Customizing the game

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human2
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Customizing the game

#1 Post by human2 »

I hate to say this but I always play the game with the same starting research queue and almost always the same production queue. Is it possible to make every new game start with the queues I'd like? As the game progresses I usually tweak it, but at the start, it's always the same. And most games always research the same techs in the same order as well.

I know if I don't tell it what to research it will pick a bunch of things but it's never what I want.

Also, to make the game more interesting, I thought it would be interesting if the tech was randomized so that some games didn't have certain branches, like, say, lasers, shields, ground troops, etc. Is that possible?

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Oberlus
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Re: Customizing the game

#2 Post by Oberlus »

human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am I hate to say this but I always play the game with the same starting research queue and almost always the same production queue. Is it possible to make every new game start with the queues I'd like?
Would be handy. For me, there's a queue that works at least 50% of the time. Not anymore with current ongoing changes, but that is irrelevant here.
human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am I thought it would be interesting if the tech was randomized so that some games didn't have certain branches, like, say, lasers, shields, ground troops, etc. Is that possible?
Probably possible, if someone codes it. Some techs should be left out of that randomization because their lack could make games unplayable, but the general idea could work. I myself don't like it much (I prefer that policies will make impossible to apply all bonuses at the same time so that you have to pick a given subset over others, I like the game to let me make the choices, instead of a dice).

Ophiuchus
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Re: Customizing the game

#3 Post by Ophiuchus »

human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am I hate to say this but I always play the game with the same starting research queue and almost always the same production queue. Is it possible to make every new game start with the queues I'd like?
Would be handy. No support for importing queues yet. You could open a feature request - its more likely to be implemented if you implement it yourself though.
human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am I know if I don't tell it what to research it will pick a bunch of things but it's never what I want.
It takes the cheapest available tech I think. Before, the research points were simply lost.
human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am Also, to make the game more interesting, I thought it would be interesting if the tech was randomized so that some games didn't have certain branches, like, say, lasers, shields, ground troops, etc. Is that possible?
Simplest way is deleting the techs in (a copy of) your default folder before starting the game - you could simply roll a dice beforehand. AI should still "work" but probably complain in the logs about missing techs.
If you played some games in that way you can report if such a feature is actually worthwhile. I will book such a feature under the "scenarios" label in my head.
Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

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Geoff the Medio
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Re: Customizing the game

#4 Post by Geoff the Medio »

human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 amI thought it would be interesting if the tech was randomized so that some games didn't have certain branches, like, say, lasers, shields, ground troops, etc. Is that possible?
This sort of mechanic has been discussed several times over the years. The original Master of Orion's tech tree is designed around having lots of optional techs that vary from game to game. The current FreeOrion tech tree has lots of required prerequisites, though, so implementing missing techs on the tree is awkward without a more substantial redesign... which have been discussed in various varieties, but need someone to actually implement them. Another option is to make more content depend on limited-access resources during the game, so that one can research stuff but not necessarily use it in all cases.

Bobit
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Re: Customizing the game

#5 Post by Bobit »

I think the tech tree is one of the best parts of the game right now. The general pop/research techs are maybe not as situational as they should be, but it's hard to make going for early econ vs early military balanced when you don't know the intended length of the game, so most 4X are this way.

The tech tree would be more improved by improving other aspects of the game. For example if players can choose to go for a tall strat, science victory strat, stealth/disconnected strat, the viable techs change drastically. And whether you pursue those strats does depend on your starting position, which in some ways feels better than emphasizing the more direct "you can only build asteroid ships if you roll a lot of asteroids" approach.

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drkosy
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Re: Customizing the game

#6 Post by drkosy »

The original Master of Orion's tech tree is designed around having lots of optional techs that vary from game to game
It was broken into levels and fields. You could research 1-2 techs per level per field (chemistry, physics etc) than the new level was opened. That is very different to freeorion.

I would like more possibilities to expansion. In MOO2 if you just had "poor" planets in range, either you went for better fuel cells or for more producion (Automated factory, robo miner fast), so it changed what you researched early on.
Maybe espionage could solve that problem as well. You could than watch the techs of others and hold them back due to the chance of steal them.
Maybe some more natives could provide you with technology.

Personally I love the first on most, but that would mean a bit more micromanagement and may not be compatible with KISS, so I think one of the others would be more realistic to have :)
Want some fresh experience? Try Kosymod

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human2
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Re: Customizing the game

#7 Post by human2 »

Ophiuchus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 pm
human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am I hate to say this but I always play the game with the same starting research queue and almost always the same production queue. Is it possible to make every new game start with the queues I'd like?
Would be handy. No support for importing queues yet. You could open a feature request - its more likely to be implemented if you implement it yourself though.
Uhhh nnnn wweeeellll... I totally get the whole if I want it I should do it thing. I went ahead and cloned the source code and looked around and read the contributing stuff. If I feel better about this later on (days, weeks?) maybe I'll try to compile it.

I suppose the only reason I'm replying like this is because I actually play this game, probably too much in fact. I didn't even realize you guys didn't consider it finished. Seems like a finished game to me... Anyway. Uh. Honestly, games is what got me into computers when I was a kid. Art, programming, and music composition. I'm sure there were other reasons, but in thinking back, games were the first reasons I got into these things.

Anyway. I learned C++ 25 years ago and used it once since. Sigh. I know Python but haven't really felt like trying to customize FreeOrion. I've made some really simple iPhone games 10 years ago in Obj-C (like a matching card memory game and things like it). I've never worked on anything this big and I seriously have no free time. And seriously, part of the appeal of FreeOrion is that I haven't figured out the mechanics yet, even after accumulating probably days of playing it. And I'd be more interested writing music than coding... I hardly ever do it but it I believe I have far more skill in that area than art or programming.

Where would I start? I imagine I could find the code that loads a save file and figure out how it populates the tech queue and then add something to the new game process that looks for a customization file and loads a tech queue from that.
Ophiuchus wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:09 pm
human2 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:53 am Also, to make the game more interesting, I thought it would be interesting if the tech was randomized so that some games didn't have certain branches, like, say, lasers, shields, ground troops, etc. Is that possible?
Simplest way is deleting the techs in (a copy of) your default folder before starting the game - you could simply roll a dice beforehand. AI should still "work" but probably complain in the logs about missing techs.
If you played some games in that way you can report if such a feature is actually worthwhile. I will book such a feature under the "scenarios" label in my head.
I finally tried it.

Code: Select all

main() caught exception(std::runtime_error): ERROR: Tech "SHP_MIDCOMB_LOG" requires a missing or malformed tech "SHP_MASSPROP_SPEC" as its prerequisite.
GUIController failed to setup or run the GUI.
So I added the files back and just commented out the "unlock" stuff and I'll try it out.

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Vezzra
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Re: Customizing the game

#8 Post by Vezzra »

human2 wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:09 amI didn't even realize you guys didn't consider it finished. Seems like a finished game to me...
I consider that a compliment 8)

Actually, the game is still in alpha. After almost 18 years of development. You see, we take our time... :wink:

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human2
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Re: Customizing the game

#9 Post by human2 »

For an "alpha" game is sure is stable. You should just call it 1.0 and then add all of your 1.0 features to 2.0.

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