Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread: C# Edition

[LuuBluum]

Is it possible to rename the in-game elements? I'd presume fiddling with AuroraPatch could make that work, but I wouldn't know where to start with that.

[dsedrez]

I'm guessing it's the same deal with Wealth? Can't SM Edit it anywhere?

Testing out a multiple empires on Earth start with trading going on and it's kind of tricky to do without being able to pay eachother ::)

Not AFAIK because wealth is an empire-wide value.  I suggest modifying the FCT_Race table and not telling Steve that you did.   

It doesn't work: I've tried it in one game, editing the current wealth value in the BD, but the value never stayed, it somehow reverted to what it would have been, and ignored the value I'd added.  I don't know if there's some way to do it, that'd require more changes.

[nuclearslurpee]

I'm guessing it's the same deal with Wealth? Can't SM Edit it anywhere?

Testing out a multiple empires on Earth start with trading going on and it's kind of tricky to do without being able to pay eachother

Not AFAIK because wealth is an empire-wide value.  I suggest modifying the FCT_Race table and not telling Steve that you did.   

It doesn't work: I've tried it in one game, editing the current wealth value in the BD, but the value never stayed, it somehow reverted to what it would have been, and ignored the value I'd added.  I don't know if there's some way to do it, that'd require more changes.

What DB viewer/editor are you using? Some might default to read-only or have some other less intuitive method to save changes.

[dsedrez]

What DB viewer/editor are you using? Some might default to read-only or have some other less intuitive method to save changes.

SQLite.  But I committed the changes, saved the DB, checked it was saved. . .  and somehow it didn't work.  Next construction cycle and it was back where it was before. 

It's not the first time I've taken to editing the DB (once I found how to do it and got used to the Aurora DB structure).  Though it's been a few months already.  I'll try it again, it doesn't hurt to check.
I like RPing a lot, and sometimes changing some detail helps.  Though the game I'm preparing right now is the first time I'll try more extensive changes (attempting to make very low tech empires more effective and easier to play).

[dsedrez]

Is it possible to rename the in-game elements? I'd presume fiddling with AuroraPatch could make that work, but I wouldn't know where to start with that.

I'm doing that right now, but you must edit the DB for that. I changed Meson cannons for Subspace Mortars - a story idea I had that makes them way more interesting for RP purposes. And following some suggestions here I swapped Particle beams to kinetic research field (though I haven't changed their names yet).

[nuclearslurpee]

What DB viewer/editor are you using? Some might default to read-only or have some other less intuitive method to save changes.

SQLite.  But I committed the changes, saved the DB, checked it was saved. . .  and somehow it didn't work.  Next construction cycle and it was back where it was before. 

It's not the first time I've taken to editing the DB (once I found how to do it and got used to the Aurora DB structure).  Though it's been a few months already.  I'll try it again, it doesn't hurt to check.
I like RPing a lot, and sometimes changing some detail helps.  Though the game I'm preparing right now is the first time I'll try more extensive changes (attempting to make very low tech empires more effective and easier to play).

In order to edit the DB you need to close the game, make your changes in an editor and save them, and then reload the game. Changes in a DB editor will not modify the game while it is running as the game does not read from the DB except when loading the save initially.

[LuuBluum]

Is it possible to rename the in-game elements? I'd presume fiddling with AuroraPatch could make that work, but I wouldn't know where to start with that.

I'm doing that right now, but you must edit the DB for that. I changed Meson cannons for Subspace Mortars - a story idea I had that makes them way more interesting for RP purposes. And following some suggestions here I swapped Particle beams to kinetic research field (though I haven't changed their names yet).

Oh, good to know! Well, mild DB fiddling was expected anyway, since I wanna make a couple of research tech cost changes (make fighters cheaper to research, since my campaign goal is a multifaction Earth conventional scenario and there's going to be a lot of power posturing around Earth's space... space. What's the equivalent term to airspace in space? Spacespace? It can't be, right?) and might have to do other mild adjustments of stuff to get the campaign at the starting point that I want. That'll all be in waiting for 2.0, though.

[alex_brunius]

since my campaign goal is a multifaction Earth conventional scenario and there's going to be a lot of power posturing around Earth's space... space. What's the equivalent term to airspace in space? Spacespace? It can't be, right?)

Maybe Earth orbit?

[TheTalkingMeowth]

since my campaign goal is a multifaction Earth conventional scenario and there's going to be a lot of power posturing around Earth's space... space. What's the equivalent term to airspace in space? Spacespace? It can't be, right?)

Maybe Earth orbit?

"cislunar space" refers to the volume closer to the Earth than the Moon is.

[LuuBluum]

I suppose, to use technical standards, you have LEO, MEO, and HEO: low, medium, and high-Earth orbit. LEO is defined as below an altitude of a third of the Earth's radius above sea level (so, about 2000km and below), HEO is anything above geosynchronous orbit, and MEO is everything in-between. Decoupling the concepts from Earth (since tidal lock makes orbital period moot relative to planetary rotation as a metric), I guess you could define similar concepts as... low orbit is a third of the planetary radius above the surface of the planet, high orbit is greater than 5x the planet's radius, and medium orbit is everything in-between.

Then you can just cap high orbit at, like... 50x the planet's radius, since the Moon is about 30x out from Earth. Seems like reasonable boundaries to me. Low-orbit would be the usage of ground-support fighters (for which my campaign will no doubt have many), medium-orbit would be having a ship dock at a planet (construction range), and high orbit would be simply being near a planet.

Definitely going to be an interesting campaign, as soon as the 2.0 update rolls around.

[dsedrez]

Is it possible to rename the in-game elements? I'd presume fiddling with AuroraPatch could make that work, but I wouldn't know where to start with that.

I'm doing that right now, but you must edit the DB for that. I changed Meson cannons for Subspace Mortars - a story idea I had that makes them way more interesting for RP purposes. And following some suggestions here I swapped Particle beams to kinetic research field (though I haven't changed their names yet).

Oh, good to know! Well, mild DB fiddling was expected anyway, since I wanna make a couple of research tech cost changes (make fighters cheaper to research, since my campaign goal is a multifaction Earth conventional scenario and there's going to be a lot of power posturing around Earth's space... space. What's the equivalent term to airspace in space? Spacespace? It can't be, right?) and might have to do other mild adjustments of stuff to get the campaign at the starting point that I want. That'll all be in waiting for 2.0, though.

It's a bit involved changing names in the DB though. If all you want to do is change a component's name, there's a table for that. If you want to change a research tech or field, well, it's more complicated, and may be risky.

[LuuBluum]

Is it possible to rename the in-game elements? I'd presume fiddling with AuroraPatch could make that work, but I wouldn't know where to start with that.

I'm doing that right now, but you must edit the DB for that. I changed Meson cannons for Subspace Mortars - a story idea I had that makes them way more interesting for RP purposes. And following some suggestions here I swapped Particle beams to kinetic research field (though I haven't changed their names yet).

Oh, good to know! Well, mild DB fiddling was expected anyway, since I wanna make a couple of research tech cost changes (make fighters cheaper to research, since my campaign goal is a multifaction Earth conventional scenario and there's going to be a lot of power posturing around Earth's space... space. What's the equivalent term to airspace in space? Spacespace? It can't be, right?) and might have to do other mild adjustments of stuff to get the campaign at the starting point that I want. That'll all be in waiting for 2.0, though.

It's a bit involved changing names in the DB though. If all you want to do is change a component's name, there's a table for that. If you want to change a research tech or field, well, it's more complicated, and may be risky.

Ah, I see. That might complicate matters, then. Well, no big deal as long as for my write-up of everything I remain consistent. I can only imagine the potential things that would break if I outright changed the name of a mineral!

[nakorkren]

Can you tractor enemy ships? From and RP perspective I would LOVE to be able to use fast, gun-less, heavily armored "catcher" ships to hold the enemy down while I bring in slower ships with big guns to pound them.

This would also potentially open up new tactics. It would also be useful if the tug could hold the enemy ship fixed (or at least oppose their motion to make them slower), reducing their ability to dodge laser/missile fire.

[nuclearslurpee]

Ah, I see. That might complicate matters, then. Well, no big deal as long as for my write-up of everything I remain consistent. I can only imagine the potential things that would break if I outright changed the name of a mineral!

Changing the name of something in the DB should never cause a problem (take this with a massive grain of salt at your own risk!!). In the DB, everything is referenced by ID numbers, the actual string values for various names are not referenced. If you change the name of "Mineral #1" from Duranium to Durasteel for instance there should not be anything in the DB that cares.

Again, grain of salt, at your own risk, etc. etc. because the DB is a complex and confusing beast which often only appears to follow any semblance of rules. 

Can you tractor enemy ships? From and RP perspective I would LOVE to be able to use fast, gun-less, heavily armored "catcher" ships to hold the enemy down while I bring in slower ships with big guns to pound them.

This would also potentially open up new tactics. It would also be useful if the tug could hold the enemy ship fixed (or at least oppose their motion to make them slower), reducing their ability to dodge laser/missile fire.

Nope.

[dsedrez]

Changing the name of something in the DB should never cause a problem (take this with a massive grain of salt at your own risk!!). In the DB, everything is referenced by ID numbers, the actual string values for various names are not referenced. If you change the name of "Mineral #1" from Duranium to Durasteel for instance there should not be anything in the DB that cares.

Again, grain of salt, at your own risk, etc. etc. because the DB is a complex and confusing beast which often only appears to follow any semblance of rules. 

If you've found where in the DB are the names of the minerals, please tell me, I did look and I never found them. BTW I'm looking for the place where's the list of names used for newly generated species, and I haven't found it either...

On changing the names, what I meant is that for tech names, you'll need to change it in multiple tables for it to work. Even then, changing the name of a weapon tech (and probably any user-specified component), it *won't change* the generated component's name when you try to design it. So you have to write it in full every time, and it gets boring. Also, if there's a way to change the name of the group where your components end up in the ship design window, I haven't found it yet. It's twice annoying to look for my newly-designed and named subspace mortars, when I forget they must be under "mesons" ugh...