SlowScience ruleset ideas and plans

[3plus4i]

- effect_fortress_vision effect's Fortress requirement has a bad range.
- effect_fortress_hp_regen effect's Fortress requirement has a bad range.

I changed those from "Tile" to "Local".

Changed those range values on my end now. I think you mentioned those before, but I didn't quite understand that they were related to a future change.

- The resulting game.ruleset tries to include description from classic/README.slowscience, as that's what description_file entry told the ruleset saving part to use. There's no such file in classic/ ruleset.

I changed that to "SlowScience/README.slowscience"

That was an oversight, corrected it as well.

[cazfi]

With 3.0, I see 3 "unsed entry" -warnings in the logs: "unused entry: effect_municipal_administration_1.nreqs0..." (".type", ".name", ".range")

[3plus4i]

Hm, I'll have to check. Might be leftovers from my fumbling with city vision.

edit: oh, duh, I simply forgot to change it back from nreqs to reqs

[3plus4i]

Did the first testgame now that went through more than just like the first dozen techs. I found a couple stupid mistakes I made with the effects for the republic, but what I mostly discovered, is, that the tech cost progression needs more work and a simple formula won't do. During the first hundred rounds, research is very slow, while you expand the empire rapidly. But once that's over it's peak and cities start to actually grow, research explodes, despite the higher research cost and even though I nerfed the republic heavily. Or so I thought at least. Between Engineering and Industrialization I could easily research a tech within only one or two rounds, for several of the early wonders I had no chance of completing them before they became obsolete (mostly the Lighthouse). I'm not entirely sure if that would have happened with Monarchy still, because I reduced the effect of the republic to a general 20% increase in all trade and get the classic +1 per tile already producing trade only when a city is celebrating. Same for democracy btw, with a 50% increase.

The cost of techs is tier based, with the tier being the highest of it's requirements +1 and cost increasing x1.5 with each tier. I think I will have to increase that to x2 from somewhere around republic, up to a certain point. Hopefully that works. Building cost for wonders will also have to be decreased for some. Can caravans add to small wonders the same way as to great wonders? I had issues there, when the destination wasn't far enough away from the home city.

I hope that the AI can adapt to those cost walls, since it very much interferes with the way it usually picks it's research goals. The AI players got to Industrialization fairly quickly still but struggled past that, because of the quickly rising cost and since it ignored most science increasing improvements and even techs (the most advanced player hadn't even researched University yet while trying to get Democracy, which had still 16 turns left when I checked). The AI also ignored Crop Rotation and I assume it would have kept ignoring it till the end, since no other tech requires it. This is an issue, because it means the AI would be stuck with the -1 food penalty throughout the game. I guess passive effects of a tech don't count for anything in the AI algorithm, or it's too limited by hardcoded goals. I will have to make a tech depend on it then, so the AI at least gets it in passing. Unfortunately there isn't much in the tree that offers itself, especially since I'd prefer to connect it rather sooner than later back in the tree. Germ Theory would have a requirement slot open, even though the connection would make no logical sense.

I'm glad though that the rest of the changes and additions I made seem to be working pretty well.

[3plus4i]

So, I can't prevent a small wonder from being relocated (unless it's lost) or just clear it from the building list once it was built?

Code: Select all

reqs	=
    { "type", "name", "range", "present"
      "Tech", "Medicine", "Player", TRUE
      "Building", "Shakespeare's Theater", "Player", FALSE
    }

This is throwing an error when I try to load the ruleset: bad type or name

[cazfi]

So, I can't prevent a small wonder from being relocated (unless it's lost) or just clear it from the building list once it was built?

Code: Select all

reqs	=
    { "type", "name", "range", "present"
      "Tech", "Medicine", "Player", TRUE
      "Building", "Shakespeare's Theater", "Player", FALSE
    }

This is throwing an error when I try to load the ruleset: bad type or name

In the latest version of SlowScience ruleset I've downloaded the rule_name is "Shakespere's Theatre"

[3plus4i]

goddamit, I forgot it's the one building where the name isn't the identifier

[cazfi]

goddamit, I forgot it's the one building where the name isn't the identifier

As you are creating a completely new ruleset, and have no savegame backward compatibility to be worried about, you could change that.

[3plus4i]

Is there no way to evaluate the state of tiles in effect requirements? I was pretty sure there is, but I can't find anything anymore. What I would like to do is have pollution cause unhappiness. Wait, would adapting effect_pollution work? I think that's what I couldn't find anymore at first.

I just discovered something interesting in the description for requirement type "building"

"Local" range gives positive result iff the target building equals name (restricts "Upkeep_Free" effect to a specific building).

Couldn't I realize my Great Library idea with this? Though I'm not entirely sure how to use it correctly.

As you are creating a completely new ruleset, and have no savegame backward compatibility to be worried about, you could change that.

I could, but I don't really see any point after fixing the requirement. Also technically my ruleset should be able to load classic saves, just not the other way around.

[cazfi]

Is there no way to evaluate the state of tiles in effect requirements? I was pretty sure there is, but I can't find anything anymore. What I would like to do is have pollution cause unhappiness.

Sounds like you are after requirement type "Extra"