Slowing Down Late Game Research

[Yxklyx]

I find that research goes way to fast in the latter stages of the game, so how about modifying the global research modifier in akphax.txt at certain points in the game - then reloading from a save. Say, in SP, when you get Fusion Power and then later at other discoveries. Or you could do it by year...

[mrdynamic]

Seems like changing the modifiers to in aplhax.txt after the games begins has no effect. Only before the game starts does this work. Ive tried changing the %research for standard plant from 100 to 39 to slow down research in the later stages of the game, but then my early tech research was way to long, something like 120 years for early techs.

I have not tried this change yet, but to delay tanscendance and make it more difficult, how about changing the project cost from its current number to somthing much larger, say x100 ??

Only once have I created a gravship, but never got to use it. I have never seen the AI create a gravship.

[Googlie]

You can always set the game preferences to "tech stagnation" - it has most impact on the mid to late game, which is when you want to be building some of these neat gizmos anyway before they become obsolete

(but still a decent player will be getting a tech every 2 turns in SP games versus the current every turn, or even multiple techs every turn)

Increasing the cost of the Ascent will just mean that you need more crawlers to complete in one turn - what you can do, if you are governor or have the empath guild, is activate the Scenario editor and then disable Ascent completely (You can also do it without guvship or the EG, but them you have the potential to se every faction's data and maps)

G.

[mrdynamic]

Even with tech stag I feel that the research was too fast, but I was on a tiny planet so that sets the research faster anyway, even with tech stag.

[Yxklyx]

O.K. So why is tech so easy in the latter stages? What is having the greatest effect? The secret projects? SE choices? Too much energy?

Well, I don't use crawlers - in fact I'm going to see if I can remove the supply ability from the game. Was also thinking of perhaps reducing copter movement to 4 or so and/or perhaps increasing chassis cost.

Gravships are basically just Needlejets that don't need to refuel - Copters still rule the skies.

[mrdynamic]

Energy, Lab & research facilites, certain citizens (like thinkers), certain SP's, all add to your research points needed for a particular tech.

Someday I would like to try out infantry with anti-grav struts before the game ends !

[Yxklyx]

Yes, but what has the BIGGEST effect? Perhaps it can be removed from the game.

[Adalbertus]

Yes, but what has the BIGGEST effect? Perhaps it can be removed from the game.

The single thing which seems to have the greatest impact is the SSC, further enhanced by crawlers, if you use them. But what I think is the main reason is that your empire grows exponentially whereas I think (I didn't bother to search the formula) that the technology cost increases quadratically, as it was in Civ I/II. In this case, there is nothing you can do, except going Fundy/Planned/Power or refusing to grow.

[mrdynamic]

The biggest effect I think, is that the cost of Technologies, and perhaps even special projects, are not expensive enough in relationship to the possible lab production of late game empires.

[mrdynamic]

Originally posted by Adalbertus


.... your empire grows exponentially whereas I think (I didn't bother to search the formula) that the technology cost increases quadratically, as it was in Civ I/II. In this case, there is nothing you can do.......

Are the individual costs of each technology, and SP, located in and can be modified in the alpha files? If so the question then is, what should the values for each of the techs/SPs be?

[Yxklyx]

No, the cost of the next tech is determined by the number of techs a faction has already discovered. SP costs can be changed but I don't think that will effect the game THAT much.

How about removing some or all of the LABS secret projects? I think there's too many SPs anyway. Remove NanoHospitals or whatever the last facility that increases labs is?

Remove the Cloning Vats perhaps.

Reduce the effect of special citizens.

Too many "Secret" techs? Perhaps remove one or more of them. Remove the Universal Translator SP.


How about reducing each faction's research social engineering by a step or two?

[Blake]

I find the best non-SSC non-crawler way to put your research through the roof is Pop-boom + transcends + dozens of Sky hydro sats. By far the best of those factors to remove is the pop-boom. This would be done by:
Disabling the CV SP.
Fiddling with growth settings in the Alpha.txt, including nuts-per-row to grow (defaults to 10, lower), and ofcourse growth of various SE choices.

The fixes go something like this:
Change nuts-per-row from 10 to 8
Add -2 growth to all Goverment SE's (except Demo, which becomes +0 growth, and including Frontier) _OR_ do a simialler thing, but with Future SE's, including NONE
Alter the Economies, reduce planned growth bonus to +1 and greens growth penalty to 0. Add/remove penalties/bonuses to balance. *Note, this step is not required for Windows SMAC, because the GA is broken.
Now, the best growth you can achieve is Demo (+0) Planned (+1) CC (+2) for +3 growth, not enough for pop-boom, even with GA thats only +5, making the only method for pop-boom Demo+Planned+Eudo+GA.

Another possible idea is to change the tech rate to about 50 and add bonuses as follows:
Economy: Simple +1 Research
Values: Survival +1 Research
Future: None +3 Research
(for total of +5)
So, as you start using the more advanced SE's your research rate slows, until at the end you have a research rate of half of usual.

[Yxklyx]

What's SSC? I like your last solution. Wouldn't POP booms be less of an issue if the specialists weren't so good?

P.S. If a base has a golden age and the faction has cloning vats does the base grow by 2?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

SSC= Super Science City consisting of usually the following:

Merchant Exchange
Super Collider
Theory of Everything
Every known lab enhancing facility

And tons o' crawlers/trawlers bringing in raw energy. Typically 1 SSC can in of itself when properly energy funded get you one tech/turn

As to your question of golden age and cloning vats = growth of +2 per turn. (I think you really mean growth = +6 and cloning vats as golden age in of itself does not give a pop boom.) The answer is no. The only times a base will grow more than 1 per turn is by adding colony pods back to the base in addition to the +1 pop per turn or by creche event.

My biggest concern about removing pop boom capability is that you would have to look long and hard at the Yanger and Sven as their inability to pop boom effectively (w/o Planeterya Transit Pod Booming) is an equalizer with the rest of the factions.

Og

[spartak]

How much energy do you normally have going into a science city?

I normally get between 200 and 250 - is that enough?