Notes on rev 5222

[Zireael]

(An aside: I love the rev number)

1) What is the weird colorful ring on the starmap and why is it moving a little every turn?
2) Do something so that one can't build multiple copies of a single building in the same spot. I thought Geoff already did something...
3) Active Radar should be a prerequisite for Neutron Scanner
4) Neutron Scanner should be a prerequisite for Sensors
5) Planetary Deflector should be a prerequisite for Planetary Barrier
6) Basic Damange Control should be a prerequisite for Advanced Damage Control
7) Outpost Base needs a "is there an unowned planet" condition
A way to set a single focus for the entire system
9) A way to tell one 'Deep Space' apart from another 'Deep Space'
10) For krissakes, do something with the display of high-stealth planets and their systems!
11) Implement meters
12) A way to compare the populations of the planets faster - maybe a pop meter for the system next to the prod/research/trade meters?

EDIT: 13) Outposts and colonies explained in the 'Pedia. I thought I already submitted a description?
14) 'Ships were refuled' still has a typo and still fires for every ship in the fleet. Please fix it!

[eleazar]

* if you submitted a script addition or patch, and nothing happens in 10 days, feel free to bump the thread, I probably forgot about it.

* if you see a typo, have the courtesy to identify it specifically.

11) "implement meters" ?
Could you be more vauge?

[Geoff the Medio]

1) What is the weird colorful ring on the starmap and why is it moving a little every turn?

A work in progress.

2) Do something so that one can't build multiple copies of a single building in the same spot. I thought Geoff already did something...

There is no simple way to prevent this completely. I added a condition that could be used to make things not producible in locations where something is on the production queue, but that would also have the result if preventing the any such item already on the queue from receiving any funding. Buildings could also have location conditions added that prevents them from being produced where a copy of that building already exists, but that won't prevent multiple copies from being enqueued and finishing on the same turn. In practice, that may be sufficient for your desire, though. If so, such location conditions could be added by you and submitted as a patch, so if you want it to happen, consider doing it yourself.

14) 'Ships were refuled' still has a typo and still fires for every ship in the fleet.

It's probably going to keep firing for all ships in a system that get refueled. There's no mechanism for summarizing multiple such events in one sitrep message.

Submit a patch, bumping if necessary, for any desired stringtable changes or location condition additions.

[em3]

11) "implement meters" ?
Could you be more vauge?

Zirael could have written "11) Implement." That would be slightly more vague.

[Zireael]

Re: typo - refuled should be refueled.

Re: meters - they all show as 0.

[Geoff the Medio]

Re: meters - they all show as 0.

?

[Zireael]

Empire meters (omg, I can't believe I missed the word "empire" in two posts!)

[Geoff the Medio]

The detection meter is non-zero. The rest appear as zero because they are actually zero.

[Zireael]

I updated the techs.txt I pulled from latest SVN - see attached. Changes are released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0.

I tested the updated file and everything works.

I looked through the eng_stringtable.txt and can't figure out how to fix the typo and where the Pedia entries are... nor how to add the missing descriptions for some techs. If someone could tell me how to, I'd do it.

[Geoff the Medio]

Changes are released under GPL 2.0.

Content file changes need to be released under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 as well.

...can't figure out how to fix the typo and where the Pedia entries are...

Search the file (using a text editor search function) for the misspelled words. Fix any that appear.

...nor how to add the missing descriptions for some techs.

Tech descriptions are in the stringtable as the untranslated name of the tech with _DESC added to the end. For example, for Symbotic Biology

Code: Select all

GRO_SYMBIOTIC_BIO
Symbiotic Biology

GRO_SYMBIOTIC_BIO_DESC
'''Increases the max population of Adequate, Poor, & Hostile planets by planet size; Tiny: +1, Small: +2, Medium: +3, Large: +4, Huge: +5.'''

[Zireael]

Appropriate disclaimer added to the earlier post. Will get to working on the stringtables soon.

[eleazar]

I updated the techs.txt I pulled from latest SVN - see attached. Changes are released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0.

I don't think the change as you made it improves things i.e. just adding a new prerequisite. That just makes the tangle of techs more confusing.

My reply to yandonman with a similar complaint:

There was a time where every tech that does something (application) had to be preceded by a tech that does nothing but lead to other techs (theory), and only theories could lead to other techs. I've worked to reduce excessive theories, but there's still too many. The disconnects you mention are a symptom of that old system.

Changes/additions to the tech tree should generally move in these direction. I think it is a good tree design, but more importantly, that kind of tree is easier to work with as the game is developed.

• * More, longer independent branches
  * Fewer Theories
  * Fewer techs with multiple prerequisites

[Geoff the Medio]

I think it is a good tree design, but more importantly, that kind of tree is easier to work with as the game is developed.

• * More, longer independent branches
  * Fewer Theories
  * Fewer techs with multiple prerequisites

I'm increasingly inclined to think theories should be removed entirely. The Hearts of Iron / Europa Universalis model sounds fine, but in practice, they're just another uninteresting delay between players making a choice (I want X) and the result / reward (getting X), particularly in cases where something then has to be produced after the theory and application are researched.

[yandonman]

I'm increasingly inclined to think theories should be removed entirely. The Hearts of Iron / Europa Universalis model sounds fine, but in practice, they're just another uninteresting delay between players making a choice (I want X) and the result / reward (getting X), particularly in cases where something then has to be produced after the theory and application are researched.

I wholeheartedly agree!! And, yes!, please remove theories!!

This was my take on theories: Theory research provides no game value other than to pass on the cost (in RP and time) to application and refinement research. I find that I use the "ignore theories" button a lot to make research practical and simple.

[eleazar]

I think it is a good tree design, but more importantly, that kind of tree is easier to work with as the game is developed.

• * More, longer independent branches
  * Fewer Theories
  * Fewer techs with multiple prerequisites

I'm increasingly inclined to think theories should be removed entirely. The Hearts of Iron / Europa Universalis model sounds fine, but in practice, they're just another uninteresting delay between players making a choice (I want X) and the result / reward (getting X), particularly in cases where something then has to be produced after the theory and application are researched.

I think the theory/application model would be more compelling is a game that recapitulated the actual development of technology.

I see no downside in eliminating the "theory" class, and generally eliminating "do nothing" techs, except for the work required to put the tree back together.