Matrix Games Forums

Ship designer - "do you want to refit your ships for X and Y technology?"

I have two new techs - one a better (more advanced torp, the other, a different FTL branch - older tech, below my current in my preferred branch) - but the redesign chooses the advanced torp + the throw-back engine.

Why?

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I think the answer is: overall priorities - "Balanced" vs. "Energy Efficient" etc.

However - even if this is the case - then the designer should be consistent. Currently - if I choose "automatically upgrade" a selected design - I get back the more advanced engine. But the next auto-design cycle changes it back to the older-lamer technology (which is more energy efficient, but less advanced / not what I wanted).

...so... working as intended - but inconsistent? I'm not sure how best to handle this other than to make clear what the overall priorities actually do... or to actually give the player a way to say "engines: choose X branch", "torpedo: choose Y branch", etc.

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I'm back to: THIS IS A BUG REPORT.

There is no way that this makes sense.

I have researched speed 9000 hyperdrive (level 2 of Equinox in this mod - double checked that this level of drive is a higher tech-level than Gerax, nothing funny is in the research file) - and if I press the "auto upgrade selected designs" button in designer - then it does create a design based on the Equinox (level 6 tech). But once that 14-day cylce comes around again - the next auto-design reverts to Gerax!!! Not even Calysta-Dal (I deleted that tech from my empire using the game editor) - but all the way back to level 4 tech: Enhanced Gerax.

What the fried beans?!

I'm at a loss. This makes absolutely no sense.

You are doing manual designing in a ship class that has automated design turned on?

What it sounds like happening to me is:

1: You have a manually modified design, an auto upgrade inserts tech A.

2: After a cycle, the AI designer does its loop, it creates the AI design. The AI design prefers the inferior tech B for some reason.

Keep in mind that there is no relation between design 1 and 2 here. The AI designer do not look at or consider design 1 when it does its auto design loop and creates design 2.

I agree that it seems a bug that the tech preferred by auto upgrade is different than the tech used by the AI designer itself.

In general, it is a good idea to never trust the auto upgrader (maybe due to various bugs/issues), and to only ever mix automation and manual design for the ship class if you are very aware of what you are doing.

I may add that I have always found ship design in this game a chore, and only ever use it for isolated cases and otherwise run with AI designs. Like a star base to build above my colonies, a fortified mining star base, or a long range scanner exploration ship.

Nope.

I have full-automated ship design on. I prefer to let the automation do its thing (until it insists on using outdated tech).

I just would appreciate when there are tech-branches - and branch X has higher level of research than Y, that X be chosen.

... and as an improvement on that bare-minimum logical consistency: that I the player actually get to choose which branch for the auto-designer explicitly, so that even if I discover tech that is equal to or better than X (the one I wanted), that the auto-designer stick with X (the one I wanted) and not go off into some other deisgn modality just because Easter and black beans.

Seriously... there is no logic that I can fathom.

Maybe they could introduce a new Tech that enables the AI to read the players mind [:D]

lol - well, we'll all be very excited when that comes out.

Until then - maybe an interface to specify these things? Or just following the "use the very highest tech level" would be adequate in a pinch.

lol!
According to some it will happen any day now...it's called the Technological Singularity by the people who believe it and expect it
They are hoping to upload themselves into computers and live forever.
I jest not!

I understand your frustration with the AI designs etc

That is the kind of thing I would like to see the developers address, rather than 3D engines and shiny graphics.
My impression is that Icemania's AI mod tries to mitigate those deficiencies for the AI empires

Personally I'm just a beginner so I play fully manual from prewarp at 1X speed so as to learn the game; I dont automate anything
But I cannot see myself ever handing over the design of my fleets to the AI...
I like to mix different designs in a fleet, and I dont think the AI can handle that at all

Every time I begin a game I go through all the screens systematically for the first 20 mins or so and set things up as I want them
I have my first ships and bases designs saved so I load and queue them up...etc
Only then do I start the clock