Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Retreat1970

EnergyResearchProjectOrder ;123, 95, 105, 363, 166, 465, 477, 479, 115, 106, 167, 501, 120, 468, 124, 116, 107, 96, 74, 157, 133, 145, 89, 172, 158, 487, 108, 90, 75, 159, 134, 146, 121, 469, 488, 109, 91, 80, 173, 395, 130, 550, 117, 110, 103, 81, 396, 546, 101, 174, 122, 470

Above is an example of how far I had to script UE2 (soon to be 3). The AI by itself chooses research very poorly. I've watched hours of AI play, and cannot find a pattern to AI research paths. The only way to guarantee smart research is to script it, and scripting makes a hard AI (which most of us want). I just finished scripting 40+ races, and let me tell you, it gets old fast. UE scripts may be compatible with RU though, since UE integrated your research.

On a side note, the AI doesn't upgrade fighter bays in UE (most likely RU too). The higher researched bay shows up on the component side of the builder window, but the AI doesn't upgrade. What I have found by experimentation, is that the AI doesn't recognize an increased repair rate as an upgrade. What I have changed is the number of fighters instead. Normal hanger bays go 4, 6, 8 fighters, and the racial bays go 6, 8, 10 fighters. This has fixed the AI upgrade path for me. This is a suggestion only.

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Can you help me, fix it out?

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ORIGINAL: apd1004

After a long hiatus I am back at DW:U again and am trying out RU 2.2. Ever since I started using Research Unleashed, I haven't been able to play DW:U any other way because I totally enjoy the game this way.

One of the things I used to do in the vanilla game (maybe I'm the only one that does this) is to use the number of Hab/Life Support modules to drive the size of the ships I design. For instance, Escorts and Explorers would always use only 2 H/LS modules throughout the duration of the game. Frigates would have 3 H/LS modules, Destroyers would have 4, etc. on up the size chart. As the H/LS modules improved technologically over the course of the game, it would allow me to put more 'stuff' on a ship while sticking to those guidelines because the natural progression of technology for the most part means that components get smaller but their capability increases. This equation forces me to have ships designed for a specific task rather than just building the biggest ships possible. An escort should be fast but lightly armed & armored, frigates maybe a little bit better armed & armored but still somewhat fast. Dreadnoughts should be slow but very heavily armed & armored.

Research Unleashed has kind of put a kink in my system. Looking at the Enhanced Hab / Enhanced LS modules (2nd tier), their Size=2, Static Energy Used=1, and Support Size=100. So for my Escort I would have 2 of each which would give me a size 200 ship with a total usage of 8 size points and 4 static energy points. Skipping ahead to the next tier, which is Hab Complex and Life Support Mk II (actually tier 4 since this tree skips tier 3), they are each Size=6, Static=3, and Support Size=180.

Doing the raw math using my vanilla equation, an escort would now be a size 360 ship but at a cost of 24 size points and 12 static energy points. Most people probably think 'who cares' because now I have a size 360 ship. This could cause problems if you aren't advancing your ship construction tree at a greater pace than the crew tree because now using the same formula a Frigate would be a size 540 ship which you can't even build until construction tier 5. It is actually cheaper and more efficient to buy 6 of the regular Habs & LS modules for 24 size points and 12 static energy points, but you get a size 600 ship out of it. Even the very final tier of this tree is only equal to the 2nd tier in cost/yield. The only difference is at the final tier you can do the same thing with one module each Hab/LS instead of 5 each, but the cost and yield is the same.

I haven't sketched out an alternative Hab/LS tree to fit in with my vanilla ship size equation yet and I can't seem to force myself to abandon that formula because it would mean a total re-direction of my ship design methods. I am thinking though that the basic systems should have larger size but not much effectiveness, and as the tree progresses, their size gets smaller but their efficiency increases. Right now I see no need to advance the Hab/LS tree beyond tier 2 because those modules give the most bang for the buck.