Captain Kwok's balance mod

Not everyone prefers playing the balance mod to stock. A sizable faction prefers the crazy 100 level tech tree, for example.

SpaceEmpires.net | Space Empires Wiki

The first step would be proving that most players (including the majority that don't post on Internet forums) prefer BM to stock.

SpaceEmpires.net | Space Empires Wiki

Let me point you in the direction of spaceempires.net where there was some talk about this very subject...more or less.

http://home.spaceempires.net/ftopict-2010.html

maybe some parts ot the AI of BM should have been incorporated into stock without the other changes, but I suspect the reason MM isn't considering it is because he has other plans for the AI for after finishing with the bugs and taking on the hard work of the AI improvement (or at least I hope such a plan exists!)

I think a lot of players are reluctant to try Balance Mod, or any other mod. I know I was.

In the past, I'd seen mods for games that required several files to be replaced, and any mistake could mean you'd have to reinstall your game.

People need to know that this isn't the case with SEV. I'd like to see a 'sample' mod included with the game which would demonstrate that mods are harmless because they don't change the contents of any file. It's one of the coolest features I've seen in ages, and really should become the standard for the whole gaming industry.

CivIV made just an interesting solution for expansion, they included several scenarios and mods (both game developer and fan made) to expansion version. Maybe SEV can do same (if there is an expansion coming)?

Wenla

---
Before you can develop a strategy, you have to have a vision.

SE:IV Gold/Deluxe included fan mods when it was released. I'd expect a deluxe version of SE:V to do the same.

-----

Space Empires Depot | SE:V Balance Mod

For the sake of all the casual gamers who will be 'stuck with stock' since they never visit these forums, I think BM should be bundled along with the official patches. That way they'd get the choice between playing stock and BM, and at least they would know then that there are mods available featuring far more challenging AI and better game balance than stock.

Some of us(like me) Prefer IRM mod

Note: I have made changes to IRM to suit me.

If MM provided official installers to add several of the better mods then I think no one would be worried to try them.

SpaceEmpires.net | Space Empires Wiki

Well, that shouldn't be difficult. Just put a little survey box in the patch executable that asks, "Would you prefer this game a) with an AI and better graphics or b) without an AI and better graphics?"

I don't know why Aaron doesn't make Balance Mod standard. Liability concerns about profiting from others' work? Delusional pride in his AI? An aversion to profits?

It really isn't fair of me to be such a partisan for Balance Mod because I never even tried playing the stock mod. But that's my point. I'm a player who only came to the game because of the word of mouth generated by Balance Mod. By shipping the game with stock only, Aaron is losing out on that word of mouth. Which means a smaller community, which might mean missing out on the next Captain Kwok, which is what the game needs to survive.

Ditto Noumeneon's comments. Without Word of mouth for BM, I'd not be here. This discussion crops up every few months.

Hi everyone!

It´s been a long time since I´ve logged in... I´m happy to see that the game is much better now and finally on the road to fulfill it´s potential. After some months playing Hearts of Iron 2, I decided to give SE V another try. Indeed, the game is much more enjoyable now. BM is more difficult, and I think I´ll try unnamed mod someday too.

After playing BM for awhile, I´ve noticed that the AI is too peaceful, offering treaties aplenty and seldom declaring war. It should be more bloodthirsty towards weaker neighbors, specially the more agressive empires, like the Jraenar. Overall however, diplomacy is definitely improving. See ya, and keep up the good work

I used to play HOI2, good game. I hope HOI3 is on the way.

Ooops looks like I got a little off-topic.

About the tech tree. Well, SE V allows for such a broad amount of variations that it´s certainly impossible to make a tech tree that will please everyone...

I actually think that IRM´s tech tree (and little extras like heavy armor etc) was the best. I like BM´s; and I absolutelly hate stock´s tech tree, which is why I´m reluctant to start a game with Unnamed´s mod. I think it´s pretty darn silly that every turn I research something that makes a component obsolete; but what really bothers me is the ridiculous amounts of ship designs the AI makes because of that. It means that ships have no "personality". A new destroyer type? Oh it should have sensors level 6 instead of 5... great deal.

It´s different than what happens in other games, like Empire at war or Homeworld, where you felt some attachment to each ship type... Sure, I like customization, and I wouldn´t play SE V like it is today without the ship customization features; it would be just plain boring if there was only one frigate type, one light cruiser type and so on. I only think that stock´s tech tree is too extreme. But that´s only my opinion. Sorry for any spelling errors, English isn´t my native language. I hope I made my point clear

There is also the "Unnamed mod" which incorporates many of the BM AI improvements into the stock game.

I love BM, but I also love the "crazy 100 level" research levels too, which is what I get with the Unnamed mod.

Stock is a good tutorial, or a decent multiplayer game. As of 1.44, its not worth playing as a single player game (imo), but I hope that changes as the game is patched.

In the meantime, BM and Unnamed make the game worth playing for me.

In SE there can be as many mods as there are players out there.

What I would like to see is Aaron working on the stock datafiles. I don't care what he changes (there are many things that need to be "fixed") as long as he is making changes.

I don't believe that he's satisfied with the stock game.

I like the AI in Balance Mod but I also like the "crazy 100 level" research trees in stock.