how do the rules work

[yavoon]

do saved games save the rules? or are the rules always set on startup? I'm pretty sure in MP the maker of the game sets the rules. just wondering if in SP do saved games keep the rules.

[MariOne]

Which rules do you refer to?

The game rules you specify when you set up the game (those in "customize rules"), get embedded in it, Most of thema are paramters used for world generation, soit's obvious that you can't change wthe world underway.
Nor you can change do or Die, or Blind research, or difficulty level.

If you mean the game parameters in alpha.txt, there is proof that some of them are indeed read everytime you open a turn.
For instance, if you change the value of this flag:
1, ; If non-zero, humans can always contact each other in hotseat/email games
you will change the way you see the commlinks in the menu, in an underway game (of course you will see a difference only before you made contact with some other faction). You can even save halfway a turn, change the flag, and resume to see the new effect in place.

This led me to think that other parameters in alpha.txt could be altered halfway. In a pbem this would be dreadful, and a very lame cheat, so that I then never wanted to know if it was possible...

[yavoon]

how enlightening, but I asked about SP

for instance, I'm thinking about making copies of all the alpha.txt's of the factions, and souping up the power of every faction but my own, but I don't play oen game at a time, and switching out all the alpha.txt's everytime I wnt a different game seems really really lame.

[Googlie]

yavoon:

make your souped up factions into clone factions, then insert them into alphax.txt under "#CUSTOM FACTIONS"

Then when you start a game they'll appear as choices for you, and regular games will still be able to read the original factions. When you restart a saved game with the custom factions it'll be able to read them from alphax.txt

G.

[yavoon]

k, but I still wouldn't mind an answer, do saved single player games, save the rules as well? or are rules always set on startup? by rules I mean alpha.txt and the different faction.txt

[Lefty Scaevola]

Rules selections are saved with the save game. Also, except for citizen level, which always comes up with a newbie default, when you select customize rules, the check box selections come up with the last set of selection that you saved as default.

[T-hawk]

In my experience:

Map settings and rules selections (chosen when you start a game) ARE saved with the save file.

Alpha.txt rules ARE NOT saved with a game; the file is reread whenever a game is loaded.

Settings from the faction.txt files ARE read only at game start, and saved with a game.

[Basil]

I just did an experiment:
I started a SP game and noted how many columns wide my bases' nutrient tanks and mineral "production status boxes" were.
I saved the game and changed the values for "Nutrient cost multiplier" and "Minerals cost multiplier".
When I opened the game again, the width of the nutrient tanks and production status boxes had changed accordingly.
(This is consistent with T-hawk's statement.)