Pointer Mod -- v1.2 Released

Urendi Maleldil · #1 February 18th, 2005, 05:37 PM

Ahh!. Thanks to Atraikus's AI Modding cheat sheet, almost all my AI problems are now solved.

If you have a Req Ability like Cargo Storage that has a required percentage on the hull size, the AI will add that percentage of component plus one.

The default AI is now completely working!

I have no idea why the AI wasn't exploring before and I still can't figure out why the AI keeps putting the Prefab Fortifications on ships though. The AI's just adding them at the end. They don't affect ship performance, so I'm not really worried yet.

Ed Kolis · #2 February 19th, 2005, 04:30 PM

They're not the same family as some other component which is used on ships, are they? The AI is notorious for ignoring restrictions such as "small weapons only go on fighters and troops"

Urendi Maleldil · #3 February 19th, 2005, 08:47 PM

Yeah. I checked the families. They're fine. I even changed the old family number to a new one just in case, but that didn't work.

The only ability the Prefabs have is the Armor ability. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause the AI to put them on a design.

Fyron · #4 March 1st, 2005, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Urendi Maleldil said:
Yeah. I checked the families. They're fine. I even changed the old family number to a new one just in case, but that didn't work.

The only ability the Prefabs have is the Armor ability. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause the AI to put them on a design.

Perhaps you are falling victim to this line:

Armor Spaces Per One := 1200

The "most advanced" armor component will be used to satisfy this requirement. You can force the AI to view something else as the "most advanced" armor by adding a bunch of redundant tech reqs to it so that it requires more total tech levels than the Prefab components do. You can have 5 or 6 "Armor 1" tech reqs if necessary.

Alternatively, you could add a tech area with a bunch of levels (20 or more) specifically for this purpose. All races would start with max levels in it, and all it is for is to make the AI view what you want it to view as the "most advanced" component. Since it will always have every level of this tech area, the tech tree itself will be wholely unaffected. I have put such practices to effective use in Adamant.

Urendi Maleldil · #5 March 2nd, 2005, 02:20 PM

That could be it. I've used the extra techs trick on other components. I'll try it on the Prefabs.

The new tech tree will be a little easier to use. It will be easier to mod the AI to and it will eliminate researching useless things before you get something you like.

ie, if you're using phasers and all of a sudden you want turbolasers you won't have to start by researhing puny little 6 damage lasers first.

VaultDweller · #6 March 2nd, 2005, 05:40 PM

A side thought about technology...

Have you considered having the progression from cities upto orbital towers be upgradible?

It could help AI's who do build urban tech because when you get to the highest level city you must destroy the city in order to build an arcology, ect.

I'm not sure how much the tech tree would need to be changed, but I'd think that it would be easier for both people and the AI to take advantage of the tech that way.

Second question: What does the commercial shipping tech do?

VaultDweller · #7 March 2nd, 2005, 10:06 PM

Urendi

I'm playing/testing the new mod right now and I'm curious about Shipping Office I. As I understand it, it should be improving the value(mineral, organic, radiation) of all my planets in a system by 1% per turn. It doesn't look to be working right now.

Thanks

VaultDweller

Urendi Maleldil · #8 March 9th, 2005, 06:45 PM

Unfortunately my computer caught a virus and now won't boot up. I'll have to do a system resore from the factory partition, which means SE4 will be gone from my harddrive along with Pointer v2.0

I'll be back to work though as soon as my computer is resored and I get my SE4 gold cd mailed to me from Wisconsin.

VaultDweller · #9 March 14th, 2005, 03:08 AM

Urendi

How's things going with the system restore?

Also, have you heard anything from Ekolis?

VaultDweller

Urendi Maleldil · #10 March 14th, 2005, 04:06 PM

I haven't gotten ahold of a Windows XP disk yet. I should be getting mine in the mail any day now.

I haven't heard from Ed, but as soon as I do and my computer is running again, we can continue the game.