TCP/IP Games, Ship Designs lost? HELP ME BAD

[TsunamiDragon]

Ok. So i got a major problem. Everybody knows, ship designs take FOREVER to make. So lets say im playing offline. I make an empire, i start the game. i make my designs. I save my empire. Everything is all cool and all. I make a new game, i reload my empire. My ship designs are still there. Wahoo

The problem is, when i play tcp/ip with my friends(im the host by the way), and i load up my empire, the designs aren't there. But the really messed up part is, when i make a design, with one of my deleted ship names, it says error name already exists and stuff. So my ships MUST be somewhere, or invisible. Anybody else have this problem? Guys i need Moocho help, i e-mailed customer support but they didn't reply.

[ November 07, 2002, 23:26: Message edited by: TsunamiDragon ]

[Ragnarok]

Me and my brother had same problem when we were playing TCP/IP games. But we never did figure out what the deal was. Now we just play PBW instead and don't worry about having to design ships all the time. All games are unique and thus require different designs.

[Suicide Junkie]

Are you sure your designs weren't just obsolete and invisible?

Ship designs are not worth saving IMO, since the tech will be different between when you saved and when you load your empire.
You get stuck with a load of end-game designs you won't be able to build for 40 years.

The SE3 design-saving method was infinitely better.

As is, ship designing is quick and easy in SE4.
Triple click down the left side for B/LS/CQ.
Add 6 engines. Clickety-Click
Add CS/ECM if available. Click-Click
Select biggest mount. Click-click
Add roughly half guns and half shields/armor by space till ship is full. Click-click-Clicky

The hardest part is coming up with an appropriately apt or devious name for the design.

As you go and develop new tech, tweak the designs with the upgrade button.
When you meet an unexpected enemy, spend 5 minutes to redesign the ship from scratch with attention to detail.

[ November 08, 2002, 04:06: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Hotfoot]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Ship designs are not worth saving IMO, since the tech will be different between when you saved and when you load your empire.
You get stuck with a load of end-game designs you won't be able to build for 40 years.

Eh, I personally like to be able to start a game without having to constantly having to re-make the very basic designs from scratch. You know, the first colonizer, the first base space yard, the first population transport, that sort of thing. Granted, that's only a few designs, but it's nice to have.

[Quikngruvn]

Here's an idea that would require a hard-code change: using templates to design ships. You could create templates of, say, B/CC/LS + engines + sensors, that you could add into a new ship design. Could save a dozen clicks per design... no idea how much effort it would take to implement, though.

Quikngruvn

[Hotfoot]

Originally posted by Quikngruvn:
Here's an idea that would require a hard-code change: using templates to design ships. You could create templates of, say, B/CC/LS + engines + sensors, that you could add into a new ship design. Could save a dozen clicks per design... no idea how much effort it would take to implement, though.

Quikngruvn

How about every time you make an empire file for a human, you make a high-tech game and create "template" ship designs just like that, using the lowest tech available, and then save the empire file. Then, once you get the shipbuilding tech to build the ships, you just upgrade the design so that it will automatically use the highest technology you have available at the time?

[Quikngruvn]

That could work too, and then copy the template to create a new design, changing the ship size as needed. More work before the game starts, but at least doable right now.

Quikngruvn

[Hotfoot]

Originally posted by Quikngruvn:
That could work too, and then copy the template to create a new design, changing the ship size as needed. More work before the game starts, but at least doable right now.

Quikngruvn

Well, actually, if you just did it for all the empires you have and use now, it's not a problem. Plus, I would imagine that if you just edited an empire rather than creating a new one, the designs should stay, so you wouldn't have to do it each time you made a new race. ^_^