Twilight: Tolmekian's TechTree Fix v3.51 Release 05-10-13

Tolmekian

Join Date 08/2007

+24

Twilight: Tolmekian's TechTree Fix v3.51 Release 05-10-13

Purpose of the mod:

This mod addresses widespread errors in the TotA TechTree.xml files. These errors pretty much broke many of the unique TechTrees, causing the AI to pursue a deeply flawed research strategy and outright preventing the research of many techs. Part of the fix included rearranging a number of the TechTrees to fix the seemingly random arrangement of some techs and reduce the number of branches for the AI to get sidetracked on. Along the way, I ended up fixing many UP issues, planetary improvements, starbase modules, and did some general improvement and balancing on individual techs.

This mod is a direct result of MarvinKosh's Space Weapons Fix Mod, which provided the inspiration. A lot of my development commentary and good input from other modders working on their own fixes is in that topic. Thanks MarvinKosh, Quaternus, deweyjohn, TOV, foxthree, qrtxian and all others for input and support.

05-10-13: v3.51 release

Update to fix some errors in v3.5.

Because I forgot to mention for the 3.5 release: The Hyperion improvements (shipyard, shrinker, logistics, resupply) are now all Galactic Achievements instead of Super Projects. No more collecting shrinkers , it really matters who builds these things.
I would also like to add a special thanks to Gaunathor for extensive proofreading, playtesting, and feedback. His contributions have played a big part in me continuing the work, fixing/improving even more than I originally intended, and finally putting out a (more or less) finished product after all this time. It's fair to say that without him, this mod wouldn't be nearly what it is. Thanks.

04-28-13: v3.5 release

Here it is, the more or less finished product after all this time. It's been about a year since I put this project down, so I'm a bit fuzzy on what exactly I did before coming back to finish it up. I'm pretty sure I've got the major things nailed down, though. Let's see:

Fixed those minor but embarrassing typos that made it into v3.0
Standardized the cost vs maintenance vs output ratios for the various improvement. Now every race can be content with their own improvements and not shop around for the obvious best. You can now upgrade to Industrial Sectors without fretting about the inefficiencies.

In general, costs went down, sometimes a lot. Maintenance costs were also reduced or eliminated on many improvements. No more taking years upon years to develop a planet only to have the game end immediately thereafter.

Made starting techs that allow a bottom-tier improvement for many of the improvement lines. The idea being to allow the AI access to each type of improvement and allow balanced planet development - no filling up planets before researching basic improvements.

eg. Races that use the "normal" economic structures (banks, stock markets, etc) now start with Market Economics, which allows construction of the Market Center.
If you make a custom tech tree, this allows you to select the base techs for your tree without needing conflicting "history" techs to unlock basic improvements.

Rounded out the Temple morale improvements, so Altarians and Drath have a progression of decent improvements unlocked by various techs, starting with Spiritual Happiness.
Did away entirely with farms, charging stalks, etc. Replaced them with a universal, one-per-planet improvement that gives a bonus to pop growth and %food.
Did away with Advanced Extreme Colonization techs. Now only one tech is required for each type of extreme planets.
Now every tech tree includes the Government techs and Planetary Defense Techs. No good reason for some races to go without.
Omega Research Center: Now with more awesome. No longer just a watered down tech capital, the Omega Research Center is a Galactic Achievement worthy of the title.

Speaking of watered down Tech Capital . . . I watered down the Tech Capital. Kind of. Bonus from 100% to 50%, but it now generates 14tp on its own. Which leads to the next point . . .

All improvements that give a bonus to manufacturing or research now also generate their own mp or tp proportional to the bonus. This is to counteract the sometimes painful misplacement of these improvements by the AI.
The evil races (Drengin, Korath, Yor) got a lot of attention during 3.5 development due to general lack of competitiveness.

Now have access to all 4 types of capitals (economic, technological, political, manufacturing) or an equivalent structure.
Drengin got a couple new unique techs - Superior Warships and Fleet Domination - which boost stats and unlock Galactic Achievements to speed their conquest of the galaxy.
Korath have a new Galactic Achievement - the Aul Incinerator. Out with the one-per-planet suckfest and in with something that you'll actually want.
Don't think the Yor got any new stuff, but some stuff is easier to get and the Manufacturing Vortex and Distributed Energy Matrix got pretty big buffs.

Sprinkled a couple speed bonuses in the basic techs to speed things up a bit. Basically, the AI never designs ships with engines and ends up late game with ships that move 3 or 4 per turn. Now we're looking at 6 or 7.
Uuuuuh . . . I think that's the major stuff.
Enjoy!

TechTree Fix v3.51 with Dumb Old Minors: I did nothing to the minor races here. If you want the same dumb minors you've always known and loved, this is the mod for you.

TechTree Fix v3.51 with Smart Old Minors: Same old minors that still won't colonize, but I added code to make them play to the best of the AI's ability. I gave them respectable descriptions, modest bonuses, and changed out the silly race images to reflect their upgrade. Since they can't colonize, they'll send out a bunch of freighters and actually send constructors to grab up a lot of the resources while the majors are still colonizing. They still get slaughtered when it comes down to it, but I've had fun watching them. It's also interesting to see the majors make a ton of regular starbases since there are fewer resources to grab.

TechTree Fix v3.51 with MoOII Minors: The MoOII minors in this mod will colonize and behave pretty much like weak majors. Much larger than the other mods due to the RaceImage and RaceLogo files. If you try this mod, remember to use the "quick save fix". That is, the minors won't start behaving like majors until you save and reload. So, start your game, quicksave, reload, and enjoy.

TechTree Fix v3.51 with MoOII and Smart Old Minors: Why not? If you want a little variety, I packaged up both versions of the minors in one mod. Your minors could be one, the other, or a mix of both. Still be sure to use the quick-save fix, or your MoOII minors won't play nice. I haven't tested this arrangement, but I can't see why it won't work. (famous last words.)

03-04-12: v3.0 Release

v3.0 continues the work, this time focusing on starbase modules and planetary improvements, particularly Galactic Achievements, Super Projects, and Trade Goods. Also included is a wonderful conversation mod, kindly contributed by qrtxian. His mod fixes the errors in the GC2_Conversations.xml, so now you can enjoy all the unique dialogue as intended.

Highlights

All fleet modules that were removed in v2.0 are restored. That's the fleet attack/defense and fleet warp bubbles, etc.
Entire Starbase Fortification branch removed. The attack, defense, and assist modules were spread uniformly among the appropriate weapons and defense techs.
Enhanced Battle Stations starbase modules and added equivalent Starbase Defenses modules.
No more easy pickings, expect to see some well armed starbases.
Addressed a limitation where the AI will only use the first 100 starbase modules in the xml file. Rearranged, removed, and edited starbase modules to ensure the most basic and useful modules are AI accessible.
Evil weapons and good defenses are now available at every weapon/defense level, instead of only at the end.
Extensive changes to Galactic Achievements, Super Projects, and Trade Goods. I went after them with the idea that every one should be a "must have". Costs reduced and AI values increased to ensure the AIs actually have a chance to build them, given their inability to plan planetary improvements.
Edit to add - All the trade goods now have a unique icon rather than a stack of boxes. Except the Xinathium Hull Plating. I figured that would still come in boxes. I chose from among the unused icons that come with the game, so they may not be perfect. They are, in my opinion, better than the boxes.
Two previously unused Galactic Achievements brought into play: the Life Force Extractor and Historical Preserve. Two new GAs introduced: the Benevolent Research Center and Trade Nexus. All four new GAs are unlocked by ethics techs.
Introduced new ethics techs to split up the multiple GAs and SPs unlocked by them. Ethics techs now also provide a small bonus, so those who don't get the GAs don't waste their research.
Further optimizing and balancing. My last playtests were some of the most balanced I've ever seen. Sure, sometimes there are runaway monsters and pitiful also-rans, but overall it's pretty good.
All races are still set to AIPersonality 11, or Generic. The Altarians, Arceans, and Korx default to their unique AIP when set to 11. You can still use AIP 8 (Thalan, Human, Drath, Krynn) and 7 (Drengin, Korath, and Yor) if you want to mix things up, but there are special considerations. First, AIP 7 is flawed in that it won't colonize outside of its influence sphere. In order to stand a chance, you need to use Abundant Planets, Abundant Habitables, Abundant or Common Stars, and Tight of Loose Clusters. Then, you need to Ctrl-n until you get a galaxy where the AIP 7s have enough stars within their influence. Other than that, AIP 7 and 8 will perform pretty well. Their research is somewhat flawed (no Xeno Ethics, for example) and they're hyper militant, but they seem to compete well.
Edit to add - While trying to improve the Arceans, I tested their TechTree with regular engines instead of their unique navigation techs. I kept the navigation techs in the standard Arcean TechTree, but also left the Arcean-Eng tree in.

I think that's most of it. Without further ado, here it is:

TechTree Fix v3.0 with Dumb Old Minors: I did nothing to the minor races here. If you want the same dumb minors you've always known and loved, this is the mod for you.

TechTree Fix v3.0 with Smart Old Minors: Same old minors that still won't colonize, but I added code to make them play to the best of the AI's ability. I gave them respectable descriptions, modest bonuses, and changed out the silly race images to reflect their upgrade. Since they can't colonize, they'll send out a bunch of freighters and actually send constructors to grab up a lot of the resources while the majors are still colonizing. They still get slaughtered when it comes down to it, but I've had fun watching them. It's also interesting to see the majors make a ton of regular starbases since there are fewer resources to grab.

TechTree Fix v3.0 with MoOII Minors: The MoOII minors in this mod will colonize and behave pretty much like weak majors. Much larger than the other mods due to the RaceImage and RaceLogo files. If you try this mod, remember to use the "quick save fix". That is, the minors won't start behaving like majors until you save and reload. So, start your game, quicksave, reload, and enjoy.

TechTree Fix v3.0 with MoOII and Smart Old Minors: Why not? If you want a little variety, I packaged up both versions of the minors in one mod. Your minors could be one, the other, or a mix of both. Still be sure to use the quick-save fix, or your MoOII minors won't play nice. I haven't tested this arrangement, but I can't see why it won't work. (famous last words.)

Update 01-07-12: v2 Release

After nearly a year, here it finally is. Details can be found in this post.

v1.1 Notes:

Extract the zipped folders into: C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\GalCiv2\Twilight\mods This is the pathway for my Impule-downloaded version. In any case, put it into the mods folder in the Twilight folder.
The TechTree Fix is optimized for AIPersonality 11 (Altarian, Arcean, Korx, and Generic). AIPs 7 and 10 are pretty much broken, and AIP 8 has certain issues that require me to do another round of optimization and testing for any race that I want to set as 8. I set all races to AIP 11 in the mod. You can change the setting, but it will change the way the AI pursues research.
My detailed change log is included in the folder. I'd include it here for everyone to see, but it's a 15 page Word file. It lists all the changes that I made to the techs, improvements, modules and issues. It also includes every iteration of AIValue for each tech, so you can see just how many times I had to tweak some of them.
Additonal Highlights:
- Fixes broken UP Issue "Add two trade routes". It proposed 2 trade routes, then called for a vote on 0,1,2,3, or 4. That vote was broken and didn't work. It's now yes/no for 2 trade routes.
- Restores 3 Galactic Achievements by fixing Tech Requirements: The Galactic Stock Exchange, Galactic Monument, and Hyper-Distribution Center are once again available with the proper techs.
- Fixes error in some starbase modules that caused attack bonus to be misstated in the starbase summary.
- Fixes Temple of Neutrality, which was a cut-and-paste of Temple of Righteousness. That means the tourism penalty affected good races. Now it affects neutral civs and not good ones.
- Fixes Planetary Defense improvement so it now actually gives +25% Planetary Defense.
- Fixes a number of errors in descriptions of techs and improvements. Unfortunately, I didn't fix the error in the Temple of Righteousness/Neutrality/Evil descriptions. They don't affect trade income, only tourism.
- Fixes a number of errors in the TechTree xml that prevented the entire TechTree from being displayed in the xml viewer.
- There's a few more in there.

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Gank

OK I have played a few more games and here are the things I noticed:

1) Bugs:

Only two minor ones so far (can be ignored but I just want to mention them for completeness):

1. The blank screen on declaration of war

2. In one instance, an AI player (IIRC Torian) has not used my civilization name in dialogue but used something like "Player Empire Name" instead. All other dialogues displayed everything normally.

2) AI behavior (on Tough):

1. In my other games they did research two weapon trees, which again made it trivial for me to research the third and kill everybody. The AI is extremely slow to adjust defenses to that, by the time they do it is way too late to do anything.

2. I find that AI uses incredible masses of factories on their planets (I wonder how they can take it economically?) which they use to pump out endless hordes of heavy fighters. This would not be so bad but the problem is that these endless hordes basically can't touch few dozens of my medium ships which have on them defenses aimed at neutralizing AI weapons. I just circle ships to planets for healing when necessary and almost never lose anything.

I support these ships with military bases which give them extra defenses to make them almost invulnerable (the extra attack power is nice but defense is key). The bases themselves are heavily fortified and pretty much impossible to take out if repaired occasionally.

I think the AI should ALSO use medium ships with proper defenses against my own weapons and then their numbers would tell since even the support from the military bases would not be enough when outnumbered so heavily.

Edit: I LOVE this mod, don't get me wrong

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MarvinKosh

Join Date 08/2005

+87

The military starbase cheese tactic is one reason why I severely limited the number of assist modules available in the tech tree. The other is, there were too many of them and not enough modules to squeeze them all into the 100 module limit, past which the AI can't use any modules.

I also made larger hulls part of the main trunk of the tech tree, meaning that the AI must get medium hulls in order to progress.

With a bit of work you could probably build this approach into the tech trees yourself.

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

Quoting MarvinKosh,

reply 501

[It requires Interstellar Construction. The OCC works similar to the Hyperion Fleet Defense, but empire-wide, and it has some additional bonuses.

That would be nice, but it's nowhere in my (TA) game with Tolmekian's mod. No one can do OCC. I grabbed each AI and did <c-s-R> to get the finished tree, then looked at what could be built. The Terran and Torian can do OFM and Hyperion Fleet Defense because they can do Planetary Defense tech. Iconian and Yor have no orbital fleeting tech or improvement. (Unless it's automatic - I haven't tried that.)

Or were you referring to your own mod?

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MarvinKosh - I think the problem is not the assist modules themselves, but that the AI does not use their advantages properly. They DO adjust to player's weapons but not quickly enough.

For example, Drengin and 3 other AIs use driver weapons, all other AIs use lasers. I alone use missiles.

Drengin is at war with me and nobody else, yet they will use either no defense on their ships or defenses aimed at dominant weapons even if they are inadequate for their current main problem (which is missiles). AI should be able to mix it up, for example on the part of their empire where they are fighting me they should use ships with missile defense and in other parts they can use other stuff. Their massive production edge would then be problematic for me and I would not be able to focus on out-teching the AI or massing money for trading.

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

That might be true of the lesser AI levels, or maybe it's a TA problem. But when I played DL at very high levels, in the mid- and late game the AI would follow development in the most dangerous opponent tree with appropriate defenses. Sometimes it would be fighting a missile opponent. I would jump over to the gun branch and start building gunships. Not too long after, I would see AI ships with armor.

This could also be that the AI is smarter than we expect. It is not playing *me*, it is playing all N-1 opponents. If four are missile armed and one is building guns, then PD is usually the smarter option.

One thing that does cause me to suspect AI stupidity, though, is the concentration on Shields early in the game, when no one has researched anything past Laser - sometimes not even that. Even when all the majors will soon be doing missiles, the minors charge into shields and so do the majors (Might be trading?) Smart chaff is rarely seen. Perhaps the early moves are scripted?

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MarvinKosh

Join Date 08/2005

+87

There are various reasons for Shields and other early defences being incorrectly prioritised. The AI believes that these techs will improve their military score and it is right from a certain point of view. However the reality is that unless you're very smart, defences just lead you to waste space that could have been better used for extra weapons, or wastes production on a ship that is going to get wiped out pretty quickly anyway.

This is why I moved defences to later in the tech tree, vastly increased the space that they consume (so unless your Miniaturisation is awesome it is completely impractical to use the early versions on anything but a medium hull) and scaled up their effectiveness in accordance with the space used. The minimum defence value a ship can have in a particular category under SWFM is 3.

This part is necessary because in DA and TA the combat system was altered so that defences deplete over the course of a combat round. So one point of defence just isn't going to cut it unless you're fighting a tattooing laser.

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DMF - I am not good enough for very high level just started playing again last week after a LONG pause from the game (nostalgia caught me).

I think it would be smart for AI to prioritize armor if Drengin is around, early game Dominator Corvettes can be nasty.

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

My Drengin opponents usually go for missiles, early and often.

I'm not good enough to play Suicidal unless I cheat a little at the beginning. Mostly I hop the Flagship around enough to see nearby stars so I don't have to waste time hunting for planets. If I can stay anywhere near the AIs in obtaining initial colonies, then I have a chance. (Actually, I don't feel it accurate to call it "cheating" considering that at top levels the AIs have huge initial bonuses. In GC1 I've watched them buy one ship per starport - including expensive Constructors - one after another for most of a year. The higher the level the longer they can keep it up. That implies much larger initial Treasuries than the human player. GC2 isn't quite so blatant about it, but the net effect is similar. )

Found OCC in Tolmekian's PlanetImprovement file. I wonder why it doesn't work in this game? This is my first game with his mod. I started another game and sure enough it shows up. Strange. Wait a minute! I installed the mod after I started this game. Never mind.

<Improvement>
       <S_InternalName>HyperionFleetManager</S_InternalName>
       <S_Name>Orbital Command Center</S_Name>
       <AI>10</AI>
       <S_Type>SuperProject</S_Type>
       <Maintenance>0</Maintenance>
       <Cost>50</Cost>
       <S_BriefDescription>All ships in orbit will be used to defend against attack on all planets.</S_BriefDescription>
       <S_Description>The Orbital Command Center is designed to coordinate the defense of our planets by having all the ships in orbit work together for the defense of the planet. Its home planet is greatly fortified, including a 20% cultural resistance.</S_Description>
       <S_IconName>TempleOfEspionage.png</S_IconName>
       <S_QueryGraphicName>TempleOfEspionage.png</S_QueryGraphicName>
       <CanHaveAgents>0</CanHaveAgents>
       <S_TechRequirement>InterstellarConstruction</S_TechRequirement>
       <StarshipHPBonus>10</StarshipHPBonus>
       <MoraleBonus>15</MoraleBonus>
       <PlanetaryDefenseBonus>25</PlanetaryDefenseBonus>
       <ResistanceBonus>20</ResistanceBonus>
       <F_LogisticLimit>10.000000</F_LogisticLimit>
   </Improvement>

I take it that the bonuses apply to the building planet? What does F_LogisticLimit mean?

MK, I find your thinking on this interesting. I'm going to try your mod soon. Gotta give Tolmekian's another - fair - try first, though.

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MarvinKosh

Join Date 08/2005

+87

All the regular bonuses apply just to the planet it's built on. Starship HP bonus means that any ships built there have more hitpoints, which is pretty good. The fleet logistical limit just means that when you've built this all ships in orbit will defend your planets. All your planets, not just the one this is on. It's a very important improvement if you leave ships in orbit to defend, but still good to have for the HP bonus.

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Gaunathor

Join Date 04/2006

+170

Quoting DMF,

reply 509

Glad you found it, but it is still weird you weren't seeing it before. The OCC is a vanilla improvement, so it should have been there. Also...

Quoting DMF,

reply 503

The Terran and Torian can do OFM and Hyperion Fleet Defense because they can do Planetary Defense tech.

...the OFM and the Hyperion Fleet Defense are gone in TotA, so neither the Terrans nor the Torians should have them. Are you sure, that you are playing TotA and not DA or DL?

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

Yeah, it's TA. I think what happened is that I did Interstellar Construction before installing the mod so it didn't give me the improvement. If Planetary Defense is in Tolmekian's mod, then they researched it after I installed. The thing I don't understand, though, is that OCC doesn't show in the tech tree, which should be Tolmekian's tree.

One other disturbing thing I noticed while exploring the AIs - the Torian just fought - and lost - a war with me, then promptly started a war with the next strongest civ, Terrans. I thought he seriously under-performed against me, though he's doing better as the second front against Terra.

Instead of spending on the wars he's doing mad Espionage at half his income level - without placing a single agent! He must have 50 agents stored up. I'm way ahead in tech so he could really use them. Is this some sort of mad plot? Is it worth losing 1/3 of his empire for? I don't get it. (Painful level)

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Gaunathor

Join Date 04/2006

+170

Quoting DMF,

reply 512

You should have gotten the OCC no matter when you installed the mod. Like I said, it is a building from the regular game. Also, installing mods has no effect on savegames. The savegame stores all of the major xml-files, which has the effect, that you can edit the files without having to worry about savegame-compatibility.

The more I think about it, the more I get the impression that something is wrong with your game. Did you use another mod before installing Tolmekian's? That could be one reason. If that mod is not compatible with TotA, because it was made for DL or DA, and has a old PlanetImprovements.xml in it, you wouldn't get the new buildings. Another possibility is, that you didn't install Tolmekian's mod correctly, but that wouldn't explain the error in your regular game.

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

I'm on UE 1.97. I installed the mod in ../GalCiv2Ultimate/Mods in its own folder and selected it from the options screen. (I first wanted to put it in ../GalCiv2Ultimate/Twilight but there is no Mods folder there.) I'm running the binary from /Twilight, not the launcher. As I say, I do see it on a fresh game (using the mod), so it appears to be installed correctly.

SaveGame carrying all its configuration explains why I don't see it in this game. There may in fact be something wrong with this copy. I did a global search on "orbital command" (or whatever) in GalCiv2Ultimate and the only place it appears is in Tolmekian's mod. It is *not* in /Twilight/PlanetImprovements.xml. Planetary Defense *is*.

When I look at the TA manual through the Launcher, I get the DA manual. Is there something else I can look at see if this TA is really DA in disguise? (I've never played DA.) I do see the Immense map, which I understand is new with TA, so at least part of it is actual TA. Was OCC and a real manual added with 2.03? (Can't afford the upgrade right now though I'll buy it as soon as I can.)

Dennis

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Gaunathor

Join Date 04/2006

+170

Quoting DMF,

reply 514

I'm on UE 1.97.

That explains it. The OCC was added in 2.01. I believe the new manual was added in 2.00, but am not entirely sure. Still, you should be able to download the current version (2.04) from Stardock's store directly, if you have the UE. No need to buy it again.

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MarvinKosh

Join Date 08/2005

+87

TA is definitely included in the Ultimate Edition.

As for the manual, it's there in the Twilight installation folder, somewhere.

Immense map size is exclusive to TA. Tolmekian's mod requires it too.

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

Thanks.

Now, what about this hive of Agents? Anyone seen this before? Maybe a paean to the Matrix movies (you know, 50 Agent Smiths...)?

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Gaunathor

Join Date 04/2006

+170

Quoting DMF,

reply 517

Now, what about this hive of Agents? Anyone seen this before? Maybe a paean to the Matrix movies (you know, 50 Agent Smiths...)?

Sorry, but I can't help you there. While I have seen this before, I have no idea why the AI is doing this.

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A question just occurred to me - does this mod behave differently with different game versions and/or patches? Since AI is modified, tech trees are modified etc. it seems that it shouldn't right?

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DMF

Join Date 09/2002

+13

My reaction is that that depends on whether the AIs or unmodified config files changed between versions. File dates might be a clue. But I have no empirical data either way.

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MarvinKosh

Join Date 08/2005

+87

We started with the tech tree mods after TA 2.03 was released so you should be looking to play 2.03 or 2.04. If you patch your game, 2.04 is the version you should be on. I cannot say for sure what will happen if you try to run a mod on the unpatched game since I don't have a backup of the release version.

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qrtxian

Join Date 03/2010

+30

Quoting Gaunathor,

reply 518

Quoting DMF, reply 517Now, what about this hive of Agents? Anyone seen this before? Maybe a paean to the Matrix movies (you know, 50 Agent Smiths...)?

Sorry, but I can't help you there. While I have seen this before, I have no idea why the AI is doing this.

I don't know why they do it, exactly, but it seems to be intended to let the AI in question instantly nullify any enemy agent they're hit with.

If the Torians aren't using the agents at all, then it's probably a bug, but if they're using them to nullify any agents you place, then it's a genuine if weird and kind of silly AI strategy.

The AI in general seems to overspend on espionage.

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I have another question that might be offtopic and I apologize for that, but since I am only playing this mod then answer might actually be mod-specific.

I have an extreme planet very near my starting location, which got colonized by a minor race and then flipped to me.

Now, the question is: What can I buy on it to get benefit? The planet has a +100% research field and a +100% influence field, and is of decent quality (PQ is 10-12, can't remember now). I have the cash to buy stuff but have no idea what will actually work.

I do not plan to research the techs for this one planet (I play on "rare" setting for extreme planets).

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MarvinKosh

Join Date 08/2005

+87

Research facilities will work just fine, as will influence buildings. It's just factories and your starport that will be very near useless until you get the technologies.

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Thanks. I am a bit of an old newbie and I couldn't find the info via Google. Now, building influence buildings on a planet deep in my territory is almost useless, right? It only affects planet influence?

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Hi everyone!

Wow. I didn't expect this to be the top thread so long after I disappeared. Glad to see that there's still some life in it. After my annual disappearing act, I'm getting the itch to return and finish my work. Actually, I did a lot of work after v3.0 that I never ended up releasing. I more-or-less finished the job, going over every single .xml item in the game and fixed it according to my general plan. I addressed improvement balance issues for all the races and put a lot of work into polishing the evil races and making them more competitive. I even fixed all the embarrassing little typos and such that made it into 3.0. The final touches that I never got around to were addressing the Thalan Hyperion Matrix and Torian Central Mine in an effort to curb the obscene advantage those races enjoy in the early game.

The only other thing I can think of would be to go back and re-address the AIValue question in the TechTrees. I discussed it previously with MarvinKosh: rather than zero out the AIValues and balance from there, I used the values given in TotA as a baseline. the result is that some AIVs are so high that tech trading has become nigh impossible. Unfortunately, I don't think I have it in me to tackle that problem from scratch. Getting the AI to research properly was probably the majority of the work involved in this mod, and took easily a couple hundred hours over the course of a few months. Sigh.

To those who have asked permission to use my mod: Yes. Please do. Proper credit and all that. Thank you very much.

Other than that, what else is new?

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