Balance Mod v1.10 Available! |

Greetings!
The next version of the Balance Mod is finally available. There's been a ton of fixes/revisions to both the data files and AI. Note that v1.10 is not save game compatible with previous Balance Mod versions and it requires the latest version of SE:V to run.
Download it here:
http://www.captainkwok.net/balancemod.php
Version 1.10 (14 October 2007) -------------------------------- 01. Fixed - Error in ShipExperience.txt was preventing experience bonuses from being applied 02. Fixed - Error in fleet experience points required for elite status 03. Changed - Increased starting maintenance for ships to 25% 04. Changed - Reduced Shield Regenerators to 6 levels 05. Changed - Decreased ability amount for Shield Regenerators 06. Note - Shield Regenerators are stackable 07. Changed - Split Armor into 5kT and 10kT Light and Heavy versions 08. Added - Pictures for Heavy Armor 09. Changed - Increased Emissive Armor to 16 levels 10. Changed - Decreased Small Emissive Armor to 3 levels 11. Changed - Life Support and Crew Quarters reduced to 5kT and increased to 6 levels 12. Changed - Increased Vehicle Systems to 6 levels 13. Changed - Seeker weapons can now be placed on Outer or Inner hull slots 14. Added - Pictures for 5kT Supply Storage and 5kT Ordnance Storage components 15. Changed - Reduced Intel defense modifier in settings.txt 16. Changed - Increased Supply and Ordnance storage for planets 17. Changed - Reduced the ordnance supplied by Emergency Reordnance Pods 18. Changed - Drone Launchers now count towards Carrier requirements 19. Changed - Small Rocket Pods can now be placed on troops 20. Added - Randomized the amounts for a stellar object's abilities 21. Changed - Removed Green Stars 22. Changed - Reduced size of fighters and decreased their required engine amounts 23. Changed - Increased maximum size of Medium Freighter hulls to 800kT 24. Changed - Increased maximum size of Large Freighter hulls to 1200kT 25. Changed - Increased costs for Computer Core components 26. Changed - Increased size of Drone Computer Core to 20kT 27. Added - Small Ripper Beam 28. Added - Pictures for Small Ripper Beam 29. Changed - Reduced Small Incinerator Beam to 3 levels 30. Changed - Reduced Time Distortion Burst to 20kT and Small Time Distortion Burst to 2kT 31. Changed - Space Yard component reduced to 300kT size 32. Changed - Increased storage amounts for resource storage facilities 33. Changed - Reduced Storage tech area to 11 levels and increased its cost 34. Changed - Reduced Medical Treatment tech area to 5 levels and increased its cost 35. Changed - Reduced Medical Lab facility to 5 levels 36. Changed - Lots of minor changes to facility costs and structure amounts 37. Changed - Genetic Recoding Labs now has a ground combat modifier ability for the system 38. Changed - Reduced Temporal Vacation Service facility to 5 levels 39. Changed - Reduced Urban Pacification Center facility to 5 levels 40. Changed - Reduced Psychic Scanner to 11 levels 41. Changed - Reduced Fate Shrine to 5 levels 42. Changed - Reduced Nature Shrine to 5 levels 43. Changed - Reduced Time Shrine to 5 levels 44. Changed - Re-organized Religious Technology facility availability 45. Changed - Interspersed Climate Control Facility and Value Improvement Plant levels in Planet Utilization tech area 46. Changed - "Skip Armor" damage type now has 95% penetration versus armor 47. Changed - "Only" damage types now have 100% penetration versus armor 48. Changed - Most damage types do only 50% of their normal damage amount to facilities 49. Changed - Reduced Bombardment Weapons to 11 levels 50. Changed - Increased damage amount for Planetary Napalm 51. Changed - Reduced the positive effect of troops on population happiness 52. Changed - Reduced the happiness effect from the Naturally Happy and Naturally Depressed traits 53. Fixed - A number of errors in defense penalties for ships and space stations 54. Fixed - Error in tech requirements for Organic and Crystalline Carriers 55. Changed - Increased the map area for ground combat 56. Added - Added additional buildings for ground combat 57. Added - AI Minister for Survey Ships 58. Added - AI Minister for Patrol Ships 59. Added - AI Minister for Cloaking 60. Added - New AI design types 61. Fixed - Combat designs for some races would be created without weapons 62. Fixed - AIs were not longer immediately hostile to human players in AI team mode 63. Fixed - AI ships and fleets were not resupplying as often as required* 64. Fixed - Error in Medical Ship orders 65. Fixed - Ships were not always sent to join the most appropriate fleet 66. Fixed - Error in AI selection of systems to attack 67. Fixed - The AI was never giving up, never surrending* 68. Added - AI will use Space Yard Ships to construct remote defense bases 69. Added - AI will break their treaties with the Mega Evil player 70. Changed - AI will now use Carriers for Drone Carrier design type 71. Changed - AI will use cloaking devices 72. Changed - AI's facility selection is now more responsive to its needs 73. Changed - Improved the AI's vehicle purchasing routine 74. Changed - Improved the AI's handling of resources 75. Fixed - AI wasn't using Fighter or Drone Groups for attacks 76. Added - AI will drop troops on rioting colonies 77. Added - AI will send their fleets for training 78. Fixed - Error in AI scrapping routine for ships 79. Fixed - AI Minister for Population Transports was not working correctly 80. Changed - Improved AI's use of scout ships for exploration and surveying 81. Changed - AI will now use Patrol Ships for patrol missions only 82. Changed - AI players will focus on sabotage operations only 83. Fixed - Error in Intelligence script that allowed projects to succeed more than they should* 84. Fixed - Error in destroy resources intel project that allowed negative values 85. Changed - Increased emphasis on defense point contribution to leaky intel success rate calculation 86. Fixed - Sometimes the AI would get stuck trying to research a tech area level that did not exist 87. Changed - Made improvements to the AI's research pathing 88. Changed - Improved the AI's starting tech selection 89. Changed - Revised each AI Empire's weapon and design type usage 90. Added - General improvements to AI diplomacy 91. Changed - A weaker AI at war will consider making peace 92. Pending - AI design improvements 93. Pending - Improvements to AI setup scripts 94. Added - Fixes for stellar events 95. Updated - AI Scripts

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
now we're in business... 
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Thank you, Kwok! Now I can really play instead of just screwing around!
Got a question, though. Normal Space Yard Facilities are limited to one per planet but Temporal ones are not, is this intentional?

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Quick start doesn't work with balance mod?

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
During ship design when adding a emergency propulsion unit I got the message:
"This unit can only have one emergency energy component on it"
while I only had one.
Is this a bug or it's because the Propulsion Experts Trait?
I seldom use this component anyway...
edit:
it does it after the latest download also

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
It probably has something to do with the revised requirements evaluation in 1.58... instead of evaluating requirements as you place the component and not allowing placement if it fails, you can place whatever you want but you can't save the design until the requirements are satisfied. I suspect Kwok just forgot to change the actual requirement from "= 0" to "<= 1", since under the old system you could still add one as long as there were none there, but under the new system he'd have to change it to <=1 to allow even one to be placed and have a valid design!
~~~
The power of the ancients is now yours to command. You are truly the Master... of the obvious 

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
I think the A.I gets angry too fast and declares war at the drop of a hat in my game so far.
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Yup, that was it... just go into the components file in the data directory of the balance mod. Search for "emergency propulsion" and change the requirement 2 formula from =0 to "
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Same problem for emergency resupply and reordnance pods... same fix... change =0 to

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Kwok, the following code is duplicated in settings.txt, your edited code and the original;
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minimum Number Of Systems Small Quadrant := 20
Maximum Number Of Systems Small Quadrant := 50
Minimum Number Of Systems Medium Quadrant := 50
Maximum Number Of Systems Medium Quadrant := 100
Minimum Number Of Systems Large Quadrant := 100
Maximum Number Of Systems Large Quadrant := 150
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minimum Number Of Systems Small Quadrant := 10
Maximum Number Of Systems Small Quadrant := 20
Minimum Number Of Systems Medium Quadrant := 30
Maximum Number Of Systems Medium Quadrant := 60
Minimum Number Of Systems Large Quadrant := 60
Maximum Number Of Systems Large Quadrant := 100
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can this cause problems? Can the older code be deleted without consequence? I assume so, but you know what they say about that...
-----
"Understanding is a three edged sword. Your side, their side, and the truth" -Kosh
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Okay, I think I figured it out...
There's a couple of problems in the 3 emergency pods in the requirement evaluation code.
The following lines need to be changed as follows:
Requirements Evaluation Availability := 1
Requirements Evaluation Allows Placement := 2
Requirements Evaluation Allows Usage := TRUE
also further down, the following needs to change to:
Get_Design_Ability_Component_Count("Emergency Energy") (less than or equal to 1)
replace "emergency energy" with the either "emergency resupply" or "emergency ordnance" depending on which component you're on. Replace (less than or equal to 1) with the appropriate symbol. For some reason when I put that symbol here it cuts off my post.
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Right on, time to play! Thanks Kwok.

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Yeah! 27: small ripper beams.
Cool Captain Kowk.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Join PBW Emperor Of The Universe League Today. Follow the Link to EOTU
http://thewelloftakahlah.spaces.live.com/blog/

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
All in all I would have to say this has been a good week! Thanks Kwok!
Groovy Baby Yeah!

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go here if interested . No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE V bug fixing.

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Hey Kwok, when are you going to post the AI source files for BM 1.10 (or 1.11, I suppose)?
--
Creator of Space Empires V Editor and DevnullMod
http://www.devnullsoftware.com/se5
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
A quick question: is the Population Transport minister working in 1.10? I didn't have any luck with it last night. I have a Small Freighter with a Population Transport design type, it is set to minister control, and I have the Pop Transport minister enabled in empire options. After a couple of turns my freighters are sitting without orders. Is there still a fix outstanding here? Or have I missed something?
I imagine with the new 1.58 mod functions available you have about 1000 other things on you plate, but a bit of love in this area would be much appreciated.
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Why is the empire ship maintenance so high? (25%)(Noted stock ratio as well)
The number one empire has 75,000 resources, 30 planets, and only 40 ships. With the enemy AI having such a small ship count. It does not effectively defend\attack well. (Since the AI place's so much emphasis on Ships over other defenses).
I can see the "game speed vrs game challenge". But with the limited AI intelligence, I would think there has to be a fine ratio between "speed vrs challenge".
Of course, What is the right ratio?
(As of right now, playing at High Ai difficulty, Medium AI bonus. The AI doesn't defend its colonies worth a crap. Where it used to give me a challenge, due to my limiting fleet size to 10 only and using the same tactics as the AI uses. As of now, The AI might send one to five ships vrs my 10 ship fleet.)
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Some times I'm blind. I should have spotted this sooner.
Why has facility factories been decreased by a third? (Was 3,000 now 2,000)
(Edit noted these values were in a earlier version of the balance mod, I never paid attention until I noted the lack of AI enemy ships)
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Some minor things i saw while merging:
Facilities.txt:
Central Computer Complex has a missing "i" in its Ability 1 description.
Description for tech requirements for value improvement plant is wrong (since requirements were changed, it now starts at level 2, not 6)
Description for tech requirements for time shrine is wrong. Formula is level*4 which means it starts at level 4, not at level 1.
Description for tech requirements for events predictor is wrong. Formula is 4+level (starting at level 5) but description says 1.
~~~~
http://wiki.spaceempires.net - Visit the SpaceEmpires Wiki and help improve it. 
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
drushocka.
Anyway, It seems that the AI empires ship count has decreased by at least 50%-75%. When I downloaded\installed the latest BM patch. Which translates to frustration for me, as the AI rarely attacks nor defends its colonies.
Please take no offense to my observation, I do enjoy your mod. I just don't understand why the ship count went down so much. Between 1.09a and 1.10

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Kwok, in case your still looking for input for 1.11 (which i eagerly anticipate by the way!) I'd just like to add that I'd prefer the game slightly more aggressive to 1.09 which, perhaps due to remaining stock files, I generally found to be just a little too 'peace-orientated' for my taste.
Anyway can't wait for 1.11, I've got so hooked on BM that I'm not even touching 1.58 til it comes out. Keep up the good work.
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
This is as good a place as any. Simple suggestion:
Rename the 2 Moderate .csf files - just hack off the _Moderate so they're default\default_etc. Players using shipsets in stock have to point them to default\default anyhow. This way the same shipset file will work with BM and stock, unless the player wants aggressive or defensive.
I wish there was an easier way to say that. Anyhow, less tinkering is easier and less confusing. Note: players can do this themselves & save time.

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
It weakens the A.I.to be at war with every single race in the game, like what happens to the aggressive races like Amok,Xaiti,Etc,every game.It is no wonder they cannot put together a decent attacking force.

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
I never said I wanted every AI to be at war with every single race in the game, I'd just prefer a slightly more hostile game to what I generally experienced in 1.09. I only quoted you to show both sides of the argument and to show the relevence of my point of view.
I disagree though about the specifically aggressive races in the game - plenty of games I've played have featured very strong aggressive empires making a nuisance for some/many of the others, and they tend to churn out hefty fleets that really give you something to think about. All in all it makes for a more entertaining game imho.

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Anyway, It seems that the AI empires ship count has decreased by at least 50%-75%. When I downloaded\installed the latest BM patch. Which translates to frustration for me, as the AI rarely attacks nor defends its colonies.
Please take no offense to my observation, I do enjoy your mod. I just don't understand why the ship count went down so much. Between 1.09a and 1.10
I had a break between about 1.05 and 1.10 so I don't know what 1.09 was like but in my last game the non-neutral AI was churning out ships and, what really took me by surprise, fighters like there was no tomorrow. A couple of times I lost young colonies to fighter swarms from neighbouring enemy worlds.
Like I said I had no experience of the last few revisions so this could be old news to the rest of you but it impressed the hell out of me.

Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
I agree there is a lack of A.I ships in this version.I have hardly been attacked at all.
Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Yes, The fighter swarms surprised me too. 
But as the number of ships. 1.9 Neutrals usually had between 15-30 ships, Now I see between 5-10 neutral ships.
I really don't know if this is kwok's intention. So that Larger star systems can be played? (Between 100-255)




Re: Balance Mod v1.10 Available!
Thank you Captain Kwok, are you still planning on updating 1.9 to 1.9a to accomodate patch 1.58? If not thank you for 1.9 and for the latest addition of 1.10.
Edit: Never mind, found your answer here - http://www.spaceempires5.com/en-US/node/4324#new