RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended)

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RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/16/2017 12:58:46 AM

RogerBacon

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My God... It's full of stars

In the next update to the Bacon Mod, it will be possible to play more than 400 stars on a 4x4 map. Seen below is a 1000 star galaxy on a 4x4 map.
In vanilla DWU the maximum number of stars on a 4x4 is 400. It goes up by one notch on the star amount for each size increase of the galaxy.
The next version of Bacon Mod removes this limitation.

(in reply to RogerBacon)

Post #: 181

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/16/2017 7:06:10 PM

Slategrey252

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Much obliged. Thanks

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Post #: 182

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/16/2017 7:38:03 PM

Capshades

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Awesome

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Post #: 183

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/16/2017 8:32:02 PM

RogerBacon

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And, what the heck, why not squeeze this in as well.
I should be able to get the next version out next Monday or so.

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Post #: 184

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/17/2017 2:47:41 AM

Blabsawaw22

Posts: 285
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Roger,

sorry I skimmed through the pages really really fast. Is there a video showing what your mod adds to DistantWorlds or anything of such to see your mod in action?

I'm interested, but would prefer to just watch your mod for now.

(in reply to Uncle Lumpy)

Post #: 185

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/17/2017 6:35:46 AM

Kothyxaan

Posts: 54
Joined: 2/21/2011
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Blabsawaw22

Roger,

sorry I skimmed through the pages really really fast. Is there a video showing what your mod adds to DistantWorlds or anything of such to see your mod in action?

I'm interested, but would prefer to just watch your mod for now.

Best thing to do is download and read the readme file (it is not a big download). It lists the changes.
Basically it is a modded exe that adds a lot of good features to the game, you can use this with other mods (since its a modded exe). It does come with its own config (that you can have a look at and change to suit your preferences). There are also a couple of other files (based on the original game) that are there because of the changes made to the fighter bay (basically the AI still gets the 3 fighters, 3 bombers but the player needs to choose to build bomber or fighter bay). This will mean that any mod that adds fighter bays will need to be tinkered with by yourself (or just put up with all your fighters bays producing only fighters) which is very easy, seriously read the readme :)

< Message edited by Kothyxaan -- 9/17/2017 6:49:24 AM >

(in reply to Blabsawaw22)

Post #: 186

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/17/2017 1:05:04 PM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Kothyxaan

quote:

ORIGINAL: Blabsawaw22

Roger,

sorry I skimmed through the pages really really fast. Is there a video showing what your mod adds to DistantWorlds or anything of such to see your mod in action?

I'm interested, but would prefer to just watch your mod for now.

Best thing to do is download and read the readme file (it is not a big download). It lists the changes.
Basically it is a modded exe that adds a lot of good features to the game, you can use this with other mods (since its a modded exe). It does come with its own config (that you can have a look at and change to suit your preferences). There are also a couple of other files (based on the original game) that are there because of the changes made to the fighter bay (basically the AI still gets the 3 fighters, 3 bombers but the player needs to choose to build bomber or fighter bay). This will mean that any mod that adds fighter bays will need to be tinkered with by yourself (or just put up with all your fighters bays producing only fighters) which is very easy, seriously read the readme :)

Thanks Kothyxaan. It reminds me I really need to get around to making a proper readme. The one included in the mod was a halfhearted effort.
I did make one video showing the state-run passenger ships about a year ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u3ifDsJSPY&t=3s

Here's a short list of the mod's features. Most of which are optional

Gravity wells around stars
Adjustable hyperjump minimum distance and accuracy
Ability for more than one picture of each ship type for each ship family (Cruiser1.png, Cruiser2.png, etc.
Empires can build all ship types (Freighters, gas miners, etc). These are state ships for cost and upkeep.
Crew experience levels and kill stats tracking.
Fighter aces.
Civilian weapon limit expanded from 1 to 10.
Ship-Finder - a popup box to search for any ship, planet, or star by name.
Fleet Commands: Easily reinforce, combine, or disband fleets.
Assign freighters to a one-time cargo mission.
Higher monetary amounts in the diplomacy window so you don't have to click 100 times to trade something of high value.
Better font and background color on some screens for better readability.
A tweak so freighters will always try to fill up if their destination is a base or planet (not a mining station or minor base like that.)
Damage viewer to see a ships damaged components more easily.
Ship cycler: cycle forward and backward among all ships of the same type as currently selected ship.
Manual carriers: give orders for each carrier's fighter's target or even for each fighter if you really want to micromanage
Separate bomber and fighter bays (requires Baconworld folder files or a little manual work to merge with another mod)
new fighter options: range multiplier, monetary cost to build, construction time multiplier, and limited ammo (simulated).
Removal of some +/- 100 limits for custom race stats.
Shortcut to order more than one troop at a time. No more clicking the troop button 50 times after your invasion fleet picks up every troop on your capital.
Science Ships - Automated exploration ships with labs will work on research projects independently.
Integration with Bacon Stats Viewer.
Hotkeys to support most new features.
Custom start screen (coming tomorrow)
New Galaxy size "Bacon Big" with 2000 stars (coming tomorrow)
Fighter damage multiplier against bombers (coming tomorrow)

You can find the list of hotkeys on the first post in this thread.
So, yeah. I really need to make a proper manual.

< Message edited by RogerBacon -- 9/17/2017 1:41:57 PM >

(in reply to Kothyxaan)

Post #: 187

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/17/2017 8:07:00 PM

vendayn

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Really looking forward to the bacon big galaxy :D that is a huge increase.

Also Starfall Corrected seems to work fine, I played a couple hours yesterday and no crashes with this mod and that one.

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Post #: 188

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/18/2017 12:38:58 AM

RogerBacon

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Version 1.4 Released

Added Bigger galaxy size �Bacon Big� with 2000 stars.
Removed restriction on star count on smaller maps.
Added fighter damage multiplier against bombers. (optional)
Added support for custom start screens.

(in reply to vendayn)

Post #: 189

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/19/2017 1:30:36 PM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Dragnov

Still testing the gravity well - at first I loved it but then ran into the aforementioned supply chain issues. Freighters spend too much time slowboating around. Perhaps there is a way to increase their number? Which would also require decreasing their upkeep to balance things out?

Hi Dragnov,
One thing I forgot to mention (to everyone) that might be causing your supply issues is the freighter flee setting. By default it is set to "enemy sighted". I always change that to "when attacked" because sighting an enemy doesn't mean as much when its far away and has to approach at sublight speed. Your freighters may be turning and running at the first sight of an enemy that would never even reach them.

I suggest that all civilian designs be set to "when attacked" or one of the other conditions other than "enemy sighted".

(in reply to Dragnov)

Post #: 190

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/21/2017 10:36:55 AM

Slategrey252

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looking good so far :)

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Post #: 191

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/22/2017 6:39:34 PM

adecoy95

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hey i was wondering, is it possible to modify what planets you can colonize? i seem to remember there being a bug that let you colonize asteroids at one point.

would you be able to enable colonization of gas giants or other similar inhospitable worlds?

you seem to be able to modify quite a lot more than is normally accessible so i was hoping you might know a way

(in reply to Slategrey252)

Post #: 192

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/24/2017 9:45:44 PM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: adecoy95

hey i was wondering, is it possible to modify what planets you can colonize? i seem to remember there being a bug that let you colonize asteroids at one point.

would you be able to enable colonization of gas giants or other similar inhospitable worlds?

you seem to be able to modify quite a lot more than is normally accessible so i was hoping you might know a way

I'm curious why you would want to.
An asteroid colony would be so tiny that it would never be profitable. Even scaled down, the any bases you built there would dwarf the asteroid graphic.

A gas giant would have the other issue. It would be ther best place to build a colony because it would be able to hold billions and billions of people. There would be no reason to colonize anything other than gas giants.

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Post #: 193

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/24/2017 10:24:59 PM

Retreat1970

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A gas giant cannot hold billions and billions of people because it has no surface. Floating cities in the clouds is the best you could accomplish.

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Post #: 194

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 12:28:31 AM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Retreat1970

A gas giant cannot hold billions and billions of people because it has no surface. Floating cities in the clouds is the best you could accomplish.

Yes, I realize that. That's why they are not colonizable.
I was speaking from a game perspective. Gas giants have the maximum quality level (1.0 because it is the default value). They are also huge. Maximum population is some variant of quality level * size so in the game they would be able to hold many times what the best solid planet could hold. I was just pointing that out to adecoy95 and wondering what sort of game play he was envisioning with his question.

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Post #: 195

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 7:40:19 AM

Kothyxaan

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quote:

ORIGINAL: RogerBacon

quote:

ORIGINAL: Retreat1970

A gas giant cannot hold billions and billions of people because it has no surface. Floating cities in the clouds is the best you could accomplish.

Yes, I realize that. That's why they are not colonizable.
I was speaking from a game perspective. Gas giants have the maximum quality level (1.0 because it is the default value). They are also huge. Maximum population is some variant of quality level * size so in the game they would be able to hold many times what the best solid planet could hold. I was just pointing that out to adecoy95 and wondering what sort of game play he was envisioning with his question.

At the risk of being pedantic, it would all depend on the composition of the species involved

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RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 1:17:35 PM

Beyondfubar

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Made it 50 years in of short play to get my first (Non-repeatable!) crash. Things are looking great now! Thank Bacon!

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Post #: 197

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 1:33:57 PM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Beyondfubar

Made it 50 years in of short play to get my first (Non-repeatable!) crash. Things are looking great now! Thank Bacon!

You are welcome and I envy you. My game (with or without my mod) has always had crash issues when I try to save it. I always get a threading exception saying out of memory. It has nothing to do with system memory or memory the game is using (less than 1 GB usually).

I've tried everything to discover why it affects me and seemingly no one else but to no avail. It's caused me to quit playing for months at a time more than once over the years. I've tried try-catch blocks, increasing the memory allocated to the save game thread and many other things but nothing works. I can only dream of getting 50 years into a game.

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Post #: 198

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 5:04:50 PM

Sabranan

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I could see some mileage in gas giant and/or asteroid colonies. Asteroid colonies would likely gain you nothing in tax and you'd probably want to prevent colony facilities/wonders being constructed by default, but they could be useful as outposts for spreading your influence.

Gas giant colonies could be good as a late game source of "super" planets, it might also be fun to grant it early to a particular race via a race restricted tech, or even make races that could only colonise gas giants at the start.

I'm not sure how practical that would be to actually do though, I imagine it would be quite a lot of effort to actually make it work decently.

_____________________________

Distant Worlds: Universe Modding Tool

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Post #: 199

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 5:40:25 PM

Retreat1970

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Instead of colonizing gas or barren worlds, I would much rather have a terraforming building. Not true terraforming, but increasing the quality.

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Post #: 200

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 6:32:34 PM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Retreat1970

Instead of colonizing gas or barren worlds, I would much rather have a terraforming building. Not true terraforming, but increasing the quality.

I've never made it to the top half of the tech tree in this game but I thought they already had some sort of terraforming building.

(in reply to Retreat1970)

Post #: 201

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/25/2017 7:10:55 PM

Retreat1970

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There is but it only repairs a damaged planet faster than normal. It's useless imo.

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RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/26/2017 1:59:29 AM

darkriot

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I believe there is a race event that raises the quality of a planet. Maybe that can be applied some how to the terraforming facility to make it relevant.

When it come to crashes did you try turning off race events? I find it causes alot of crashes when used with certain mods for some reason.

(in reply to RogerBacon)

Post #: 203

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/26/2017 7:18:50 AM

Kothyxaan

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Yeh I agree. I used to think "ooo terraformer! great, I will build it and my planet will slowly be upgraded."
But nope. Would be nice if it did improve planet quality; even if only by a set amount.

@RogerBacon:
Well, i'm no computer expert, so the only thing I can think of that might be causing problems is something you have running on the computer, or hardware... yep, that covers all bases (unless it is something supernatural) :D
The game im playing right now (moo3) was crashing at the start of combat - graphical issue likely, i put in some files from another mod (graphic/sounds) and it worked! but later on it came back.
I think when i added the mods graphic/sound stuff it fixed one of my pew pew's but now another pew pew is doing it.
GRRRR.
Ah well, if i were you id try de-activating some of the stuff you have running (process of elimination - if you havent already done this off course; likely you will have), the hardware issue would be more problematic.
GL!

< Message edited by Kothyxaan -- 9/26/2017 7:20:02 AM >

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Post #: 204

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/28/2017 1:44:29 PM

RogerBacon

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Science ships...

In version 1.35 I added "Science ships". These were exploration ships with labs. They would pick a random researchable tech in their field (weapon, energy, hightech) and apply an amount of research to it every month as defined in the baconSettings.txt. It had some problems. Namely you could stack a bunch of labs on one ship, which would suck fuel like crazy, to get a lot of research. Overall, I didn't like the result.

In version 1.4 (current as of this writing) I made some changes. Labs no longer stacked so you only lab of each type per ship was needed. Also, a big improvement, the ship would continue working on the same research tech each month until it was researched. Still, the urge to spam science ships was too great. I once had 25 of them sitting around my home planet in a pre-warp game while waiting to research the first hyperjump tech. I envisioned science ships out doing what explorers do, not sitting around. I had created "science barges" instead of "science ships".

Scientific Data
In the upcoming version of the Bacon Mod I have an implementation that I think works really well.
A science ship will acquire points of "scientific data" from surveying planets and exploring ruins. Each month each lab will analyze one point of data (consuming it) and perform its research. If the ship does not have any scientific data then it performs no research. So there will be no advantage to spamming lots of science ships if they don't have any data to analyze.

Here is a ship with scientific data

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Post #: 205

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/30/2017 7:58:36 AM

Nobody987

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Hi Mr. Bacon,

finally I managed to install mod, but on my first run I run into issue regarding gravity wells. They are blocking out jumps from the system, so that is fine. However, ships that are trying to go out of the system are actually plotting course straight to the target, meaning that in some cases they will go from one end of the gravity well to the other, wasting a lot of time.
Logical solution would be that they check when the order is given where is the nearest 'exit point' from gravity well, go to there and then perform a jump. Would this be possible to implement?

(in reply to RogerBacon)

Post #: 206

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/30/2017 1:28:10 PM

RogerBacon

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Nobody987

Hi Mr. Bacon,

finally I managed to install mod, but on my first run I run into issue regarding gravity wells. They are blocking out jumps from the system, so that is fine. However, ships that are trying to go out of the system are actually plotting course straight to the target, meaning that in some cases they will go from one end of the gravity well to the other, wasting a lot of time.
Logical solution would be that they check when the order is given where is the nearest 'exit point' from gravity well, go to there and then perform a jump. Would this be possible to implement?

Yeah, I know. It bothers me too when I see ships going in a straight line towards their destination instead of moving to get out of the gravity well first. However, the movement system doesn't really support a waypoint approach, which is what would be needed to do what you describe. Just be reassured that at least the AI empires have the same poor decision making as your ship captains. At least for state-run ships you can manually tell them to move out where you want them and then give them the hyperjump order.

(in reply to Nobody987)

Post #: 207

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/30/2017 1:32:44 PM

Sabranan

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I was just thinking that another solution might be to have the gravity well delay jumps rather than prevent them entirely.

Even loaded up with maxed out Starburners it does take larger ships a long time to traverse a system.

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Post #: 208

RE: "Hyping" my forthcoming mod (pun intended) - 9/30/2017 1:48:21 PM

RogerBacon

Posts: 724
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Since the new "Bacon Big" 2000 star map seems like the most popular thing according to the poll I took I've decided to make another size option. I call it "Cage Match". It will allow you to override the lowest star setting (100 stars) with a lower value ranging from 30-100. Here's a screenshot showing a map with just 30 stars. Throw some aggressive races in there, turn up aggression to max, and let the fighting commence.
[Edit]
Note that due to the fact that Bacon settings aren't read in until your game starts or is loaded, trying to create a galaxy with less thaan 100 starts will fail the first time. You will need to go back to the main menu and then create the game again after your settigns have loaded. Naturally this won't affect saved games, only new ones. Sorry about that.

Cage Match