SMAX Bugfix

[Snowflake]

I wouldn't call some of your suggestions like beefing up AIs "bugfix".

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by #endgame
Darsnan, that's really nifty!

Rubin did most of the work. All I did was supply the wordage.
And just remember that the only part of the alpha(x).txt file that gets imprinted onto a game is the #UNITS Section. This was my major mistake when I first started experimenting with the alpha(x).txt file, as I thought the whole thing was imprinted onto a game file at the start (which it is not) and carried forward from there, and so I am posting here to save you from committing the same error.

Also, any datalinks errors found, please send to:

SpamWeldingMaskMan AT hotmail DOT comSpam

I think Rubin did some work in this area, as well. You might want to PM him about this. FYI.

D

[Commy]

Perhaps other factions, such as the Cyborgs, need to be more balanced as well. Perhaps they should get -2 growth instead of just -1. As for the aliens, take off the free recycling tanks and energy grid crap, and give the Usurpers -2 planet and Caretakers -1 growth or something...

[#endgame]

The energy grid cannot be removed, as it is part of the 'alien faction' flag. I'd like to see the progenitors playable in MP without running away with the game, and I think the free Rectanks are way too powerful.

Darsnan, can you elaborate on what you mean by 'not carried forward'?

HongHu, you speak truth there, but the benefit of autodesigned foil probes is still a good idea, methinks.

Probe rollover occurs under the following conditions:
- Fundy anyone builds covert ops centre (except zak)
- though control anyone builds covert ops centre (except zak)
- fundy thought control zak builds covert ops centre
- anyone but zak runs fundy and thought control

This means that there is no way to properly fix the bug under all circumstances (except change fundy and thought control to +1 probe, and then roze could still pull it off, but that's a bit drastic). I think that the best thing to do would be try to make covert ops centre +1 PROBE.

[Googlie]

Originally posted by #endgame
Darsnan, can you elaborate on what you mean by 'not carried forward'?

If you start, and save a game, or if you create a scenario and then save it, and send either to a second player, only the #UNITS portion of your alphax.txt gets embedded in the save file.

(ie, changes to factions in your faction files, or changes in your alphax.txt to technologies, facilities, etc don't "carry forward" to the next players set-up)

If you want your edited alphax.txt to apply to the other player(s) then you need to save the game you've created as a scenario in a separate scenario file, and copy your alphax.txt there. Then when the next player opens the scenario, the game first looks for the alphax.txt file in the scenario folder before defaulting to your alphax.txt file in the general directory

G.

[#endgame]

Ah, thanks G.

[Rubin]

#endgame: You may want to have a look at this thread: http://www.civgaming.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3474

It lists some changes, corrections and additions to a customized in-game help file. Of course, comments are welcome.

[#endgame]

Rubin, that's great stuff. Mind if I use it?

Also, regarding the probe rollover bug:
Only the Angels will rollover involuntarily (sp?) so I think it's best to document it and fix the Angels in some way. What about giving them +0 PROBE and free Covert ops Centre in each base at start of game? Then they will have +2 PROBE (but only in cities - does subverting units use the faction's SE PROBE rating, or the home bases PROBE rating? I don't know.) The Angels will get their +2 PROBE and their boosted probe teams, but not rollover.

[Chaos Theory]

The problem with that is that the Angels are supposed to have bases immune to subversion come PSA.

[#endgame]

Any other suggestions then?

There's the +1 PROBE at start, free Covert ops centres with PSA or free Covert ops at start.

There isn't any way to get +1 probe with PSA, I think.

[Chaos Theory]

You can also throw in ROBUST, PROBE to partially offset lowering their probe rating from +2 to +1. That way, if they run Knowledge, their probe rating will be 0, just like it should be (+2 in bases after PSA, of course).

[smacksim]

Bugfixes. Endgame, a bug is something that should work as stated but instead breaks a bunch of other things. Some of what you are talking about are bugs, while some are improvements. Some of the bug-fixes discussed don't actually solve the problem, but change game mechanics to avoid the problem, such as probe ability roll-over.

In my opinion it's important to distinguish between these categories of improvement and release fixes/improvements according to these boundaries. Granted, the first category is really small:[list=1]
[*]Fixed Bugs[*]Bug Workarounds[*]Unanimous game improvements[*]Reccomended Improvements[*]Radical Improvements[/list=1]

This would help people accept standardized improvements and know which will change their MP games and which might change the way the game feels/plays.

Rubin, like your fixes on the link. I'm sure Blake would agree to use of the Ecodamage article, which I'm pretty sure was actually written by Ned, who doesn't appear to be around anymore.

-Smack

[Enigma_Nova]

Originally posted by #endgame
- fundy thought control zak builds covert ops centre

Zak's SE aversion is what?
/me slaps #endgame

[Commy]

Zak can't do fundy, and he certainly isn't going to do though control...

[#endgame]

#endgame : Pwnd

Fine, so it's impossible for Zak to probe rollover.

I received replies from the writer of CSPL, and I think I could give a memory trainer a go for the Angels (+2 Probe, +1 if PSA researched). Does anyone know where I can find descriptions of the save file format?