I'm pretty much done with the 1.6 update, but testing the AI takes a long time. I don't want to release it early and then have to patch it up later with another update. This update has some cosmetic additions, but also some major bug fixes for AI Space Skirmish. If you have encountered these bugs, don't panic, update coming soon.
Additions
- Custom text, icons, etc... to the new units. No more confusion whether you are building the Light Calamari or the Mon Calamari, Home Two has a custom Calamari Hero icon, etc... (Refer to the new images.)
- Created a Kedalbe Hero unit for Consortium to balance out. 2 capship Hero each faction for space skirmish, with the exception of the Mini Executor for the Empire (only allowed 1). Hero Ship will be Jabba's flagship.
Fixes
- Reworked space skirmish AI where Rebel and Empire gets stuck and won't place their queue units into the battle space. This is not mod related, original AI had the same problem. This is a major bug fix for FOC. In space skirmish, you will always see the Consortium pumping out fleets of capships while Empire/Rebel had nothing even though they had already built them. Originally the bug was thought to be a credit issue, but even with massive credits, the bug persists. In the end, the error was found in the lua coding.
I found out where the bug is that was causing the Consortium AI to have a ridiculous credit gain in skirmish. It is a coding error by the original coders, they didn't take in account the multiplier when you increase the asteroid mining credit. It basically gave the Consortium an additional multiplier and made their credit gain bonus exponential.dScratch this. It might look like the problem was an illusion created by the stuck Emp/Reb units in the space skirmish queue. This is why I'm doing so much testing. :)- Reworked all new units to eliminate wrong death scenes. It is a coding bug with using "variant" coding.
- Fixed all heroes to be limited to 1 for all allies in space skirmish. (Not like anyone plays this mode, but just to be consistent.)
- Decreased Krayt AI combat power just slightly, so Consortium will build more Kedalbe. Originally they have the same AI combat power despite the Krayt being cheaper. This is why the AI keeps building Krayt over Kedalbe. (Space Skirmish)
- Light Calamari population properly fixed to 4, Mini Executor to 8.
Adjustments
With the Consortium AI credit cheat removed, I had to rework the faction balances to balance all 3 factions out as well as set the difficulty level so it is more compatible. Last release (1.5) has the Hard difficulty set at 2x multiplier, that is extremely easy.- Also made changes to increase Vengeance, Krayt, Kedalbe, and Merciless build time, so it is more reasonable. Originally they were ridiculously fast. (Space Skirmish)
Learning quite a lot in these modifications and testing.
Final Update on the testing:
- I was correct in the beginning, the Consortium credit gain bug is in the credit gain accumulation factor and NOT in the asteroid gain. After doing the math, I realized it didn't add up. The Consortium asteroid bonus is crucial because their upgrades and units are much more expensive than the other 2 factions. It is also not exponential as originally thought.
- The base accumulation is bugged for some reason and I cannot isolate it. However, it also isn't as dramatic as originally thought. We were given a false impression because of the Emp/Reb space unit queue stuck bug. Consortium pops out units normally, while Emp/Reb can get stuck and have tons of units in the queue, making it look like they simply didn't have enough credits to buy ships.
- Consortium also gives a false impression b/c their ship's skirmish build time is ridiculously low.
- The Consort credit bug is also not that noticeable in the original game b/c the difficulty multiplier only increased the AI gain by 20%. To make the game more formidable, I usually raise it to 3-5X, or 300-500%. So any bonus they have would be multiplied greatly.
So, the changes which I've made and currently testing:
- Change all Consortium skirmish build time for their ships so they are more reasonable. Some only added 3 seconds, while others up to 10 sec.
- Lowered Consort Credit Accumulation Factor down to 0.85 (Original Emp CAF). This is a reasonable number. Originally I had it lowered to 0.72 b/c of the Emp/Reb stuck unit bug. Since that is fixed and Emp/Reb are pumping out units normally, Consort CAF can be raised. I also enabled the AI to use their credit upgrades. To balance, I raise the Empire CAF up to 0.95, since other factions' capships can launch fighters too.
- Fixed the Multi-player lua to remove the Emp/Reb space stuck unit bug.
- Adjusting the credit multipler in the difficulties.
So far, just lots of testing, in different scenarios to see how it balances out. Hopefully, I will release 1.6 in the next few days.
Thank you.