Creatin new Facilities

[The Sandman]

Does anyone know how to create new facilities or chassis types. I'm not sure if you can but wanted to check.
Thanks

[compugasm]

No. They use lots of templates for those images. If you mess one up, you mess up all the images so they don't allow you to change them.

[compugasm]

I just remembered something. Someone did create a new technology and it allows you to make minefields in sea squares, which are really bunkers but underwater. From what i gather though, even if you yourself build the minefield, you don't know where the mines are because you can't see them on the map. So, you can add things that aren't in the game, but i wouldn't mess with that.

[AlexanderIII]

Why wouldn't you want to mess with that? The worst that could happen is that it doen't work.

With regards to the minefields, the Advanced Hydromechanics patch I created is what you are referring to. And if you don't want to use them, don't; but unfortunately even thought they work and you can't see them, I see this as a bonus, since this places them as a great strategic tool, particularly in multiplayer games. The only way you can see them is if you manually 'scan' the area by right-clicking with 'move cursor to here', or naming each minefield as a landmark, named, say 'minefiled'.

Regarding new facilities, you cannot create new ones. You can, however, reassign an existing one, change the name, the blurb, the graphic and the sound file to match the new facilitity (good for a new tech). However, it still does the same as the original.

In SMAC-X you may be able to create new facilities, since there are open slots for them, but I have not tried it yet. Anybody have any experience with this?

[ProvostB]

no.

[SEE]

Originally posted by AlexanderIII on 11-02-1999 10:31 PM
In SMAC-X you may be able to create new facilities, since there are open slots for them, but I have not tried it yet. Anybody have any experience with this?

Yes. However, new facilities apparently can't do anything beyond what any facility can do: cost minerals to build and energy to upkeep. OTOH, the new facilities *can* be given negative upkeeps or costs to build.

As a result, I've created "power plant" facilities that add energy per turn (1, 2, 3, or 4 depending on expense of the facility) and facilities that just sit there (good for alien factions since they get +1/2 power per facility at a base).

However, my favorite facilities are my "self-sabotage" ones. These have negative mineral costs (as if you ripped out part of your base and used it for something else), high upkeep costs (represents the ongoing drain caused by the sabotage), and cost energy to remove using the "scrap and recycle" action (representing the cost of repairing it).

They'd rarely be used, but if you're about to lose your base to somebody, you can build it and sack them with a drain on their energy reserves...

And, so far, it seems to be okay to add Secret Projects, too. It played a video that I couldn't identify but looked familiar, and the computer player will try to build it. Again, though, there doesn't seem to be a way to make it *do* anything except give/cost energy...

-- Follow-Up: Turns out you can't even get a new SP to have an upkeep fee, either positive or negative. So they're olnly good for alien factions who get +2.5/energy per SP at a base...
[This message has been edited by SEE (edited November 27, 1999).]

[Sanjuro]

I had the same idea with the negative upkeep facilities, however, after an initial testing phase it turned out that the AI never builds these things. Is there any way round that, otherwise they just give an unfair advantage to the player?

Sanjuro