Is a resource system like Stars! moddable?? |
I wrote some this before but I think in the general forum. It is more appropiate here.
I would love if SEV followed the stars! method of resources. In stars! you have 3 main metals or resources like SEV with addition of aditional non harvestable resource called "resources". I know it is confusing. So I may interchange that with man-hours. You get those resources or manhours mainly form the population and the facilities on the planet.
Description of the Stars! System
So If your empire doesn't have the desired metals then you can't build that ship/factory/mine. In stars factories required lots of Guaranuim; if you are low on them. then you can't build them.
What is revolutionary about stars is that each item in the ship costs "resources" or man-hours to build. Those man-hours represent the production capacity of that population on a planet. Factories improve the production capability of that planet. Each factory or mine require a certain # of population to be operational. So population & facilities controlled your production capacity. So you can build very labor intensive components which uses low amount of metals. Such construction will take forever b/c of limited # of man-hours generated by that planet. If using different components that require less labor but way more metals (Ship engines had many variations with this,) will be build a lot faster but at the cost of metals.
So your production capability is limited by your resources (man-hours) provided that the minerals are in storage.
Uses for SEV
This system is very applicable in SEV. Some weapons for example can have very low labor but very high cost (think CSM). Others like APB will have very high labor cost but low material cost since they don't consume much in construction. Others like WMG can be high cost in both cases b/c of the weapon's capability. Such system will lead in more production capable empires having lower maintenance costs for their ships than empire using fast-buildable ships.
In stellar manipulation when constructing Ring & sphere worlds; you can make the generator very labor intensive. But the gravity plates & cables are just very material instensive w/ low labor cost. So building the generator takes 5 times to build over the "raw materials". But the raw materials put a strain on any empire economically or metals wise.
Cliff Notes
In stars! there are 4 resources. 3 metals & 1 resources(man-hours).
So all resources are:
A) Metals: Minerals/Origanic/Radioactives
B) production capability: man-hours or "resources" -- someone please think of a better name 
So can you mod this?? or a similar system?
Thanks for reading.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
So can I have 4 major resources??
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Fyron, thanks for all your answers. Can I have one resource be unstorable empire wide and be only planet production specific. I mean can I have one resource's production (into the space yard) be based of population and other planetary modifiers.
Any odds that MM may remove this coding limitation?
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
I've been thinking about your suggestion since you posted it.
Right now, we have no way to add another resource. Several people have "workaround" systems, letting them have dynamic crew requirements. These are fairly complicated to implement, and in my opinion never really get the concept across in a satisfying way. Perhaps you can use a similar system to "fake" the need for manpower, but what you want to do would be a great deal more complicated, IF it is even possible.
Space Empires has had three resources...and ONLY these three...since its earliest inseption. It is highly unlikely to change at this point, though MM has been quite accomidating in changing things to allow more modding, so you never know for sure.
In my mod, I have no plans to create an additional resource system or crew requirements for components (though I would like the ability to have both). Simply put, it would take me too much time, and even if I managed it, it wouldn't be satisfactory for me. I've got bigger, and more moddable, fish to fry in the AI system.
"Only by being constantly at war with evil in all things, including yourself, can you truely know peace."
Download my mod here: GidMod
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Resources used for construction are pulled out of what is in storage. You could remove storage facilities, thus limiting what can be stored, but IIRC you can't operate construction on 0 storage. You could try adding something to the events script to drop all organics in storage; not sure if that happens before or after construction pulls resources out of the pool.
There is no way to make construction limited to actual local resource production, though, since there is no concept of local resource storage in the game engine. If all you are doing is making a "manpower" type thing anyways, I don't see why you'd need this anyways; just assume the ability to "produce" it is equal to the ability to "use" it.
The chance of Aaron adding support for more resources in SE5 is probably close to 0; there are just too many things in the code that are formatted for exactly 3 resources.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
I didn't think it was easily possible but it was worth a try to ask. Thanks for everyone's help.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Way back in Space Empires II planets only had a single "value", which was modified by your population to get the output. I don't even remember what facilities we could build back then.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
I remember that SEV3 only had Intel, Research, and Material. I believe SE4 split "material" into Minerals, Organics, and Radioactives.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
That's right. The resource in SE:III was construction points.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Ahh, my bad, then. Funny how the memory gets all fuzzy as time goes by.
"Only by being constantly at war with evil in all things, including yourself, can you truely know peace."
Download my mod here: GidMod
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Agghh, I read this topic and ended up spending the next 7 hours playing Stars!.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
it is amazing how revolutionary Stars! was for its time. I still think it has the best strategy 4X game.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
double post
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
SE1 only had one resource. In it intel didn't exist, and you spent construction points to do research.
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
I miss the Mass Drivers
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
yeah, I miss those too. but, I hated Stars! resources MM. especially transportation of minerals. Sure packets help with that; but they only help after decent planet improvement. It is more of a mid-game part than early game.
I also forgot about Death from Above packets. They were like asteroids or comets being created and manually aimed at planets. They are truly powerfully weapon.
Arg, another decent feature that SEV needs is capable anti-planet long range destroyers...
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Drones with anti-planet warheads? 
They are quite similar to mineral packets in that they do lots of damage but they are quite wasteful resourcewise 
Now, if there were a way to make drones that could be scrapped for 100% of their build cost, and give drone launchers the ability to "defuse" and recover enemy drones from space with some sort of allegiance-subversion effect...
~~~
The power of the ancients is now yours to command. You are truly the Master... of the obvious
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
OOhhhh!!!! Nice one! *high fives Ekolis*
Re: Is a resource system like Stars! moddable??
Production cost and build cost are inseparable in SE5. You might be able to fake it though, by using one resource as a limited build rate (set the SY rate of the other two to 1000000 so you just pay the ship cost up front for those), with a 100% maintenance reduction for that resource built into every hull.
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