Yitzi's unofficial SMAX patch 2.3e

[Yitzi]

Yitzi's unofficial SMAX patch 2.3e

http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=153

For some reason, that bit of code seems to have produced a lot of bugs...I hope this is the last of them.

While only the executable is attached because this is a minor update, make sure you have the latest versions of alphax and helpx as well.

[LastConformist]

I don't think it's related to your patch directly, but a repeatable CTD happens at the end of the turn in the following save. I've tried poking around in the Scenario Editor and can't figure out what's going wrong.

[Yitzi]

Well, I checked it out, and I have good news and I have bad news and I have so-so news:

Good news: I found the problem, and it is part of my patch; fortunately, it's a disable-able part.  Go to alphax.txt and set the line that says "If non-zero, recalculate base statistics after each change" to any value other than 0.  (I probably should set the default to 1, as that's how it works without my patch.)  While not recalculating base statistics causes highly annoying surprises (e.g. drone riots in a base that previously had no drones or enough talents, or fungal pops in a base that previously had no ecodamage) unless you essentially calculate manually what's going to happen, it apparently horribly confuses the AI; what happened here was that the AI got so confused that it assigned all its citizens at Gaia's Landing to be doctors when it only needed one, and as a result didn't have enough minerals to support its units, but because this happened after the "disband unsupportable units" stage, it didn't disband them but just ended up with negative minerals.  As it so happens, the numbers were such that it produced a divide by zero error (which would not normally happen and was only possible due to negative minerals.)
Bad news: Not only is there no fix for it at the moment other than disabling the highly desirable "what you see is what you get" feature (i.e. not recalculating after each change), but there is no way to fix the problem (and related problems resulting from an AI that has no clue what it's doing) other than disabling the feature.
So-so news: I will, however, in patch 2.4, change the feature so that it applies only to human players' bases, not AI.  That way, it will not cause the crash (as human players don't change base decisions until the base is done with all calculations anyway)...it will, however, be another difference between human and AI players.  (While I normally make a separate minor patch in order to fix a problem due to my patch, in this case there's a solution that is no worse than not using that patch in the first place, so it can wait until the next version.)

[Kirov]

Yitzi, is it a good thread to ask for/suggest next modifications? Because I have a few things for you as our Data Angel here:

1) First and foremost: please put that retool thing on the list of your priorities. It is one horrible bug and drives me, and not only me, crazy.

2) Did you target the drone display bug? I mean, I understand we all got sorta used to it by now, but it's still a little annoying thingy that makes you click the Psych screen every now and then just to be sure. It would be great to have the drones display properly in a longer game (it is usually triggered by something in the gameplay, usually around the time you put Rec Commons in your bases).

3) Also, a question: where does your patch stand on the issue of easier mind worm capturing introduced by kyrub? IIRC, he discovered that after some limited amount of NL is on the board, the capture chances drop sharply, close to zero. I'm quite sure he managed to do something about it before he left for good. Do you recall any of it and what do you think on that?

4) Also, a request: when you play without the Spoils of War, upon capturing bases you get a certain amount of lab points. The figure may vary very greatly. Can you find in the file any issues related to this formula? I don't even need the equation itself (although that would be nice), most important factors will do. As it is right now, I'm not sure whether the number is more base-related or faction-related, i.e. does it come from raided facilities/population or from the fact that your raided opponent has more/less techs than you. Can you shed any light here?

Thanks in advance!

[Yitzi]

Yitzi, is it a good thread to ask for/suggest next modifications?

Yes, but if anything doesn't make the "short list" I'll just tell you that and you'll have to ask again once I'm done with the "short list" (which I'm making good progress on; it's been a bit busy lately and fixing the Stockpile Energy bug properly/allowing multibuild is a somewhat large task, but hopefully it should lighten up a bit soon and I can get back to working on it.)

Because I have a few things for you as our Data Angel here:

1) First and foremost: please put that retool thing on the list of your priorities. It is one horrible bug and drives me, and not only me, crazy.

It's near the top of the list, and most of the things above it are things required to fix it without re-introducing the Stockpile Energy bug.

2) Did you target the drone display bug? I mean, I understand we all got sorta used to it by now, but it's still a little annoying thingy that makes you click the Psych screen every now and then just to be sure. It would be great to have the drones display properly in a longer game (it is usually triggered by something in the gameplay, usually around the time you put Rec Commons in your bases).

It's not actually displaying improperly; what's happening is that you're getting phantom drones without real drones.  Firstly, note that if you play with default drone rules, it should not happen.  (If it does, that is a bug, so please let me know.)  Secondly, I do have on my list giving the option to have "enhanced information", which will say (probably after that "psych" label) how many more drones you can afford without it causing rioting (i.e. 0 if the next drone will cause riots, 1 if one more will cause riots, -1 if ending the turn without one more talent/one less drone will cause riots, -2 if you need to remove 2 drones to prevent riots, etc.)

3) Also, a question: where does your patch stand on the issue of easier mind worm capturing introduced by kyrub? IIRC, he discovered that after some limited amount of NL is on the board, the capture chances drop sharply, close to zero. I'm quite sure he managed to do something about it before he left for good. Do you recall any of it and what do you think on that?

I remember some mention of the formula, and do not remember anything about him changing it (and would greatly appreciate if you could find where he said that he changed it, if he did).  If he did change it, giving the option to change it back (or not, or somewhere in between, or even stronger or weaker than either) will probably make the "short list"; if he did not, it will not make the "short list" but will be a valid request for once I finish said list.

4) Also, a request: when you play without the Spoils of War, upon capturing bases you get a certain amount of lab points. The figure may vary very greatly. Can you find in the file any issues related to this formula? I don't even need the equation itself (although that would be nice), most important factors will do. As it is right now, I'm not sure whether the number is more base-related or faction-related, i.e. does it come from raided facilities/population or from the fact that your raided opponent has more/less techs than you. Can you shed any light here?

Not at the moment, but I may take that project later.  It probably won't be too difficult, but I think getting 2.4 (which will fix the retool thing) is higher priority.

[gwillybj]

Regarding  #3:

3) Also, a question: where does your patch stand on the issue of easier mind worm capturing introduced by kyrub? IIRC, he discovered that after some limited amount of NL is on the board, the capture chances drop sharply, close to zero. I'm quite sure he managed to do something about it before he left for good. Do you recall any of it and what do you think on that?

The decreasing capture chances is how it is supposed to be. It is stated on page 37 in the Prima Guide, re the Green Conquest strategy:

This strategy is so powerful that Firaxis has coded in a couple of restraints, to keep it from becoming a "sure thing."
First of all, there's a diminishing returns factor in mind worm "recruitment." Basically, this means that the more mind worms you already have, the less likely you are to successfully recruit a new one.
The second limitation is that it's significantly harder for one of your mind worms to recruit another mind worm than for your other units to recruit mind worms.

[Yitzi]

Regarding  #3:

3) Also, a question: where does your patch stand on the issue of easier mind worm capturing introduced by kyrub? IIRC, he discovered that after some limited amount of NL is on the board, the capture chances drop sharply, close to zero. I'm quite sure he managed to do something about it before he left for good. Do you recall any of it and what do you think on that?

The decreasing capture chances is how it is supposed to be. It is stated on page 37 in the Prima Guide, re the Green Conquest strategy:

This strategy is so powerful that Firaxis has coded in a couple of restraints, to keep it from becoming a "sure thing."
First of all, there's a diminishing returns factor in mind worm "recruitment." Basically, this means that the more mind worms you already have, the less likely you are to successfully recruit a new one.
The second limitation is that it's significantly harder for one of your mind worms to recruit another mind worm than for your other units to recruit mind worms.

Indeed; this is a large part of why the ability to change it back would make the short list, but the ability to change it from "does decrease" would not.

[ete]

That's interesting, I was unaware worms capturing worms was harder..