Alpha Centauri 2

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri & Alien Crossfire => Modding => Topic started by: Alpha Centauri Bear on October 15, 2018, 10:31:53 PM

Title: Modding damage and repair
Post by: Alpha Centauri Bear on October 15, 2018, 10:31:53 PM

Hi all fellow modders.
I would appreciate if anyone would share a knowledge about how to change damage and repair parameters.

Specifically:
* Hit point count.
* Fire power = the amount of damage dealt per combat round.
* Healing rate in different places and in different circumstances (field, monolith, city, Command Center, etc.).

I tried to find these values in Alpha.txt but it looks like they are not there.

Title: Re: Modding damage and repair
Post by: bvanevery on October 16, 2018, 12:42:37 AM

Quote from: tnevolin on October 15, 2018, 10:31:53 PM

* Hit point count.

That's the easy one.  It's 10 times Reactor size.  Reactor sizes are specified in alphax.txt.  You could have different multiples of Reactor size if you wanted, but there won't be any new artwork for them past the first 4 types.  I'm guessing that Reactor size has to be an integer.  I don't know what happens if you try to add a reactor type, or if you change the size of a reactor.  Actually that could be an interesting way to make these Reactors less proportionately awesome, if for instance a Fission reactor is 3, Fusion is 4, Quantum is 5, and Singularity is 6.  That would unfortunately also increase the range of air and sea units as well though, and Transport capacities would be pretty big.  Might make all the units murderously cheap to build too, requiring a recalibration of pretty much all costs.

Quote

* Fire power = the amount of damage dealt per combat round.

I'm not even certain if SMAC has this concept, or uses this word for the concept.  I started a thread about this very thing recently.

Quote

* Healing rate in different places and in different circumstances (field, monolith, city, Command Center, etc.).

These are all documented in the Datalinks.  There aren't any settings to change them.

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I tried to find these values in Alpha.txt but it looks like they are not there.

All of the things like this you can actually change at the .txt modding level, are at the top of alpha.txt or alphax.txt, in the 1st section:

Code: [Select]

; FUNDAMENTAL RULES
;   You will find that many of the items on this list have been
;   finely balanced: small changes can have drastic effects on
;   gameplay.
;
#RULESIf something isn't in there, it doesn't exist for .txt modders.  There aren't any other places where values have been sprinkled around, they're all in alphax.txt.  If you use a patched binary such as Yitzi's patch, more options will be available, but that's entirely down to whatever Yitzi or whoever thought to add.

Title: Re: Modding damage and repair
Post by: Alpha Centauri Bear on October 16, 2018, 03:06:10 PM

Quote from: bvanevery on October 16, 2018, 12:42:37 AM

That's the easy one.  It's 10 times Reactor size.  Reactor sizes are specified in alphax.txt.  You could have different multiples of Reactor size if you wanted, but there won't be any new artwork for them past the first 4 types.  I'm guessing that Reactor size has to be an integer.

I know what it is and how it is related to reactor power. I am asking how to change it.
:)

Quote from: bvanevery on October 16, 2018, 12:42:37 AM

If something isn't in there, it doesn't exist for .txt modders.  There aren't any other places where values have been sprinkled around, they're all in alphax.txt.  If you use a patched binary such as Yitzi's patch, more options will be available, but that's entirely down to whatever Yitzi or whoever thought to add.

Yep. They are not there. So I thought maybe someone has a hex table with locations where to poke the exe file.

Title: Re: Modding damage and repair
Post by: bvanevery on October 17, 2018, 12:54:40 AM

Quote from: tnevolin on October 16, 2018, 03:06:10 PM

I know what it is and how it is related to reactor power. I am asking how to change it.
:)

"You could have different multiples of Reactor size if you wanted."  That's all there is for you to change.

Quote from: tnevolin on October 16, 2018, 03:06:10 PM

Yep. They are not there. So I thought maybe someone has a hex table with locations where to poke the exe file.

That's really more in the realm of binary patching.  There's a subforum for that called Bug / Patch Discussion (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?board=23.0), probably your best bet.

Title: Re: Modding damage and repair
Post by: Alpha Centauri Bear on October 17, 2018, 01:06:53 PM

Thanks. I'll look it up there.