Update on Progress

[Shuul]

Its so hauntingly quite
Are there any updates on campaign?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Its so hauntingly quite
Are there any updates on campaign?

I've been busy with work and family stuff the last week or so, although I've done another 18 months on the Cold Sun campaign. I am going to take a break from the campaign now though I think and dive into AI combat and diplomacy. Economics, etc. is working fine. I might also reduce terraforming speed a little based on the Cold Sun campaign, as it is very easy to create terraforming space stations and smaller worlds are very easy to terraform now due to the size changes. Experimentation needed. Very happy with the wealth changes though.

[Shuul]

Its so hauntingly quite
Are there any updates on campaign?

I've been busy with work and family stuff the last week or so, although I've done another 18 months on the Cold Sun campaign. I am going to take a break from the campaign now though I think and dive into AI combat and diplomacy. Economics, etc. is working fine. I might also reduce terraforming speed a little based on the Cold Sun campaign, as it is very easy to create terraforming space stations and smaller worlds are very easy to terraform now due to the size changes. Experimentation needed. Very happy with the wealth changes though.

Thank you ! AI changes/updates are the most exciting in C# Aurora for me, take your time with them

[Impassive]

Its so hauntingly quite
Are there any updates on campaign?

I've been busy with work and family stuff the last week or so, although I've done another 18 months on the Cold Sun campaign.  I am going to take a break from the campaign now though I think and dive into AI combat and diplomacy.  Economics, etc.  is working fine.  I might also reduce terraforming speed a little based on the Cold Sun campaign, as it is very easy to create terraforming space stations and smaller worlds are very easy to terraform now due to the size changes.  Experimentation needed.  Very happy with the wealth changes though.

Great to hear the other things are working fine, how much more is there to do with the AI & Diplomacy?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Great to hear the other things are working fine, how much more is there to do with the AI & Diplomacy?

I haven't even started Diplomacy (apart from establishing communication). For the AI, exploration, economy and fleet deployment is pretty much done. I need to work on combat and diplomacy.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

As a result of playtesting in the Cold Sun campaign, I have reduced terraforming speed further. It is now 75% slower than VB6 for Earth size worlds, about 10% slower for Mars and about 3.4x faster for the Moon.

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg102115#msg102115

[Breadabix]

Honestly Id be happy with a release without ai, I like exploring but it gets too laggy later game atm.

[Desdinova]

As a result of playtesting in the Cold Sun campaign, I have reduced terraforming speed further. It is now 75% slower than VB6 for Earth size worlds, about 10% slower for Mars and about 3.4x faster for the Moon.

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg102115#msg102115

I suspect the volume of atmosphere depends on the surface area of the planet, correct? So the time required is proportional to the square of the radius?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

As a result of playtesting in the Cold Sun campaign, I have reduced terraforming speed further. It is now 75% slower than VB6 for Earth size worlds, about 10% slower for Mars and about 3.4x faster for the Moon.

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg102115#msg102115

I suspect the volume of atmosphere depends on the surface area of the planet, correct? So the time required is proportional to the square of the radius?

Yes, that's correct.

[The Forbidden]

As a result of playtesting in the Cold Sun campaign, I have reduced terraforming speed further. It is now 75% slower than VB6 for Earth size worlds, about 10% slower for Mars and about 3.4x faster for the Moon.

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg102115#msg102115

Won't that make most terraforming candidates so long to terraform that it's useless to do so ? And moons absurdly overpowered in comparison ?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

As a result of playtesting in the Cold Sun campaign, I have reduced terraforming speed further. It is now 75% slower than VB6 for Earth size worlds, about 10% slower for Mars and about 3.4x faster for the Moon.

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg102115#msg102115

Won't that make most terraforming candidates so long to terraform that it's useless to do so ? And moons absurdly overpowered in comparison ?

I've found that building up a large terraforming capacity is a lot easier in C# due to the ability to crank out large terraforming space stations on demand, rather than being limited by shipyard capacity and tooling. Also, unless terraforming is slowed down, small worlds are too easy to terraform. Anything less than 0.1G can't be terraformed so Earth Moon-sized is at the low end of the range. The reality is though that small worlds would be easier to terraform so they do have an advantage in terraforming speed, but a disadvantage in capacity, especially if tide-locked.

[tobijon]

Tidal lock wouldn't be a problem for moons though. The ease at which you can get more terraforming capacity concerns me, I don't think terraforming a planet or moon should be a trivial matter, even for a large empire.

[sloanjh]

I've found that building up a large terraforming capacity is a lot easier in C# due to the ability to crank out large terraforming space stations on demand, rather than being limited by shipyard capacity and tooling. Also, unless terraforming is slowed down, small worlds are too easy to terraform. Anything less than 0.1G can't be terraformed so Earth Moon-sized is at the low end of the range. The reality is though that small worlds would be easier to terraform so they do have an advantage in terraforming speed, but a disadvantage in capacity, especially if tide-locked.

Hi Steve,

Are you using (SurfaceArea/SurfaceGravity) for your terraforming rate (as was suggested a couple of years ago in C++ Suggestions and just flared up again in C# Suggestions)?  That would help slow down small worlds, and it has the added benefit of being correct physics   The reason for the factor of 1/SurfaceGravity is that pressure comes from the weight of air above you; if gravity is 10x weaker you need to have 10x as much air above you to get the same pressure.  Don't remember if you coded this up when it first came up....

John

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Hi Steve,

Are you using (SurfaceArea/SurfaceGravity) for your terraforming rate (as was suggested a couple of years ago in C++ Suggestions and just flared up again in C# Suggestions)?  That would help slow down small worlds, and it has the added benefit of being correct physics   The reason for the factor of 1/SurfaceGravity is that pressure comes from the weight of air above you; if gravity is 10x weaker you need to have 10x as much air above you to get the same pressure.  Don't remember if you coded this up when it first came up....

John

No, I am using EarthSurfaceArea/SurfaceArea.

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg102115#msg102115

I'll take a look at the suggestion.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Another milestone. This is an AI squadron that has detected a player ship, moved within range and launched missiles.

The basic code is done for decisions on active sensor activation (when, why) and firing decisions (when to fire, what to fire at and why). These will need a little more attention as more complex situations arise, but that should be fine-tuning.

Some of the code is in place for how the System AI deploys its available forces to deal with threats, but that is a lot more complex, especially when facing multiple hostile forces and when deciding whether to be aggressive or not. The AI may now run away or seek the cover of planetary defences, instead of blindly attacking, which requires more decision-making. The Race AI also has to respond to threats on an Empire-wide level as well. So this area of the code will be my focus now.