Questions about the Settings.txt file

[Fyron]

Originally Posted by Deca

3) Is 14 the maximum number computer players that can be used?

There are only 14 main empires available in the stock game, thus the default setting. There can be up to 20 empires in a game of SE. If you want to increase this setting to get more main empires and less neutrals, make sure to install at least 6 new shipsets so the game has enough to choose from.

4) If I wanted to make sure that no "Neutral" played, can I place a 0, or must there be a minimum of at least 1 neutral?

Many would say the ideal setting there is 0 (or selecting "no neutrals" at game start), since neutrals are merely free pop and colony tech to conquer.

6) Furthermore, I thought there was a setting which also dealt with the time in which the game delayed (playing sound and animation) while ships went through warp that could be removed or altered in order to speed that process up? Is there, and if so which one is it?

There is no such setting. Instead, you need to edit the warp point animation in Data\BitmapEffects_System.txt:

Effect Type                                          := Warp Flash
Specific Type                                        := Warp Flash Standard
Effect Name                                          := Flash 1
Bitmap Filename                                      := WarpFlash.bmp
Sound Filename                                       := Warp Flash
Width                                                := 1.0
Height                                               := 1.0
Src Blend                                            := Blend_One
Dest Blend                                           := Blend_One
Number Of Frames                                     := 1
Frame 1 Texture Start X                              := 0.00
Frame 1 Texture Start Y                              := 0.00
Frame 1 Texture End X                                := 1.00
Frame 1 Texture End Y                                := 1.00

IIRC all you need to do is change Number Of Frames to 0. Search the forums for "Warp Flash" if that is not sufficient, and you will find other posts discussing it.

[Deca]

Originally Posted by Fyron

There is no such setting. Instead, you need to edit the warp point animation in Data\BitmapEffects_System.txt:


Code:
Effect Type := Warp Flash
Specific Type := Warp Flash Standard
Effect Name := Flash 1
Bitmap Filename := WarpFlash.bmp
Sound Filename := Warp Flash
Width := 1.0
Height := 1.0
Src Blend := Blend_One
Dest Blend := Blend_One
Number Of Frames := 1
Frame 1 Texture Start X := 0.00
Frame 1 Texture Start Y := 0.00
Frame 1 Texture End X := 1.00
Frame 1 Texture End Y := 1.00

IIRC all you need to do is change Number Of Frames to 0. Search the forums for "Warp Flash" if that is not sufficient, and you will find other posts discussing it.

Excellent info on the other questions, plus that's what I was looking for in regards to the Warping. Oddly, setting the "Number Of Frames" to Zero causes the game to crash; however, you've given me the info I need to play around with these settings. Plus I found a few other threads based upon your suggestions on the wav files, too:

StellarWarpPointEntering.wav
StellarWarpPointExiting.wav

thnx

[Fyron]

Maybe the solution was to simply comment out the Warp Flash entry, then. It's a simple edit to the file to kill the animation entirely; I just forget which it was. Place // at the start of every line of it, and the following blank line. You should end up with an empty line above the comment block, and solid lines of comments til the next entry starts.

Note that commenting it out is safer than outright deleting it, in case you need to restore it at some point in the future.