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Author Topic:   Alpha.txt--help.

yin26 posted 03-19-99 03:27 AM ET
I've seen lots of references to this file, and I only looked at it quickly (on MS Word).
How do I make all these cool modifications everybody is talking about? Changes to uphill attacks, changes to faction agendas, changes to base defense, eliminating secret projects. I've even seen people talking about writing background names that the computer uses for its cities. WHAT!?
Where? How?
Maybe I'm just being lazy, but help a guy out, will ya?
Yin
Computer Genius (but not this time)
Southampton, Wales
MoSe posted 03-19-99 05:50 AM ET
I'm not that much in it neither, but from lazy solidarity, here's what I can find (still demo here at worksite, BTW, me too get paid for being here while an NT installs itself).
#RULES
.
.
25, ; Combat % -> intrinsic base defense
.
0, ; Combat penalty % -> attacking from lower elevation
.
25, ; Combat % -> Infantry vs. Base
.
25, ; Combat % -> Artillery bonus per level of altitude

SPs are listed under
#FACILITIES
at the bottom of the list (methinks they should be separated).
Check if the field for disabling them is still supported, or if you have to rem them out
For factions you should open FACTION.TXT, a template (based on Gaia), and the individual .txt files with the factions names.
For social agendas, you can use
; formal, desc, noun, masc/fem, sing/plural, name, gender, ai-fight, ai-power, ai-tech, ai-wealth, ai-growth
; title, characteristic, adjective
; SPECIAL RULES, parameters, ...
; SOCIAL PRIORITY, setting, result
; ai-fight = -1,0,1 (willingness to use force to achieve goals)
; ai-power = 1 or 0 (interest in power)
; ai-tech = 1 or 0 (interest in knowledge)
; ai-wealth = 1 or 0 (interest in wealth)
; ai-growth = 1 or 0 (interest in population growth)

and
; SOCIAL PRIORITY:
; Drawn from the political table above (see #SOCIO [in alpha.txt]), these entries
; must exactly match the SOCIO entries in spelling. These determine
; the leader's social priorities.
...
Economics, Green, PLANET
...
and just for the startup dialog text:
#DATALINKS1
^LEADER: {Deirdre Skye}
^BACKGROUND: {Free Scotland, Unity Xenobiologist}
^AGENDA: {Green Democracy}
^TECH: {Centauri Ecology}
^
base names are listed in
#BASES
and
#WATERBASES
Saluti
MariOne
MoSe posted 03-19-99 05:52 AM ET
BTW,
I'd rather use Notepad to edit a .txt file
yin26 posted 03-19-99 07:45 AM ET
MoSE:
Thanks. I messed around with it a bit, and I can see now that it's quite involved. I look forward to messing with it.
Yin
Petty Thief
JaimeWolf posted 03-20-99 04:42 AM ET
There's some interesting numbers in there, and some not in there that I think should be ... such as a territory radius around a sea base - it's currently set to 5 less than the radius around a land base which is frustrating me when I try to reduec "crowding" by the AI only to remove sea-base territory altogether.
James
JaimeWolf posted 03-20-99 04:44 AM ET
Oh yes, yin: congratulations on asking a reasonable question about the game
I just noticed a second part of your question - changes to each faction are in the factions txt files, not the alpha.txt.
Univ.txt, Believe.txt, peace.txt, spartan.txt, hive.txt, morgan.txt, gaian.txt
Cheers
James
yin26 posted 03-20-99 07:58 AM ET
James and others...
Thanks for the help. Keep it coming (e.g. favorite stuff you like to do...).
Sorry to ask a reasonable question. Patch 3.0 has made me a pretty happy guy.
Damn!
Yin
Point Man
Atrocities and Associates
Shining1 posted 03-20-99 08:26 PM ET
And instructions for changing those files are found in Faction.txt.
As well, you can rewrite the whole datalinks in Help.txt
Check out proposed faction changes for some balancing ideas of mine.
Shining1
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Author	Topic: Alpha.txt--help.
yin26	posted 03-19-99 03:27 AM ET I've seen lots of references to this file, and I only looked at it quickly (on MS Word). How do I make all these cool modifications everybody is talking about? Changes to uphill attacks, changes to faction agendas, changes to base defense, eliminating secret projects. I've even seen people talking about writing background names that the computer uses for its cities. WHAT!? Where? How? Maybe I'm just being lazy, but help a guy out, will ya? Yin Computer Genius (but not this time) Southampton, Wales
MoSe	posted 03-19-99 05:50 AM ET I'm not that much in it neither, but from lazy solidarity, here's what I can find (still demo here at worksite, BTW, me too get paid for being here while an NT installs itself). #RULES . . 25, ; Combat % -> intrinsic base defense . 0, ; Combat penalty % -> attacking from lower elevation . 25, ; Combat % -> Infantry vs. Base . 25, ; Combat % -> Artillery bonus per level of altitude SPs are listed under #FACILITIES at the bottom of the list (methinks they should be separated). Check if the field for disabling them is still supported, or if you have to rem them out For factions you should open FACTION.TXT, a template (based on Gaia), and the individual .txt files with the factions names. For social agendas, you can use ; formal, desc, noun, masc/fem, sing/plural, name, gender, ai-fight, ai-power, ai-tech, ai-wealth, ai-growth ; title, characteristic, adjective ; SPECIAL RULES, parameters, ... ; SOCIAL PRIORITY, setting, result ; ai-fight = -1,0,1 (willingness to use force to achieve goals) ; ai-power = 1 or 0 (interest in power) ; ai-tech = 1 or 0 (interest in knowledge) ; ai-wealth = 1 or 0 (interest in wealth) ; ai-growth = 1 or 0 (interest in population growth) and ; SOCIAL PRIORITY: ; Drawn from the political table above (see #SOCIO [in alpha.txt]), these entries ; must exactly match the SOCIO entries in spelling. These determine ; the leader's social priorities. ... Economics, Green, PLANET ... and just for the startup dialog text: #DATALINKS1 ^LEADER: {Deirdre Skye} ^BACKGROUND: {Free Scotland, Unity Xenobiologist} ^AGENDA: {Green Democracy} ^TECH: {Centauri Ecology} ^ base names are listed in #BASES and #WATERBASES Saluti MariOne
MoSe	posted 03-19-99 05:52 AM ET BTW, I'd rather use Notepad to edit a .txt file
yin26	posted 03-19-99 07:45 AM ET MoSE: Thanks. I messed around with it a bit, and I can see now that it's quite involved. I look forward to messing with it. Yin Petty Thief
JaimeWolf	posted 03-20-99 04:42 AM ET There's some interesting numbers in there, and some not in there that I think should be ... such as a territory radius around a sea base - it's currently set to 5 less than the radius around a land base which is frustrating me when I try to reduec "crowding" by the AI only to remove sea-base territory altogether. James
JaimeWolf	posted 03-20-99 04:44 AM ET Oh yes, yin: congratulations on asking a reasonable question about the game I just noticed a second part of your question - changes to each faction are in the factions txt files, not the alpha.txt. Univ.txt, Believe.txt, peace.txt, spartan.txt, hive.txt, morgan.txt, gaian.txt Cheers James
yin26	posted 03-20-99 07:58 AM ET James and others... Thanks for the help. Keep it coming (e.g. favorite stuff you like to do...). Sorry to ask a reasonable question. Patch 3.0 has made me a pretty happy guy. Damn! Yin Point Man Atrocities and Associates
Shining1	posted 03-20-99 08:26 PM ET And instructions for changing those files are found in Faction.txt. As well, you can rewrite the whole datalinks in Help.txt Check out proposed faction changes for some balancing ideas of mine. Shining1