AI colony ship design

Q · #1 February 5th, 2001, 08:50 PM

Most of us have seen in the later game a problem of the AI with its colony ships: the AI sends colony ships to destinations that are to far away to be reached with the limited supply in the ship. Contrary to all other ships, the resupply minister does not care about colony ships to resupply. So what happens is that the colony ships continue to travel at the minimum speed of one move per turn after they run out of their supply. Therefore it can take years till they reach their destination! I don't know how to change the behaviour of the resupply minister so I changed the design of the colony ships as follows:
Name := Colony (Rock)
Design Type := Colony (Rock)
Vehicle Type := Ship
Default Strategy := Don't Get Hurt
Size Minimum Tonnage := 10
Size Maximum Tonnage := 5000
Num Must Have At Least 1 Ability := 1
Must Have Ability 1 := Colonize Planet - Rock
Minimum Speed := 2
Desired Speed := 3
Majority Weapon Family Pick 1 := 0
Majority Weapon Family Pick 2 := 0
Majority Weapon Family Pick 3 := 0
Majority Weapon Family Pick 4 := 0
Majority Weapon Family Pick 5 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 1 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 2 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 3 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 4 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 5 := 0
Shields Spaces Per One := 0
Armor Spaces Per One := 0
Majority Comp Spaces Per One := 10000
Majority Comp Ability := Colonize Planet - Rock
Secondary Comp Spaces Per One := 0
Secondary Comp Ability :=
Num Misc Abilities := 3
Misc Ability 1 Name := Quantum Reactor
Misc Ability 1 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 2 Name := Cargo Storage
Misc Ability 2 Spaces Per One := 400
Misc Ability 3 Name := Standard Ship Movement
Misc Ability 3 Spaces Per One := 50

In the beginning of the game nothing is actually changed in the design. It still has five engines and one cargo component. When in the later game the AI has researched quantom reactor however this will be used in the colony ships and the number of engines are reduced to three to get the necessary space. Because at this level the AI will also have quantum engines the speed remains still one move above the initial value with ion engines. This design needs more resources to be built with the quantum reactor, but I think it is worth-while for the AI. For human player this design is not necessary.

WhiteHojo · #2 February 5th, 2001, 10:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Q:
Contrary to all other ships, the resupply minister does not care about colony ships to resupply.

Nice idea on the colony ship, but does the above quote mean you have actually seen a resupply minister direct any ship to a resupply base? I haven't ever seen one work. Knowing my luck, I'm just not doing something right...

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Character is best defined as that which you do when you believe nobody is watching.

Baron Munchausen · #3 February 6th, 2001, 01:43 AM

Researching the QR is very expensive, though. You'd probably do better to tell the AI to research Stellar Harnessing and put a solar panel on each colonizer. It can be available much earlier in the game.

Q · #4 February 6th, 2001, 01:09 PM

White Hojo indeed in my experience the resupply minister works for all the other ships.
Baron Munchhausen you are right, but the problem if you use some solar panel or supply storage components in the early game you will have a quite low speed of the ship if you reduce the number of engines in order to get the necessary space. The other option to omit the cargo component is also not to good in my opinion.
And I really to think the quantom reactor is worth-while the research, because for attact ships it is a huge advantage if they can continue their offensive without resupply problems.

geoschmo · #5 February 6th, 2001, 03:52 PM

I may be wrong here as I never use ministers, but I suspect that the real problem with the RM not working on colony ships is that the AI does not cancel orders once given.

The RM is probably ordering the ship to resupply, but until it completes it's first order it won't check for new orders.

If I am correct, a fix for this would require a code change. Perhaps canceling current orders when supply level reaches a certain threshold, like it does now when entering a system with enemies present.

Personally I think it would make sense for the colony coomponent to have supply capacity as well as cargo capacity. That would help them have a longer range, without sacrificing the extra cargo space. This could be done through the text files as well.

[This message has been edited by geoschmo (edited 06 February 2001).]

Mephisto · #6 February 6th, 2001, 04:23 PM

That's a nice idea, I have included it into my MOD files.

Geoschmo: Giving extra resources to the colonizer module is a good idea.

Baron Munchausen · #7 February 6th, 2001, 07:23 PM

Good idea, geoschmo. I'll join Mephisto in adding it to my custom techs...

1000 supply is 20 turns of movement with standard ion engines. This should go a long way towards fixing the AI's stupidity about colony ship navigation. Guess I'll have to consider releasing a mod myself one of these days.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 06 February 2001).]

rdouglass · #8 February 6th, 2001, 07:59 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
Researching the QR is very expensive, though. You'd probably do better to tell the AI to research Stellar Harnessing and put a solar panel on each colonizer. It can be available much earlier in the game.

I don't mod yet (you guys doing it are doing an awesome job!!), but I do agree with Baron M. I never research QR - just put Solar Collector III's on all long range ships. I never have to worry 'bout resupply problems except in the longest and "bloodiest" campaigns. Even in a long campaign, I may only have to wait 1 -2 turns to get my tanks full with my Capital Ships (and of course a supply tanker w/ 10 or so SC III's).

I would bet that even in an Ancient galaxy setup, the AI's colonizers would at least triple their range. Even when they do run out, as soon as they get to a system with a sun, they recharge and get moving again. I would think that would more than make up for reduced cargo capacity.

Emperor Zodd · #9 February 6th, 2001, 08:01 PM

Suggest this to Aaron.
This would be a good addition to the upcoming patch!

Tampa_Gamer · #10 February 6th, 2001, 08:12 PM

Agreed. Easier fix than others I have seen or implemented in my own mod. I didn't notice this problem as much in my own mod b/c a long time ago I changed the engine components so that the upgraded engines for each engine type consume 10, 9 and 8 supplies, respectively (instead of 10, 10, and 10 in the game). I cannot take credit for the ideal, I think Talenn, Jubala or one of the others in the early days came up with this.

[This message has been edited by Tampa_Gamer (edited 06 February 2001).]