AI Research Builder

[Fyron]

At the request of Kwok (on IRC), I made a little program that will read in a mod's TechArea.txt file and allow you to construct a basic AI_Research.txt file. I figured I might as well share it with all.

The program requires the .NET framework, at least version 1.1. To use it, extract it into a mod folder (or the root SE4 folder) and run it. It is configured to read in the file in a Data folder. It will create the output file AI_Research.txt in the same folder as the exe, as you will likely want to review it first before adding it to a mod or race.

Note that it should be considered as beta, though it does seem to work perfectly for us at this point. Suggestions for improvement are welcome!

AI Research Builder 0.07

Edit:

I should also mention that it does not add levels of tech areas that will be provided by the "start level" setting. Thus, you will not see Ship Construction (1) in stock.

[Ed Kolis]

... Fyron made a .NET program???

[Fyron]

Don't worry, it is c++.

[Atrocities]

Fyrons first program.... One day we will look back upon this moment and say.... what was I thinking downloading that! Nice job Fyron, this might become a very helpful tool.

[Captain Kwok]

I have actually had Fyron and SJ each make a program. I ended up going with Fyron's because it was more of what I wanted for my application. It's a handy little program.

[Fyron]

This is definitely not my first program.

I have uploaded a new version that will compress repeated levels of a tech area into a single research entry. Thus, if you have:

Ships 1
Ships 2
Ships 3
Physics 1
Ships 4

The research file will contain entries for:

Ships 3
Physics 1
Ships 4

[Rollo]

Nice tool. I'd have some feature requests, but will save them for later when I have more time.
For now I recommend using 34 as the default value for Min Percent.

[Fyron]

This version has the capacity to load existing AI research files. It does not currently handle AI states, however. It will add a tech area level only the first time it is seen. Thus, if you have, say, Stellar Manipulation 3 occuring early in a file in a Not Connected state, it will be added then as the file is read. The normal appearance of the tech area later (up to level 3) in general states will not be added to the research file. Higher levels will of course be added. I have not yet decided how to handle mulitple appearances in different states.

Note that the AI Research file created by the program is still located in the program dir. It will NOT overwrite any existing files in the AI folder.

AI Research Builder 0.08

[Urendi Maleldil]

Maybe have a tab view. One for each AI state. An AI creator can then flip through and see an AI's research for each state, without viewing everything in one confusing list.

You could also then limit the number of tech levels to one per-tab. So if you already used Physics 3 for Defend - Long Term, it will still be available for Attack, but will be already "used" for Defend - Long Term.

[Captain Kwok]

By adding tabs and controls for different states you start to eliminate most of the efficiency for the program. One of the main goals when I described what I wanted to Fyron was that I would have a list of all the tech areas that when I added to the research queue, they would no longer be in the list. This way you know at a glance which techs have been added and which ones remain.