Proportions Mod: Multiplayer anyone?

[Fyron]

You can make the AI not do anything if you miss a turn. Inside SEIV, go into the empire options window and select Ministers. Scroll all the way to the bottom and select the option about the AI not making any changes in a simultaneous move game.

[PvK]

PTF, SE4 Gold has a neat feature that allows modders to specify two pictures per ship class: a preferred and a second choice. If the preferred isn't found, the second choice will be used, and the second choice is one found in the default set, and looks fine IMO. As of Proportions 1.5, all new ship classes first look for a picture with a name as defined in the SE4 Image Neo-Standard. See http://www.sandman43.fsnet.co.uk/neostand.htm for lists of ship sets that include the extra ships.

As for when the AI takes over, Fyron has the best answer, which is turn turn all (or almost all) of the ministers off in your empire settings, so your existing orders will be followed, and the AI won't go rampaging around like the nut it generally is. If you had to pick an AI file to use, though, I would use the Proportions Amon'krie one, as it is the most tailored to the mod. This would mean you would need to make a shipset with the AI files you want in it, and upload it to PBW so the server can use those files. I'm not 100% sure PBW will even do that courtesy, though - it might not bother to load custom AI files from a player's ship set - I dunno.

PvK

[PsychoTechFreak]

Thanks. The Neostandard is not yet downloadable, but I think the defaults are sufficient.

But I would like to suggest to wait a few days more before we start, because your changes in ver 1.5 make up a completely different game as in 1.42, I would like to become familiar with the changes. At the moment I have got even problems to setup a good race. And I guess there are still some wrinkles to plain, or at least some features would be good to know. For example, you changed the solar sails to an engine-like behaviour without using supplies, but have you noticed that you need at least one little supply niche to have some supplies available ? Otherwise, if you setup a ship just with solar sails, your ship will just get one turn (per month).

EDIT: All right, OTOH I think it would be interesting to learn things by doing and I guess this PBW proportions game would not be the Last one !

[ 17 March 2002: Message edited by: PsychoTechFreak ]

[PvK]

It will be another day or two before we will start, at least.

Do notice that if you are planning to design a race with maintenance reduction, that the scale now works differently. It's now actually what it says it is, proportional rather than additive. That is, in unmodded SE4 or Proportions 1.4.2 or less, 25% is the base, and buying 10% maintenance reduction will give you a 15% maintenance cost compared to ship cost. In Proportions 1.5, 26% is the base, and buying 10% maintenance reduction will cost far less and have less effect, giving you 26% x 90/100 = 23.4% maintenace costs. (It can be raised to higher levels. 50% will give you 13% base costs etc.)

The SE4 Image Neo-Standard isn't a ship set you would download - it's a standard for other mods and shipsets to use, so that they are compatible. It says what file names to use for what sorts of new ship types. So, if you use a ship set made for this standard, its special images like Scout, Infantry, Heavy Base Ship, etc., will get used in Proportions 1.5. See http://www.sandman43.fsnet.co.uk/neostandlist.htm for a partial list of ship sets that have these.

True about solar sails - though they work better than trying to make a sail-only ship in unmodded. Just put something with supplies on your sail ship and it'll fly. I'll adjust this for 1.6.

PvK

[PsychoTechFreak]

I like the sailing through the complete quadrant idea, and a 5kT supply niche is acceptable for that

Maintenance: How do the cultural modifiers kick in ? If I would take merchants (5%), will this reduce the absolute maintenance ? I have tried to check it out, but it seems to me that it is just added to the characteristic value (if this one is at 150, you get 155, but not sure about it). And we still have got the 5% minimum Maintenance, hardcoded, right ?

I still don't get the Neo-standard stuff, poor brain is completely in a mist, sorry this is a day of 18 hours testing Proportions mod... You stated:

"So, if you use a ship set made for this standard, its special images like Scout, Infantry, Heavy Base Ship, etc., will get used in Proportions 1.5"

Confusion completed: What ship sets can I use for proportions 1.5 ? In the readme files to the published shipsets, I cannot remember any terms like "this shipset is Neo-standard compatible".

Edit: Don't mind about my Last question(s), I will do my homework and read the SJ Thread about the image request idea, again.

[ 17 March 2002: Message edited by: PsychoTechFreak ]

[Phoenix-D]

"Do notice that if you are planning to design a race with maintenance reduction, that the scale now works differently. It's now actually what it says it is, proportional rather than additive."

How'd you do that?

Phoenix-D

[PvK]

The cultural maintenance mods are added to the characteristic setting. You can buy up to 90%, and merchants would make that 95%. No way around the hard-coded 5% minimum, and actually you need to use a culture to get higher than 90%. I guess I should raise the limit on the setting to +95%.

Any ship set that works with standard will work with Proportions. Shipsets that conform to the neo-standard (there are several) will also get you distinct pictures for the new ship classes. E.g., an empire using the Vandron ship set will have distinct pictures for their scouts and escorts, while a standard Toltayan empire will have escorts and scouts that use the same graphic.

PvK