How do you create a scenario

[Kimball]

Just wondering how you create a scenario.

[Suicide Junkie]

quote:

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Just wondering how you create a scenario

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How I create a scenario is as follows:

1) Come up with an idea for one (the hard part)
2) Make and adjustments to the datafiles as nessesary (and zip it up as a mod)
3) Start a game of SE4, and take control of all of the players. (Quick and easy part)
4) Play each race to the point where the scenario begins. (The long, boring part)
-<Save Often!!!>-
5) Once everything is set up just right, turn on all the AIs (if applicable), and save once more.
6) Copy the savegame to the scenario folder, and create a description.
7) Post the scenario (savegame + description) (and the mod, if required)

Some tips:
-For starting with fancy, unresearched tech ships (eg. everybody starts with a dreadnaught, but hasn't researched Frigates yet), make an extra superrace, which will research, build and gift the ships to each of the races. At the end, have the super race scrap all ships and abandon all planets (destroying them)
-USE The Map Editor! You can set start positions and give things crazy properties, such as a black hole effect (the pulling, and not the crushing) in normal star systems.
Even write your name with stars in the corner of the galaxy!
-Players want to start with their choice of 25 tech levels? easy to do... just play the first 25 turns or so just doing research, no building.
-Save often! You really do not want to have to go back and play 100 turns over again. If you're giving one player super techs, it can take a long time. I highly reccommend the autosave feature.

Hope this helps at least a little

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The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-<Download V2.1>- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-<Download V1.7>- (With default AIs patched)
-<Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7>-
-<Download SJs latest AI Patcher>-
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Other Links:
-<Play By Web>-
-<Schlock Mercenary>- (great space-based webcartoon) -<First Strip>-
-<8-bit Theater>- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

[geoschmo]

One thing I have found very helpful in reducing the amount of time for the long boring setup part is tweaking the components.txt files, facilities.txt, and vehicle sizes.txt files. I don't mean the same thing as what SJ is talking about. These tweaks are not intended as a mod for the player to play with, only as an aid to speed up the process.

For example, got the super dreadnaughts designed, but they take 2 years to build? Change the space yard facility to build with 20,000 minerals per turn instead of 2,000.

Trying to setup the players 25 starting techs and takes 3 years to research them all? Make a research facility generate 10,000 points instead of 800.

Once you go back to playing with standard files, or your scenario mod files, everything is back to normal.

Geoschmo

[Puke]

On the starting with a super-ship thing, rather than creating a super race and gifting everything, you can lower the tech requirements of the important parts and have each race build it their selves. this way it looks like a ship that would normally belong to them and not an alien ship (which chould be good too)

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"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)

[Noble713]

Is it possible to use the cheat codes to do things like add ships and technology, then turn them off when you go to save the scenario?

[Puke]

yes and no. the idea is not to use cheat codes, but to edit the components.txt to make high tech components available at the start. then when you want the scenario to begin, use the standard data files so those components are not available any longer. this way you have whatever was built at the setup phase, but you cant build any more until it is researched (or never, if you tweak it that way)

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"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)