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Icemania -> RE: AI Improvement Mod (Alpha Release) (7/26/2014 11:56:29 AM)
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1. I tested with Vanilla Quameno Pirates where the design templates typically have a mix of Beams and Torpedoes.
(a) I went to Empire Policy and set a Techfocus on Missiles. Then I went to Game Editor and researched all the way up to Plasma Torpedoes. The designs had Plasma Torpedoes.
(b) I kept the Empire Policy Techfocus on Missiles, then went to Game Editor and removed Torpedo research back to Epilson Torpedoes, but researched Assault Missiles. The designs had Assault Missiles.
(c) Then I went to the Empire Policy and set a Techfocus on Torpedoes. I kept the research focused on Assault Missiles. The designs had Assault Missiles.
(d) Obviously the final permutation (Torpedo Policy and Research) had Torpedo Designs.
As you alluded, the game appears to have this idea of applying the highest tier within similar weapons types i.e. it will change around Missiles and Torpedoes but not replace the Beams on those designs with Torpedoes.
2. I then tested with Securan Pirates using the AI Improvement Mod where templates are focused on Torpedoes. The reason for this is that AI Pirates don't really do much research, so I felt templates with a Torpedo/Fighter focus (like the Securan Empires) would put them at a disadvantage. If you leave research automated, you'll notice they use the research order appropriate to the Securan Empire. As Darkspire mentioned earlier in the thread, there is nothing I can do about that, as there is a common race file and hence common research order that applies to both the Empire and Pirates. On Automatic research, whatever you set in Techfocus is ignored, the research order in the race files takes priority. If you research Missiles manually, automatic ship design will change those Torpedoes to Missiles. But if you then research Beams manually, well there are no Beams in the Securan AI Improvement Mod templates, so that won't work.
3. With Securan Empires, the larger Ship and Base templates focus heavily on Fighter Bays (and the smaller designs uses Torpedoes as research is needed for Torpedo Bombers anyway and it's more effective early game). If you then chose to focus on Missiles, the game doesn't replace Fighter Bays with Missiles etc.
In short, even in Vanilla the Automated Ship Designer only adapts a little if you choose to go in a direction which is different to the Templates. I can see that because I've focused on particular weapons types, rather than a smorgasboard, these differences become more obvious in some cases. But the benefit to the AI in staying focused is massive, so the pro's massively outweigh the cons.
So the best advice is to either (a) stay aligned with the Design Templates or (b) if you want to chose a completely different weapon do it manually. Anything in between will depend on the circumstances as described above. The file "AI Improvement Mod.xls" has a Summary table so you know what each race uses, or check the templates.
In the Mod I have Quameno using Gravitics but I often play with Quameno and Torpedoes. It's not in the AI Improvement Mod, but in my "Personal Mod" I've set-up my own custom Research Order in the Quameno Race File which emulates what I do in game, so I can pretty much leave Research on Automatic now, despite being a micro player. I've then copied the Kiadian AI Improvement Design Templates over to Quameno (as they use Torpedoes). So the Ship and Base Designer then does pretty much what I want on Automatic as well.
I also have Osito's Galactic Starmap in my Personal Mod which appears to work fine (it switches theme, but works okay anyway, but you'll need to switch theme again after the game).
Hope this helps.
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