posted 08-05-99 02:28 AM ET     

100, ; [!]Players' starting energy reserves [ADDITION; default 10]
25, ; Combat % -> intrinsic base defense
0, ; Combat % -> attacking along road
7, ; [!]Combat % -> for attacking from higher elevation [ADDITION; default 0]
5, ; [!]Combat penalty % -> attacking from lower elevation [ADDITION; default 0]
25, ; [!]Combat % -> Mobile unit in open ground
5, ; [!]Combat % -> Defend vs. mobile in rough [ADDITION; default 0]
25, ; Combat % -> Infantry vs. Base
50, ; Combat penalty % -> attack after airdrop
25, ; Combat % -> Fanatic attack bonus
50, ; Combat % -> Land based guns vs. ship artillery bonus
25, ; [!]Combat % -> Artillery bonus per level of altitude
50, ; Combat % -> Trance bonus defending vs. psi
50, ; Combat % -> Empath Song bonus attacking vs. psi
50, ; Combat penalty % -> Air superiority unit vs. ground unit

([!] indicate to me points to remember) I alter the starting energy reserves to make things more interesting early on in the game. I use a world with little erosion, so if my base is situated in a valley it is vulnerable to mind worm attack, so the extra energy comes in handy to speed production of troops early on for that initial base. The reason I alter the combat additions/penalties for attacking from higher/lower elevations is to make things more interesting, and realistic. It makes the terrain a larger factor in battle strategy (not too sure if the AI takes this into account though). After dickering with the numbers, 7/high el., 5/low el. seems the most balanced combination. Played a game with 10/10 on a low erosion world with high fungus and the mind worms damn near wiped me out by attacking from higher elevations right at the start of the game.

Some of the other lines are listed because they remind me of various tactical advantages, like artillery from higher elevations, that�s a big one, or Air Superiority unit vs. Ground unit - that�s why my Shard Interceptor does squat against those Swarms of Chiron (or whatever they�re called)!

The 5 bonus for defending vs. mobile in rough from the default of 0 also adds more terrain tactics to the game. And in my view it makes sense: hiding in amongst a boulder-strewn rocky field against tanks (or rovers) would seem reasonable for one to have an added defense capability.

And a note to altering alpha.txt: MAKE A BACKUP! Or at least record the defaults.

So the strategy becomes:
1. Always attack from higher ground when you can, or attack from multiple locations so that you end up mostly attacking from higher ground.
2. When defending, be on higher ground, or, failing that defend in a rocky square, which will virtually eliminate the advantage of your enemy on higher ground.

For a real interesting game, up the figures to 10/10/10 attck higher/attack lower/defend in rough. I am unsure as of yet if the attack higher/lower affects air units. Anyone have some insight into that?

--------------------------------------------------
Also of note are a few terraforming features I've added to make sea bases more interesting. I've added a Kelp Enricher, a Minefield (bunker), and the ability to deploy a Sensor Array within your sea broders. (Only thing that kinda sucks is that the AI does not recognise sea broders, so you can't kick friendly troops off your territory by negociation -- a major bug in my opinion.) The Minefield does not display on the map when deployed, which when you think about it is perfect, since minefields are invisible. It gets pretty interesting keeping track of wher you put your minefields/sea bunkers though -- you might give an advantage to your enemy when attacking you! Still unsure whether the game actually recognises it in play to grant the defensive advantage, have not had a chance to test this one out yet -- any feedback would be appreciated.

#TERRAIN
Farm, None, Kelp Farm, None, 4, Cultivate $STR0, f, F
Soil Enricher, EcoEng2, Kelp Enricher, EcoEng2, 8, Construct $STR0, f, F
Mine, None, Mining Platform, None, 8, Construct $STR0, M, M
Solar Collector, None, Tidal Harness, None, 4, Construct $STR0, S, S
Forest, None, ..., Disable, 4, Plant $STR0, F, Shift+F
Road, None, Road, Disable, 1, Build $STR0, R, R
Mag Tube, Magnets, Mag Tube, Disable, 3, Build $STR0, R, R
Bunker, MilAlg, Minefield, MilAlg, 5, Deploy $STR0, K, K
Airbase, DocAir, Airbase, Disable, 10, Construct $STR0, ., .
Sensor Array, None, Sensor Array, None, 4, Construct $STR0, O, O
Fungus, None, Sea Fungus, None, 6, Remove $STR0, F, F
Fungus, EcoEng, Sea Fungus, EcoEng, 6, Plant $STR0, F, Ctrl+F
Condenser, EcoEng, Condenser, Disable, 12, Construct $STR0, N, N
Echelon Mirror, EcoEng, Echelon Mirror, Disable, 12, Construct $STR0, E, Shift+E
Thermal Borehole, None, Thermal Borehole, Disable, 24, Construct $STR0, B, Shift+B
Aquifer, EcoEng, Aquifer, Disable, 18, Drill to $STR0, Q, Q
Raise Land, EnvEcon, Raise Sea Floor, EnvEcon, 12, Terraform UP, ], ]]
Lower Land, EnvEcon, Lower Sea Floor, EnvEcon, 12, Terraform DOWN, [, [[
Level Terrain, None, Level Terrain, Disable, 8, Terraform LEVEL, _, _
Monolith, Disable, Monolith, Disable, 8, Place Monolith, ?, ?, (this is here for map editor)
; Changes/Additions: Kelp Enricher, Minefield (Bunker, sea), Sensor Array (sea)

I've tried adding the capability for everything else for sea use, but the game does not display or recognise Forest, Road, Mag Tube, Airbase, or Aquifer. For the Condenser and Echelon Mirror (v.4.0), it displays when put in with the editor, but does not recognise the advantages of these facilities in the Zoom to Base screen, so placing them in the sea is useless. As for a Thermal Borehole, it will display and recognise, as far as I can remember, but it seems unbalancing to the game to me to allow them in the sea, not to mention unrealistic. I've tried enabling the building of monoliths (say with Secrets of Alpha Centauri, requiring 50 turns or so), but the game will not allow either by menu or key command for one to be built -- so much for that idea. So as far as I've been able to determine, the three I've devised are the only useful ones.

Sorry for the long message, but, well, there you are.

posted 08-07-99 05:37 AM ET         

; New Tech: Advanced Hydromechanics (E7)
; Requisites: Doctrine: Initiative (E4), Planetary Economics (B6)
; Abilities: Heavy Transport - +50 carrying capacity for sea transports --> which is actually turned off in the default game setting
; Leads to: -NA-
; Formers may build Kelp Enrichers (not visible) and Minefields (as sea bunkers, not visible)
; Mining platforms gain +1 mining bonus (normally EcoEng2)
;
; Sea Sensor Array build capability is enabled with Doctrine: Flexibility

Should be available any day now.