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.
AI Research Builder
Threaded Mode