tech modding questions

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Design and Modding >> tech modding questions

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tech modding questions - 5/31/2015 7:38:59 PM

spacht

Posts: 7
Joined: 12/6/2011
Status: offline

Just got into modding this little gem of a game and i already have some questions for you veteran modders out there:

1) How are starting techs determined? I know you can set PreWarp techs but what about the later starting levels.

2) How does the ship designer decide what the "latest components" are? Is it the highest tech level of the corresponding tech area or does it check the stats on the components?

3) Can you tell the AI to use obsolete components in the design templates, i.e. standard armor when enhanced is available?

4) I'd like to make a technology unresearchable but available through discovery in ruins? Is that the SuperWeapon tag?

Post #: 1

RE: tech modding questions - 6/1/2015 1:58:38 PM

mordachai

Posts: 207
Joined: 3/6/2015
Status: offline

1. start level = all of the previous level researched.
2. great question. wish we knew. I think it's buggy as hell and more or less arbitrary and broken.
3. not that I know of.
4. (someone else will have to answer this one)

< Message edited by mordachai -- 6/1/2015 2:59:01 PM >

(in reply to spacht)

Post #: 2

RE: tech modding questions - 6/1/2015 5:52:32 PM

HerpInYourDerp

Posts: 118
Joined: 5/7/2015
Status: offline

4) For this one, yes it's the "SW" (special code = 3) tag for the SW ruin, although afaik it'll always default to the first one on the research list if you have more than one. It's also possible to use the "unlock via game event" (special code = 5) and they'll appear in the list for the SW ruin as well, but you'd need to manually edit the ruin in the GAme Editor to select these as the one that gets unlocked. You'll also need to have at least one research tagged as a SW for any of this to work.

If my explanation is a bit confusing, it's probably easiest to just test it out by playing around with the special function values and checking in-game.

(in reply to mordachai)

Post #: 3

RE: tech modding questions - 6/1/2015 6:58:09 PM

spacht

Posts: 7
Joined: 12/6/2011
Status: offline

Thanks for the answers.

1) I did some testing on "starting" level and apparently you get all tech level 0 techs plus a number of research points allotted according to racial tech focus or a preset research path.

The thing i'm going for is i'd like to disable research completely in my mod. Apart from a few universal basic techs every race should get its own technology, everything already researched. You would only get better tech by stealing from the other races, dismantling their ships or discovering rare Precursor techs in ruins. At least thats the idea.

(in reply to HerpInYourDerp)

Post #: 4

RE: tech modding questions - 6/1/2015 7:21:07 PM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

Remove the research lab components? I am not sure if the output is 0 without them, or if it is allowed. But it is something to try.

(in reply to spacht)

Post #: 5

RE: tech modding questions - 6/1/2015 8:30:46 PM

fierceking

Posts: 235
Joined: 7/24/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: spacht

The thing i'm going for is i'd like to disable research completely in my mod. Apart from a few universal basic techs every race should get its own technology, everything already researched. You would only get better tech by stealing from the other races, dismantling their ships or discovering rare Precursor techs in ruins. At least thats the idea.

You could do create a tech tree for each race. Make research cost almost nothing by lowering the multiplier to fractional numbers. Then limit each tech tree by using ALLOWED RACES to limit to it's particular race.

So it only takes a maybe a year or less for each race to research up to level 7 of their tech tree.

Not sure if that is what you mean?

(in reply to spacht)

Post #: 6

RE: tech modding questions - 6/2/2015 4:30:19 PM

spacht

Posts: 7
Joined: 12/6/2011
Status: offline

I think i've figured out how to set up the race-specific techs and make sure they are all researched from the start. There will be no need to tinker with the labs itself. I will just remove them from the AI design templates. I can't stop the ai from building research stations though, maybe putting the research output of the labs through the roof will stop the AI from building too many.

How the AI deals with captured technology in its ship designs i will have to try and find out.

From what Herp said i gather there is only one ruin in a default game which activates exactly one of the technologies with the super weapon tag(if there is more than one flagged), so i will have to "seed" my other precursor techs using the editor at the start of the game or maybe set it up as a scenario or something.

(in reply to fierceking)

Post #: 7