Generalized Tech Trees v.1.8.1
This mod completely does away with the specialization system of GC III and makes it so that players can, eventually, research ALL technologies in their tech tree.
Due to the fact that things will start to go a little wonky if techs have more than one prerequisite, this mod comes in two flavors (see following posts and/or the attached README for full details).
One version of the mod (Generalized Tech Trees) creates a new tech for most of the specializations as described in the original version of this OP below.
The other version of this mod (Bridgeless Generalized Tech Trees) makes it so the first specialization of a group of specialization techs will ALWAYS unlock the next tech in the tech tree, while the other specializations can be researched at ones leisure later on. The rationale for this is described in Reply #7 of this thread and in the README.
To install this mod, first click on the following link:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHZWN4T0NTRmkxZE0 (v.1.0 [for use with GC III 1.3.2])
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHOF9zYi1wQXNOQ2s (v.1.4 [for use with GC III opt-in 1.4])
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHS3RqdkpsLUxnam8 (v.1.6 [for use with GC III 1.6/Mercenaries])
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHdF9vUWE3Nng5dG8 (v.1.7 [for use with GC III 1.7/Mercenaries])
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHSWdNLWdxUDNQcDg (v.1.7.1 [for use with GC III 1.7.1/Mercenaries])
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHMVc2NFZSVUVtazQ (v1.8.1 [for use with GC III 1.7.1/Mercenaries])
Unzip the file that was downloaded and then choose which version of the mod you wish to install. DO NOT INSTALL BOTH FOLDERS, as that will almost certainly lead to problems. Install either Generalized Tech Trees or Bridgeless Generalized Tech Trees, in other words.
For those who are now familiar with mods, the mod directory for GC III is found in My Documents\My Games\GalCiv3\Mods for Win 7 and Win 8 and in Documents\My Games\GalCiv3\Mods for Win 8.1 and Win 10.
I would suggest reading the attached README as it explains what is going on in this mod in a bit more detail than this post, and it might help you decide which flavor of the mod to install.
COMPATIBILITY:
This mod replaces the entire tech trees for all factions, so it probably will not be compatible with other mods that replace techs in the tech tree. It should be compatible with most mods that add to the tech tree, as long as they do not add specializations.
I would NOT recommend using this with the otherwise excellent Ave's DeSpecify (or any mod that it is based on), as it will duplicate techs in the tech tree and might turn out to be very unstable.
Since this is a replace mod, it will be updated soon after Stardock updates the tech trees in the base game.
CHANGE LOG:
v1.0 All specializations removed from all tech trees. Two seperate systems inacted to deal with the loss of specializations. Industrial Specialization 3 renamed from Industrial Specialization to Maintainece Specialization in the Generalized Tech Tree mod in all tech trees where applicable. Warp Field Focus 1 renamed from Warp Field Focus to Warp Drive Focus in the Generalized Tech Tree mod in all tech trees. The prerequsite tech for Lossless Support System in the Yor Tech tree was pointing to itself in the base game, making it unavailable to research. The prerequsite has been changed to Life Support Mastery 1 in the Bridgeless Generalized Tech Trees version of the mod and to Life Support Mastery in the Generalized Tech Tree version of the mod. Short Decs for some specializations created and copied where needed for the factions where they did not exist.
v1.4.0 Numbering scheme changed to reflect current GC III patch numbering. Sensor Mastery I changed on all tech tress to new base game values. Planetary Invasion Research Cost changed in tech trees where they were changed in the base game. v1.5.0 (version not released to the public) For both versions of the mod: AI weights for dozens of techs synced in all tech trees. Tags for Armor Defense Kinetic Point Weapon added and synced to techs where appropiate across all tech trees. Research cost for: Xeno Commerce Commerce Specialization Commerce Specialization 1 Commerce Specialization 2 Commerce Specialization 3 Xeno Economics Interstellar Banking Economic Focus Economic Focus 1 Economic Focus 2 Economic Focus 3 Financial Sectors Galactic Stock Market Interstellar Commerce Marketing Masters Economic Efficency synced across all tech trees as appropiate. Stat bonus for Kyrnn The Path Specialization 2 synced.
For the Generalized Tech Trees version of the mod ***ONLY***: Removed superfluous Hull Mastery Specialization for the Altarians. Fixed prerequisites for Altarian Payload Mastery Dreadlord Industrial Specialization 1 Dreadlord Invasion Optimization 3 Peacekeeper Invasion Optimization 3 Space Monsters Industrial Specialization 1 Kyrnn Agricultural Optimization 3 Snathi Molecular Specialization 3 Generic Tech Tree Invasion Optimization 3 Thalan Stellar Folding Thalan Defensive Specialization 3 Fixed text descriptions for Altarian Trade Focus Kyrnn Armor Focus Specialization Thalan Kinetic Acceleration Focus Fixed research cost for BRAINY'AK Manufacturing Focus Dreadlord Research Optimization 3 Dreadlord Agricultural Adaptation Peacekeeper Life Support Optimization Space Monsters Weapon Specialization 3 Space Monsters Beam Weapon Optimization 3
v1.6.0 Created Generalized and Bridgeless Generalized Tech Trees for the Acrean and Torian factions. Tags for Hulls Carrier Logisitics Invasion added and synced where appropiate across all tech trees. Research cost for Drengin Slave Mills synced. Colonization tags added and synced where appropiate. ColonizationTech tag changed to NonMilitary tag where appropiate. Synced the text description of dozens of techs throughout various tech trees.
v1.7.0 Removed all "<!-- Begin Tech -->" tags to sync with base game tech XMLs. Sensor Optimization 1 and Energy Field Focus 1 stat modification changed from Sensor Range to Sensor Power in all tech trees. Sensor Optimization 1 and Energy Field Focus 1 stat modifiers changed to reflect Sensor Power strength insead of flat ranges in all tech trees. Kyrnn Tourism Tech cost synced. Stat modifiers for Diplomacy Tech, Interstellar Alliances, Eminence Tech, and Majesty Tech synced in all tech trees. Minor adjustments to text descriptions in the Acrean and Torian tech trees synced. Restored the name "Base Tech Tree" to the Generic Tech Tree.
v1.7.1 Removed the Global Scope tag for the techs Diplomatic Specialization 3 and Economic Focus 2 across all appropriate tech trees. Stat modifiers for Interstellar Governance, Galactic Governance, Interstellar Democracy Tech, and Star Federation Tech synced in all tech trees.
v1.8.1
Research cost for Energy Phasing, Doom Ray Tech, Photon Torpedos, Nightmare Torpedo, Quantum Drivers, and Singularity Drivers all synced to reflect balance changes made in the base game. Stat modifier for Trade Focus 1 synced to reflect bug fix in base game. Thalan Trade Optimization 1 kept the same as 1.7.1 as this is likely a bug. Trade Focus 1 renamed from Trade Stations to Trade Tariffs in all appropriate tech trees. Minor grammatical fixes to text descriptions in the Acrean and Kyrnn tech trees synced.
If anyone has any comments, critiques, or feedback, please don't hesitate to make them.
Also, since I had to modify hundreds of techs, I won't be surprised if there is are a few errors in the two mods. Please don't hesitate to point them out and I'll fix them as soon as I can.
Once again, here is the link for
v1.0: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHZWN4T0NTRmkxZE0
v1.4: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHOF9zYi1wQXNOQ2s
v1.6: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHS3RqdkpsLUxnam8
v1.7: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHdF9vUWE3Nng5dG8
v1.7.1: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHSWdNLWdxUDNQcDg
v1.8.1: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHMVc2NFZSVUVtazQ
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(Original Post)
One of the more hotly debated changes in GC III from GC II is the existence of "specialized" technologies. In the base game, some technologies are "locked out" when one is researched. While many people are in favor of it, in some cases strongly so, the existence of specialized techs has led to complaints from some quarters. Complaints ranged from it making the tech tree too short to the more basic "I wanna research everything" to the more abstract arguments regarding immersion. Specializations, as noted, also have their supporters, focusing on everything from forcing players to choose how to spend their limited resources to game balance and arguments involving, ironically enough, immersion.
This is NOT the thread to rehash those arguments.
Instead, this mod will be for those who wish to be able to research everything in the tech tree.
There has already been one mod that attempted to address the complaints of people who don't like specialization (the excellent Ave's DeSpecify), but it added to the base tech trees while still leaving in the specialization system. By the author's own admission this led to some problems that required some workarounds on their part.
One of the great strengths of GC III is being able to mod in or out things one doesn't like about the game. In that vein, this mod, when completed, will completely strip out the current specialization system from from the game. It is very much a Work In Progress at the moment and not ready for release. This is because I will be reworking and replacing each and every tech tree in the base game.
For each specialization currently in the base game I will be adding a new tech that 1) unlocks the two or three specialized techs in that area of the tech tree and 2) unlocks the next tech in tech tree that the specialization techs unlocked in case someone doesn't want to research any of the specializations. In essence this new tech replaces the specialized tech on the tech tree while adding a separate branch for the specializations that can now all be researched.
An example can be seen below:
In this example, I created a tech and used the GC III name and descriptions for Industrial Specialization. When it is researched, it, as in the base game, unlocks Advanced Construction and Institutional Research. What it ALSO does is unlock the three specializations that were tied to Industrial Specialization in the base game as a separate side branch. The techs in those side branches will be left untouched and unmodified, aside from the fact that they no longer lead anywhere on the tech tree and they have a slightly different prereqs than before.
So far I have converted the Terran Tech Tree, the "basic/default" Tech Tree, and the Altarian Tech Tree. If all goes well, this mod should be ready for initial release in a couple of weeks.
One of the considerations I had when creating a new tech for each and every specialization was whether or not the tech that unlocks the specializations (and allows advancement along the tech tree) should actually DO anything. Unlike GC II, the devs attempted to get rid of the idea of "dead techs" that simply unlocked another set of techs without doing anything else. I felt I should stay true to this philosophy of game design, as I realize that spending X amount of turns to research something and get nothing for it is annoying. However, I didn't want to start handing out bonuses/benefits like they were candy, as game balance is going to be threatened enough just by allowing factions to research multiple specialized techs.
I then struck upon the idea of "micro bennies". Each of the techs that unlocks the specializations will increase something in the game by a minor amount. Individually, they won't be much. But when all of the specializations in a tech tree branch are researched, they will add up to a nice amount. Still not overpowering, but a nice addition.
At the moment I am leaning toward having specializations in the Colonization branch increase Raw Production by 2%, the specializations in Engineering branch increase Base Speed by 2%, the specializations in the Military branch increase Strategic Repair by 1% and the specializations in the Diplomatic branch Influence by 2%, as seen below:
These might not sound like a lot, but they'll add up after a while. For instance, in the Terran Tech Tree, this would eventually give an increase of 24% to Raw Production, 34% increase in Base Speed, 24% increase in Strategic Repair, and 26% increase in influence. Of course that is at the end of the tech tree and after researching some 65 techs to get to that point. These values also will probably go down slightly if I decide to eliminate the need for a "bridge" tech at the end of a tree (see below).
Feedback on what these bridge techs could give is welcome, as I am still tinkering with them as I design this mod.
I also have a couple of other design decisions I am playing with. I am almost certainly going to go back and eliminate the need to research a new bridge tech if all the tech does is unlock a set of specializations at the end of a tree. The whole reason for having new techs is that they allow a bridge to the next area of the tech tree while still granting access to a side branch of specialzations. Not much point of the bridge if it leads to nowhere.
I am also toying with the idea of lessening the amount of time it takes to research a bridge tech. I'm leaning against the idea, however, as doing so would allow quicker access into parts of the tree than in the base game as the bridge tech in essense replaces the specializaed techs when it comes to advancing down the tree. I might end up lowering the cost by a small amount, however, since the techs themselves don't grant all that much (small micro benefit and access to more of the tree). Feedback on this point would also be most welcome.
Finally I am also debating whether or not I should convert the tech trees that are found in the DLCs Stardock has released. For most of them, it won't matter too much. Though the idea of Space Monsters being able to eventually research multiple specializations has a wicked sense of appeal, I must admit. No, it more matters for the Snathi and any future full fledged faction that Stardock will release in the future. They would very much be at a disadvantage in this mod, but I am also worried about what Stardock will think about releasing a full tech tree replacement for a DLC faction. Still thinking about that one. Might end up asking Stardock themselves what they think of it.
One final point. These tech trees are going to.... Not exactly be elegant. Due the way GC III displays tech trees, they're going to be spread out quite a bit. There is very little I can do about that, I think. After inital release, however, I will attempt to make them a little more compact and not quite as spread out. I can do this by shifting where in the xml file they are put, as GC III will readjust the tree slightly depending on when it reads it. That's a bit down the priority list though.
Also, since this will be a REPLACE mod, this mod will have to be updated each and every time the tech trees in the base game are changed. Thankfully this shouldn't be too much work, but it is something to remember when the game itself is updated.
Finally, since this is a replace mod, it might not work well with other mods that modify the tech trees in any great detail. It is compatiable with all of my current mods I have released so far, but it might not play well with other mods that substatially tinker with the tech tree. I certainly would not use it with Ave's DeSpecify (or any mod based on it), as it will absolutely lead to a wonky tech tree. If it even works at all.
Nice .. I like to research everything .. or trade for it. Now if can have a follow on tech that allows you to keep improving things (prod/money ship features etc) so the tree never ends that would also be nice. ran into this in one strat game, just can't recall which one .. thus research just kept on forever with minor improvements to your fleet/planet (might have been endless space)
Nice. Will be adding this. Slowing tech progression would be a plus for me.
PROGRESS REPORT:
Eliminated the need for new bridge techs that only lead to specializations at the end of a branch in a tech tree and nothing else. Those specializations can now all be researched once the preceding tech in the tech tree is unlocked.
Drengin Tech Tree converted.
Iridium Tech Tree converted.
Added to the To Do List: Check all new bridge techs to see if they duplicate the displayed name of an already existing tech and change the name of either the displayed name of the new bridge tech or the already existing tech as appropiate.
Nice looking forward to this mod
Kyrnn Tech Tree converted.
Yor Tech Tree converted.
Iconia Tech Tree converted.
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Decided to have a separate set of tech trees without the "bridge techs" where the first specialization choice will always lead deeper into the tech tree. The other specializations will, of course, still be accessible as side branches.
This means the mod will be released in two "flavors", one with "bridge" techs and one without.
The reason I am doing this is I figured some folks would not want to have to research the mostly useless techs to get deeper into the tree even if they have the so-called micro-bennies. The problem is though, it is impossible to construct a tech tree where any of the specs will lead deeper into the tree as in the base game (well, technically there is but it leads it duplicated techs all over the tech tree, and I ain't going there ). So I am also constructing tech trees where the first of the two/three specializations will unlock the next techs in the tree, leaving the other specializations as side branches that can be researched at any time (as soon as the tech that unlocks them is researched, of course).
I realize it's a bit of a pain to "force" people to research the "top" specialization to keep going down the tree, but I don't have many options here. I certainly ain't releasing 1000+ different versions of this will all the possible permutations.
The way I figure it, there will be two sets of choices for which set of tech trees to use. If you want maximum flexibility and don't mind it that all of the specializations are on side branches, use one version of the mod. If you don't want the bridge techs and still want to go down the tech tree at a normal pace and don't mind being "forced" to choose one specialization over the others to progress through the tree, get the other.
Basically it all comes down to how one feels about the "bridge techs".
Thankfully, doing the bridge-less version is much easier than making the bridge ones, so I can knock those out fairly quickly.
With that announced:
Bridgeless Terran Tree made.
Bridgeless Altarian Tree made.
Still forecasting this to have an initial release sometime next week.
This mod is now nearly ready for release!
ALL tech trees have now been converted into Generalized form (both bridge and bridgeless), including the Snathi and the various non-player factions.
Minor testing has been done, mostly to see that the game loads up on all player factions and that no tech trees crash the game upon display.
All that is left to do between now and Initial Release is writing up a README for both versions of this mod and re-writing/organizing the OP.
...
Well, and uploading the blessed thing, of course.
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Finished converting all tech trees into Generalized Form.
In the bridge version of the mod, copied Short Decs for "bridge techs" in the tech trees that were missing them.
In the bridge version of the mod, renamed Industrial Specialization 3 to "Maintenance Specialization" in all tech trees where it was called "Industrial Specialization".
In the bridge version of the mod, renamed Warp Field Focus 1 to "Warp Drive Focus" in all tech trees so it will not be confused with the "bridge tech" Warp Field Focus.
Fixed the prerequisite for the tech Lossless Support System in the Yor Tech Tree in both mods, as it is currently pointing to itself in the base game, making it unavailable.
TO DO LIST:
Attempt to "clean up" the graphical view of the tech trees by moving the order they are generated in. May end up not being possible.
Change the Short Decs of the "bridge techs" in the bridge version of the mod to reflect the fact that they mostly unlock other specializations/allow further movement in the tree.
Gonna bite the bullet and throw this mod to the wolves sometime in the next 36 hours or so. Takes me a bit of time to actually churn out a usable README.
*bites bullet*
*modifies OP*
*takes deep breath*
This mod is now ready for initial release!
Please be gentle!
Here is the link for the mod: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHZWN4T0NTRmkxZE0
I would suggest reading either the README in the file or the modified original post of this thread, as it explains why there are two versions of this mod, and which one you might want to install.
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I do have something things I still want to do with this mod. One of them is to here what people think of the version that has bridge techs. At the moment I'm using the base amount of research that one of the specializations had to unlock the tech. I'm doing this so people can't ignore the specializations and rip through the good parts of the tech tree. But I am concerned that they might take a bit too much time to research with too little gain. I am thinking about perhaps cutting the amount of time it needs to research a bridge tech, perhaps significantly. If anyone plays the bridge tech version of the mod (Generalized Tech Trees), feedback would be welcome.
I am also very probably going to redo all of the Short Decs for the bridge techs so they better describe what they are doing in this mod. But that's hundreds of Short Decs, so that's something I'm gonna do at my leisure. I need a bit of a break from heavy duty XML modding after this.
Finally I may attempt to clean up the tech trees a little as they are REALLY spread out. I can try to compact them a little by where in the XML they are placed. But I don't know how much I can actually do on this score. I might throw up my hands and forget about this. Time will tell.
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Hope the people who have been wishing for specializations to be nuked enjoy this mod. It wasn't exactly hard to do, but there was a lot of repetition (which is why I took my time in making this mod) and drudge work.
Please leave any comments you might have, good or bad. And, of course, let me know about any bugs that might have slipped through so I can squish them ASAP.
Happy Researching, everyone!
Updated to 1.4 opt-in:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHOF9zYi1wQXNOQ2s
This is a maintenance release that only brings the tech trees up to date with the 1.4 opt-in.
Sensory Mastery I changed to 1.4 version in all tech trees.
Planetary Invasion Research Costs changed where appropriate
Numbering scheme changed to reflect GC III game version number
NOTE If one still has 1.3.2, one should probably stick with the old version of the mod. (v.1.0) It shouldn't introduce any compatibility concerns, but there are still slight differences between the tech trees in 1.3.2 and 1.4.
Thanx a lot! I finally played GC3 again. I haven't played it since beta when specializations were enforced.
Really dislike them, they ruined the game.
But probably the mod needs an update best when the new expansion is released in 2 weeks with Torians back in the game!
Glad you like it!
Actually, it's badly in need for an update for 1.5
Sadly without a proper tech editor, it's an EXTREME pain in the ass to update hundreds of tech AI values for the Generalized version of the mod. Like induce-a-GC III-burnout-for-two-months pain in the ass.
Enough of a pain in the ass that I haven't even updated the "Generalized" version of the mod for my home machine and have instead been playing/testing the "bridgeless" version of it (which works flawlessly, BTW). THAT I can update in literally minutes.
If anyone out these is actually using either version of this mod, I suppose I'll go ahead and release a 1.6 and Expansion version of the Bridgeless version. As said, that takes no more than an hour to crank out. But the Generalized version where I have to create new techs? We'll see.
I use the generalized version. I know it's hard to update all techs for all races!
I tried several times (and failed) to create a general tech tree just for humans and it's a very long xml it takes too long even by using notepad++.But I guess updating doesn't need so much work perhaps fixing some errors there and there. It's the new races that come to the game they will need a new generalized tech tree!
No matter which version you update to 1.6 it will be welcome!
It's not so bad when they change one or two techs, It's when the "AI Value" (ie the weights to research something) of well over a 1000 techs changes, is when I flip my lid.
As long as I can automate things with my editor of choice (TextWrangler [an OS X program]), it's not so bad. But when updates like the 1.4.1 one come out, it's better for me just to start all over rather than to update the mod.
I will say your vote of confidence is giving me the impetus to do both versions of the mod, so thanks for that!
Good News, Everyone!
/Prof Farsworth
I've gone ahead and converted BOTH versions of this mod for 1.5 (though it isn't prettified or ready for release quite yet). Even better, it looks like the changes in the tech trees for 1.6 will be minimal, so I can plug those changes directly into the mod and release it when 1.6/Merc goes wide.
Found a way to automate some of the steps I make when I convert the tech trees from scratch for the Generalized version. Still takes too much time but now I can chop it up into manageable pieces and peck away at it in stages in my free time instead of grinding through hours of conversion.
With the release of 1.6 so soon, I'm going to hold off and release the update for the mod when 1.6/Merc goes live.
I'm also thinking about tweaking the microbennies in the Generalized Tech Tree version of the mod so that the minor incremental increase in repair rate found in the microbennies of the Weapons tech branches also affects starbases and shipyards. Mostly because I didn't realize that they weren't affecting starbases and shipyards (at least I think they aren't).
Aside from that I found an embarrassing amount of minor errors here and there in some of the prerequisites for techs in the Generalized version of the mod, and they'll all be fixed when the 1.6/Merc version goes live.
Mostly though, now that I have found a way to make it relatively less painful to convert a tech tree from the base up, I think I can say I'll be updating this mod for the foreseeable future. I reckon most of the time there will be minor changes to a tree and I can plug them directly into the mod. But when there are major changes and I decide it's better to recreate the tech trees from the bottom up (like 1.4 => 1.5) I won't be gibbering in a corner like I was.
Ok Mercenaries are out I'm not starting the game untill you release the updated mod. I'm waiting patiently.....
Ha!
I've got it all ready to go, mostly. There have been a ton of changes, so I need to write up a nice update to the README file. Once that is done and I do some double checking of things, I'll upload and share the link. In a few hours, prob.
Would have had it ready at launch, but I was a little under the weather the last couple of days, which set me back a bit.
Ton of changes eh? And I hoped only the new races Torians etc. would add their tech trees.I guess mercenaries have added something to tech trees...
UPDATED TO 1.6/Mercenaries:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHS3RqdkpsLUxnam8
The Full Change Log can be found in the README in the zip file and in the OP. Here is a partial change log with the most important changes:
1.4 to 1.5 changes (version never released to the public)
AI weights for dozens of techs changed to reflect their values in the base game.
Various tags added throughout the tech trees
Research costs for
Xeno Commerce Commerce Specialization Commerce Specialization 1 Commerce Specialization 2 Commerce Specialization 3 Xeno Economics Interstellar Banking Economic Focus Economic Focus 1 Economic Focus 2 Economic Focus 3 Financial Sectors Galactic Stock Market Interstellar Commerce Marketing Masters Economic Efficency
changed to reflect their values in the base game
Stat bonus for the Kyrnn's The Path Specialization 2 changed to reflect the value in the base game.
1.5 Bug Fixes (Generalized Tech Trees Only) (version never released to the public)
Removed superfluous Hull Mastery Specialization for the Altarians.
Fixed prerequisites for Altarian Payload Mastery Dreadlord Industrial Specialization 1 Dreadlord Invasion Optimization 3 Peacekeeper Invasion Optimization 3 Space Monsters Industrial Specialization 1 Kyrnn Agricultural Optimization 3 Snathi Molecular Specialization 3 Generic Tech Tree Invasion Optimization 3 Thalan Stellar Folding Thalan Defensive Specialization 3 Fixed text descriptions for Altarian Trade Focus Kyrnn Armor Focus Specialization Thalan Kinetic Acceleration Focus Fixed research cost for BRAINY'AK Manufacturing Focus Dreadlord Research Optimization 3 Dreadlord Agricultural Adaptation Peacekeeper Life Support Optimization Space Monsters Weapon Specialization 3 Space Monsters Beam Weapon Optimization 3
1.5 to 1.6 Changes
Created Generalized and Bridgeless Generalized Tech Trees for the Acrean and Torian factions.
More tags added to the tech trees as appropiate.
Research cost for Drengin Slave Mills synced.
Synced the text description of dozens of techs throughout various tech trees
Actually the vast majority of changes were from 1.4 to 1.5. Plus an alarming amount of bug fixes on my end .
In a way, having to recreate the tech trees was a blessing in disguise as I might never have found all of those bug fixes I listed otherwise.
Anyway, the reason why the README file took so long to type up (besides the fact that I lost my temporary change log I'd been fiddling about with the last couple of days and had to recreate it ) is that I never made a change log from 1.4 to 1.5. Thus all of the changes that would have been made had I ever made a "proper" version of the mod for 1.5 had to be rolled into this readme.
As it is, there were a few last minute errors I found in my ultra last minute check of things. Goodness knows there's probably more lurking about. But it loads and plays and it passes the eye test. Which should be good enuf for now! Any other errors that might be lurking in the tech trees will have to wait 'till another day to be found.
fingers crossed....
So anyone else besides alphaprior playing this? Any comment on how it's playing? Does the AI take advantage of all the other techs at higher difficulty levels where it is easier for them to get techs, or is it pretty much a cake-walk for a human player (which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I'm not exactly looking for balance here).
Basically any and all comments welcome.
One thing I am toying with is changing the amount of techs it takes to enter each age. I'm hesitant to do that because I want to keep this focused and compatible with as many different mods as possible. On the other hand, with all of the spec techs now available (eventually) it does make it a bit easier to enter the Age of War and especially easier to enter the Ages of Ascension and Victory respectively.
These aren't necessarily bad things, per se, but it's something that I've noticed.
It looks like it would be a simple change to the file TechAgeDefs.xml.
I probably wouldn't bump the Age of War up much, if at all. But I might add a few to Ascension and quite a bit to Victory.
Or I might just bump them up on my home version of the mod and leave it alone for the publicly released version of the mod.
Thoughts on this as well would be appreciated.
UPDATED TO 1.7/Mercenaries
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0By8Y969dyvLHdF9vUWE3Nng5dG8
1.6 to 1.7
Sensor Optimization 1 and Energy Field Focus 1 stat modification changed from Sensor Range to Sensor Power in all tech trees. Sensor Optimization 1 and Energy Field Focus 1 stat modifiers changed to reflect Sensor Power strength insead of flat ranges in all tech trees. Kyrnn Tourism Tech cost synced. Stat modifiers for Diplomacy Tech, Interstellar Alliances, Eminence Tech, and Majesty Tech synced in all tech trees.
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Not much this time, so not an immediate download, IMO. But if one is going to want to use the new Sensor Power system fully, then they'll want to download this for any new games one might start. The other major change in the tech trees is the nerfing of most of the diplomatic bonuses that various Diplomatic Techs gave. Aside from that the only other game play change of any note is that the Krynn tourism tech is now in line with the other factions.
So the game should run smoothly enough under the old 1.6 Generalized Tech Trees, but for any new games, I'd recommend downloading the latest version of the mod.
Enjoy!
Thanks very much for this mod. I downloaded and installed it today and began a new game, everything is working perfectly as far as I can tell, and I'm enjoying the new tech tree choices. I'm using the generalized version, by the way.
Glad to hear you're enjoying it! And thank you very much for the kind words. Makes me happy to see people are using this.
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