit. I tend to put the non-combat ships in the cargo hulls because they are cheeper to maintain and larger, but I guess that doesn't matter here. To turn the tables; Why would a science vessel use a combat hull?

[Fyron]

CovertJaguar said:
To turn the tables; Why would a science vessel use a combat hull?

Because it is a generic hull, not necessarily a "combat hull." Transports are not the "civilian" hull, they are just ships specialized to carry cargo or supplies. They can be combat vessels as well, such as troop transports...