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Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:00 am
by tornnight
I own SuperNova.
I don't quite enjoy the extremely rapid pace of production and colony expansion.
Is there any way to slow down production, increase production costs with a mod or otherwise?
Thanks.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:06 pm
by Anguille
It should be possible to mod but i am not a modder so haven't done it.
Suggestions to make it slower:
1) slow down the research rate...new buildings will take time before they are available, same for Ark ships.
2) Choose sparse density...less stars and planets but more important. Also contact with other races will be less quickly.
3) Select a larger galaxy, you'll get more time....i've had games where i didn't meet a single alien race during the first 100 turns...[;)]
Cheers
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:05 pm
by tornnight
I'm using the slowest research, very sparse, 300x300 galaxy.
It's ok but production for anything finishes in about 2 turns. So as long as I can reach colonizable worlds (quite easy), I can colonize extremely quickly.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:24 pm
by code99
There is a "simple" way of solving this, like Anguille suggested, through mods.
By editing FacilityTypes.xml located in gamedir/XML/ you can change each structure build time (among other things like cost and upkeep).
I am making a mod that does something similar to that, if you want i can make some adjustments and give it to you, just tell me how slower you want things to be.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:29 pm
by tornnight
Hmm. Thanks for the clue.
FacilityTypes.xml
DefenceTypes.xml
ShipTypes.xml
GroundUnitTypes.xml
I'm guessing I need to change the Time value to suit me.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:35 pm
by tornnight
Ok now I need to find a way to slow down population growth. Anyone have any clue where that may be?
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:49 am
by code99
That is a bit more complex as it depends on several things like planet quality, type, racial bonuses, techs and so on.
An easy way to do this and still keep each races/faction positive bonuses or negative bonuses to the growth rate is to add growth penalty to specific races or all of them. Open Races.xml and add this line "
<Capability Name="Low Growth Rate" Level="x"/>" after the already existing "Capability" lines for each race. The x i colored in red has to be replaced by a number ranging from 0 to 9 where 0 is 10% lower growth rate in game, 1 is 20% lower growth rate in game and so on until 9 that in game translates as 100% lower growth rate.
Example, from this :
Code: Select all
<Race Name ="Human">
<ShortDescription>
Monkey descendents from Earth
</ShortDescription>
<LongDescription>
Chances are that if you're playing this game, you're one of them. The ape descendants survived the perils of war, energy shortages and global warming, and spread out into deep space.
Their agile minds and willingness to embrace change makes them adept at technology, but with their existence firmly rooted in the dimensions of time and space their ability to use the other dimensions of existence is poor.
An emphasis on individualism sometimes makes other races wary and slightly mistrustful of humans as they do not understand the way that motivation and moral compass vary from one individual to another. They also dislike the way that democratic government can lead to inconsistent high level policy.
</LongDescription>
<Symbols Population="@Human_Population" Victory="Art\UI\Victory-Human.jpg" Fleet="FS Human"/>
<Animation Folder="Art\Animations\Human" Prefix="Human"/>
<Sound Music ="Human" Accept ="HumanAccept" Talk ="HumanTalk" Reject ="HumanReject" Angry ="HumanAngry"/>
<Capability Name="Disorderly" Level ="0"/>
</Race>
to this (note that i've added a new line "<Capability Name="Low Growth Rate" Level="2"/>" just bellow the existing "Capability" line which in game makes the humans get -30% growth rate) :
Code: Select all
<Race Name ="Human">
<ShortDescription>
Monkey descendents from Earth
</ShortDescription>
<LongDescription>
Chances are that if you're playing this game, you're one of them. The ape descendants survived the perils of war, energy shortages and global warming, and spread out into deep space.
Their agile minds and willingness to embrace change makes them adept at technology, but with their existence firmly rooted in the dimensions of time and space their ability to use the other dimensions of existence is poor.
An emphasis on individualism sometimes makes other races wary and slightly mistrustful of humans as they do not understand the way that motivation and moral compass vary from one individual to another. They also dislike the way that democratic government can lead to inconsistent high level policy.
</LongDescription>
<Symbols Population="@Human_Population" Victory="Art\UI\Victory-Human.jpg" Fleet="FS Human"/>
<Animation Folder="Art\Animations\Human" Prefix="Human"/>
<Sound Music ="Human" Accept ="HumanAccept" Talk ="HumanTalk" Reject ="HumanReject" Angry ="HumanAngry"/>
<Capability Name="Disorderly" Level ="0"/>
<Capability Name="Low Growth Rate" Level="2"/>
</Race>
Note that by editing the races.xml all factions for the race/s you modify will take the same effects. If you want only certain factions to have this effect edit the factions.xml file.
Obviously for the races that already have a "Capability" line about the low growth rate (like the Qa Qa Assembly) you will only have to increase that number in proportion to the other races so you won't unbalance the game.
I highly suggest you dont edit the .xml files in the game directory but rather make a copy of the files you want to edit and place them in the following structure :
"yourmodname/XML/"
and place that "yourmodname" folder in "My Documents\My Games\Armada 2526\Supernova\Mods" and add the following parameter to your supernova shortcut (add the parameter in the target field) "-mods yourmodname", should look something like this "Z:\games\Armada 2526 SuperNova\Armada2526.exe" -mods MyMod
Keep the spacing and the quotes as shown or it wont work.
code99
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:00 pm
by tornnight
Excellent, thank you for the tip!
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 1:29 pm
by gwgardner
Just wondering if any of you guys have made progress on your mods to slow things down. I'd be glad to test them, if so. Otherwise, I guess I'll attempt the same thing.
As an aside, I'm new to the game and haven't found anything in the manuals or the game itself to indicate how much time a turn represents. Left up to the imagination?
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 11:15 pm
by Tanaka
ORIGINAL: gwgardner
Just wondering if any of you guys have made progress on your mods to slow things down. I'd be glad to test them, if so. Otherwise, I guess I'll attempt the same thing.
As an aside, I'm new to the game and haven't found anything in the manuals or the game itself to indicate how much time a turn represents. Left up to the imagination?
I would be interested in a slow down mod as well has anyone made anything like this?
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 11:56 pm
by FirstPappy
Did you check the mod section? Looks like someone did it.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 1:03 am
by gwgardner
Yes, I did the Epic Experience Mod to slow things down. See the mods forum.
I'm playing with it now, plus another minor mod I made which adds a 1000 credits to the cost of all ships. I want to drastically cut down on the numbers of ships a player can build. I didn't post that one, because I doubt anyone else wants it.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 3:17 am
by Tanaka
ORIGINAL: gwgardner
Yes, I did the Epic Experience Mod to slow things down. See the mods forum.
I'm playing with it now, plus another minor mod I made which adds a 1000 credits to the cost of all ships. I want to drastically cut down on the numbers of ships a player can build. I didn't post that one, because I doubt anyone else wants it.
Actually that is exactly what I am looking for as well would love if you would post it!
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 9:35 pm
by FirstPappy
Did you check the mod section? Looks like someone did it.
Did you check the mod section? Looks like he posted it there as a zip attachment.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 3:01 am
by Tanaka
ORIGINAL: Pappy
Did you check the mod section? Looks like someone did it.
Did you check the mod section? Looks like he posted it there as a zip attachment.
He posted his main mod but not the additional minor mod making ships more expensive would love both!
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 5:11 pm
by gwgardner
ok, just saw this, sorry. I will post the ship cost mod too. Look in the mods section for it very soon.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:28 am
by Tanaka
ORIGINAL: gwgardner
ok, just saw this, sorry. I will post the ship cost mod too. Look in the mods section for it very soon.
Thanks!!!
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:49 am
by Marshall Thomas
Instead of making every ship more expensive by a fixed number (1000), would it be better to increase ship cost by a percentage (like maybe 300%)?
Sould the same increase be applied to planetary defenses, in order to balance ships vs. planets?
also: when playing with very slow technology (30% or lower), does income become too high as a result of having less things to spend it on? When I use The Epic Experience mod, does income become too high as the result of having twice the turns inbetween building and ship completions? If so, what can be done to balance income with lowered production times and research? Thanks in advance.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:39 pm
by gwgardner
Playing that mod I haven't ever had an excess of funds. I've put a mine everywhere I can, and keep taxes low for the most part.
You're probably right about multiplying cost by a fixed percentage, rather than just adding 1000 to each. That would have kept costs proportional.
RE: Is there a way to slow production
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:02 pm
by Marshall Thomas
ORIGINAL: gwgardner
Playing that mod I haven't ever had an excess of funds. I've put a mine everywhere I can, and keep taxes low for the most part.
You're probably right about multiplying cost by a fixed percentage, rather than just adding 1000 to each. That would have kept costs proportional.
When you added 1000 to the cost of each ship, did you do so by going to each ship type in the XML? or is there an easier way?
I'm really interested in making my campaigns slower and more epic; though I don't like playing on large maps and controlling too many systems (makes each system less important and also can be tedius). But I do like playing with the maximum number of races a map will support. So my idea of epic isn't having lots of systems to manage. It's more about slowing things down and, like you, I don't like too many ships in my campaign; as with systems, too many ships makes each ship less significant.
Thanks again for creating this mod. If you add anything to it, I'd be happy to test it.