Proportions....

[Krsqk]

"Well, if I were designing the game system, [race size] might be something you could specify during race design."

This would actually be really cool! Spend points to decrease your race's size, which could decrease the number (or more likely, size) of B/LS/CQ comps for your ship. Would also affect the space needed for population. Not a bad idea for SE5.

[Phoenix-D]

Can be sort of done right now, with racial traits. Simply make a racial area that gives the reduced-size components (with the same family as the regular ones) and nothing else. Space can't be affected except by Advanced Storage techniques and the like, so you'd need two traits.

It'd be really difficult to make a "larger" race like that though..

Phoenix-D

[PvK]

Hmm, yeah, you could only really do it with a facilities trait (or, a whole range of them - in SE3, wasn't "Advanced Storage Techniques" called "Tiny Race"?), and a mount or racial tech tree that would allow some component size changes.

PvK

[Sinapus]

Pvk: Did you ever experiment with using the "default population" size for colonies in the settings.txt file? (Don't have the game in front of me, but I think you can set a population for when a ship colonizes a planet.)
I've been experimenting with incorporating proportions-like settings into my own personal mod, though in a way that the AI can use w/o massive alterations. (Like creating "city" type Versions of various resource-producing facilities and making them available at higher levels of extraction so it becomes worth researching those techs past level 3.)

Basically, I've had troubles giving the colony modules higher cargo capacities than the standard cargo modules. Currently, 1M pop is set at 50kT, w/the cargo modules having multiples of that number in capacity. Would rather it be 500kT (did I mention I'm calling this Proportions-Lite? ) with growth every 5 turns. Just about ready to set colony module capacity to 0, set that settings.txt flag to 1M (unrealistic, I know) and making the cargo bay capacities divisible into 500.

[PvK]

Well, the automatic colony population setting in settings.txt does work. I just don't use it because it creates population from nothing, and I'm trying to make population a valuable resource which is difficult to build up.

I'm confused though why you'd have problems increasing the capacity of colony modules. As you can see in Proportions, it works fine.

PvK

[PsychoTechFreak]

I guess this is not a proportions issue, but I have captured an abbidon med. transporter with 7 engines, although just 6 are allowed?

[PvK]

It is sort of a Proportions issue. It is probably because the Abbidon haven't researched ECM fast enough to get an ECM device which gives a better bonus than their best engines. So when the SE4 AI makes a design that calls for a defensive device, it thinks the best one is an engine, and adds that, even though it won't add any defense because it already has engines of the same type, so the effect won't stack. I would rate this as a very minor advantage to the AI, which doesn't compensate for the AI's lack of ability to optimize engine type mixes the way micromanaging perfectionist humans can. Not a big deal.

A side issue for perfectionist AI modders: When making AI files, it's often not worthwhile to put ECM on transports.

PvK

[oleg]

Well, at least with my AIs this is not a problem. I always use the assigned phony ability for ECM scanners in Design.txt file. Otheres should do the same

[PvK]

In general, yes. I think all mine do. John Sullivan did (a generally excellent job on) the Proportions Abbidon AI. I like having a mix of AI authors (oleg, PvK, John Sullivan, so far) as it adds more variety.

PvK

[JLS]

Originally posted by PvK:
In general, yes. I think all mine do. John Sullivan did (a generally excellent job on) the Proportions Abbidon AI. I like having a mix of AI authors (oleg, PvK, John Sullivan, so far) as it adds more variety.

PvK

Ahh, are we talking about my Abbidon Support Ship...

I also used PvKs Call tags for ECM and Sensors... Some how I got an extra engine Actually, I think my Support ship is very creative. Take a look�

Support Ship:
AI has 5+ Launches of 5 fighters per turn with a capacity of 26 small Fighters.
Has a Repair Component that repairs with the entire fleet.
Has been seen carrying troops and Assaulting when the Capture Planet fleet ordered.
Has one shield.
Equips with a Psychic Sensor.
Will equip armor until it Loads the Sensor.
Moves 6 with contra Engines.
Has the modified maintenance benefit of being a Medium Transport.
In addition, best of all the AI fleets her so she can repair and defend the fleet; which is her (The Support Ships) primary duty assignment.
Alas, I should have made room for Self � Destruct.
Patent is pending on this design.

I wanted some of the AIs to use Peters New (at that time) traits.
The challenge was to make My Abbi AI do well with the Slow Builders, from general file � The fact that they can build and maintain starships has left many a scholar puzzled�.
While another choice could have been unlucky as per its race description �However, a devastating asteroid strike changed their minds. With half of their home world�s population decimated�. However, we were not sure MM had that fixed it at that time.

There description also has Abbidon is latently psychic, and that is why I started them off with Phased - Polaron Beam which actually works very well with there Racial Weapons.

If you noticed in the research file they will go into Rock Colonizer, Computers etc. Early if they are not in AI; Attack or Defend Long Term STATES�

Have trust, that I put a lot of thought into this race and tested this AI extensively� Never the less, it can be better.

The Abbidon can hold its own, especially when it gets ROCK Colonization�.

John L. Sullivan

[ February 08, 2003, 11:13: Message edited by: JLS ]