Free prototypes prevent Skunkworks from being built; is this a bug?

[Yitzi]

As we know, skunkworks have two effects: They make prototypes free, and they affect the cost of changing production.  Factions with FREEPROTO, not needing the former (primary) effect, are unable to build skunkworks, and therefore lose the capability for the latter effect as well.  Is this a bug?

[Geo]

How do they affect the cost of changing production?

[Yitzi]

How do they affect the cost of changing production?

Without modding, they cause any change between two things of the same type (unit, facility, satellite, project) to be free.

Without modding without my patch, they have the same effect, except that IIRC if you mod changing production to never be free (even project to project), then they're not free

With my patch with modding, they cause any change between two things of the same type to use the special "skunkworks" line or the normal line for changing that type, whichever is cheaper.

[Lord Avalon]

Yes, it's a bug, if you miss out on other effects. Maybe there should be a discount for building it, too.

[Geo]

Yes, it's a bug, if you miss out on other effects. Maybe there should be a discount for building it, too.

How about prototyping buildings? First one costs 50% extra minerals/energy to finish.

[Yitzi]

Yes, it's a bug, if you miss out on other effects. Maybe there should be a discount for building it, too.

Yes, it's a bug, if you miss out on other effects. Maybe there should be a discount for building it, too.

How about prototyping buildings? First one costs 50% extra minerals/energy to finish.

Both of these are interesting ideas, but neither is a bugfix, and therefore they'd need to be nominated and voted in like any other proposed modding change.

[Yitzi]

I found another Skunkworks-related bug, though: In a Citizen or Specialist game, skunkworks cannot be built, because any player playing on Citizen or Specialist gets both of its benefits automatically.

However, it is possible (at least in TCP/IP games, and I hope to extend it to PBEM/email at some point) for a human player's difficulty level to be different than that of the game as a whole, so in such case he'd be unable to build skunkworks even though he has use for them.  I therefore intend to fix this as well, and make it based on the individual player's difficulty for human players.  (AI seem to always use the game difficulty.)