I have been busy figuring out how to change different parts of this game to be pony related. While I was swapping pictures with whatever pictures I could run across first on my computer, I was wondering what else I could potentially do in terms of modding. The game's launcher has a link to a PDF about the way it processes txt files, making stat changes and AI behavior modifying relatively simple. I decided to mess with that just a little and also found that they have a tool that will access the files and give you neatly organized boxes to change the data with. I highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in playing the game.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4030377
It isn't perfect as you have to still change a few things manually, such as if you add too many races you have to add more values and pictures in the main files to draw from and some values are 0 which must be at least 0.001 to get the game to run, but it is most definitely a huge timesaver. Just be sure to make a backup of your mod because if anything does go wrong, you may have to delete the whole mod folder to get the game back to a playable state, then you can copy the folder back in.
I then wanted to change a couple of other things like the background in the main menu, but that was baked into the .exe, so I looked for a solution in the forums there and found another mod which I will be using.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4263783
This mod adds several tweaks to the game, some new features, and the ability to make your own background image. While I was at it, I found the WVM file for the starting cutscene and replaced it. I'm still looking for the right video to fit the feel of the game, but I can essentially change most everything in this game eventually.
But for now, this is a simple skin change of the races and a couple of stat changes while I was messing around... and a few to give me an unfair advantage. I'll make another thread as I figure this game out and work on the balancing of the races. I have only had time to flesh out the main Equestrian pony faction and the Zebras a little.
Getting into the game itself, there is a whole lot going on in the set up alone. I have set up a normal game, everything set to normal save the galaxy size, which is set to large. The galaxy is an elliptical shape with random star layout, as it is possible to load galaxy maps and even edit them in-game to design your own maps for play. We will stick with normal settings because I'm just getting used to everything after all. I also have it set so pirates will not respawn after they are destroyed. This is a blessing and a curse as pirate factions have a higher tech level than most at the start of the game, making them a huge threat to your empire, but they also can be neutral in conflicts, supplying your empire with smuggled goods, especially in times of trade blockades. This means if they are gone, I will have to fend for myself in trade wars. Colonization setting are also left untouched from the defaults.
I'll leave options up to suggestion as I come across them. Please feel free to tell me how to play better or to do something differently.
/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal
96 replies | 29 files | 9 UUIDs | Page 26
>>107828
The first decision we have is the race we want to choose. We have Anonymous, simply the human faction from the base game, Changeling, Dragon, Germane, Griffon, Hippogriff, Pony, and Zebra. There are a few other aliens from the base game, but I want to stick with these choices. This will impact who we handle future interactions with certain empires as they have natual liking or disliking to other races.
The first decision we have is the race we want to choose. We have Anonymous, simply the human faction from the base game, Changeling, Dragon, Germane, Griffon, Hippogriff, Pony, and Zebra. There are a few other aliens from the base game, but I want to stick with these choices. This will impact who we handle future interactions with certain empires as they have natual liking or disliking to other races.
Neat!
>>107863
And so we shall be. I have continued with the standard options, set our colors to green and white as black isn't an option... I'll look into that later. We also need more flag options, but we will take the least gay looking one that sort of resembles a swastika crossed with a square.
With that, all we need to do is come up with an empire name and government form. The government types give different bonuses and debuffs, but we can change them later at any time, we just have to make sure it is popular to do so or there will be rebellions. The governments are Despotism, Feudalism, Monarchy, Republic, Democracy, Military Dictatorship, Way of the Gay, Corperate Nationalism, Tribalism, and Communism.
If the name of the empire stumps you, we can just go with /mlpol/. Most names can be changed later.
And so we shall be. I have continued with the standard options, set our colors to green and white as black isn't an option... I'll look into that later. We also need more flag options, but we will take the least gay looking one that sort of resembles a swastika crossed with a square.
With that, all we need to do is come up with an empire name and government form. The government types give different bonuses and debuffs, but we can change them later at any time, we just have to make sure it is popular to do so or there will be rebellions. The governments are Despotism, Feudalism, Monarchy, Republic, Democracy, Military Dictatorship, Way of the Gay, Corperate Nationalism, Tribalism, and Communism.
If the name of the empire stumps you, we can just go with /mlpol/. Most names can be changed later.
>>107887
I'm not sure. I want plenty more to participate, but I'm not sure if we should wait long. This is just the set up after all.
I'm not sure. I want plenty more to participate, but I'm not sure if we should wait long. This is just the set up after all.
>>107949
Feudalism gives our empire:
-10% approval
-25% research speed
-10% maintenance cost
+40% troop recruitment
-20% war weariness
And the other factors such as corruption levels, growth rate, and colony income remain unaffected.
Our empire name remains /mlpol/ unless someone wants to switch it. We will have a completely random spawn in the galaxy, but there are options to narrow down where you wind up. I have also set the game up to spawn an additional 7 random empires all starting as we are, with no tech. It will be a race for power and control over the galaxy. I also turned on victory conditions. The game will declare a winner if you have enough of the following: control of the most territory, the most population, the biggest economy, and the most progress toward your race’s goals.
Feudalism gives our empire:
-10% approval
-25% research speed
-10% maintenance cost
+40% troop recruitment
-20% war weariness
And the other factors such as corruption levels, growth rate, and colony income remain unaffected.
Our empire name remains /mlpol/ unless someone wants to switch it. We will have a completely random spawn in the galaxy, but there are options to narrow down where you wind up. I have also set the game up to spawn an additional 7 random empires all starting as we are, with no tech. It will be a race for power and control over the galaxy. I also turned on victory conditions. The game will declare a winner if you have enough of the following: control of the most territory, the most population, the biggest economy, and the most progress toward your race’s goals.
>>107961
Sounds good.
Onward our feudalistic states! Find the ponies toturn their planets into giant harems better understand their culture!
Sounds good.
Onward our feudalistic states! Find the ponies to
>>107968
And so our galaxy map is set up and the world we have been spawned on is a nice moon called Etoost, orbiting a gas giant which also has a volcanic moon. Other than that, we don't know too much else about where we are in the grand scheme of things. This seems like a kind of empty solar system. Let's hope we don't run into trouble...
And so our galaxy map is set up and the world we have been spawned on is a nice moon called Etoost, orbiting a gas giant which also has a volcanic moon. Other than that, we don't know too much else about where we are in the grand scheme of things. This seems like a kind of empty solar system. Let's hope we don't run into trouble...
>>107949
nooooo. I actually am not sure about the government types, but there are better ones than feudalism
nooooo. I actually am not sure about the government types, but there are better ones than feudalism
>>107982
First, we got to build a ship to leave the planet to go building mines. We will queue that up right away.
First, we got to build a ship to leave the planet to go building mines. We will queue that up right away.
>>107986
Focus on industry, and only when we reach German levels of engineering should we focus on military.
Focus on industry, and only when we reach German levels of engineering should we focus on military.
>>107988
I like that plan, which our citizens will help us accomplish on their own as well. The game features an AI within your own empire that represents your own private sector investing in different areas and launching their own ships to make money on their own. We get a portion of those earnings in taxes. Currently we are are 3% tax both on goods and annual.
I like that plan, which our citizens will help us accomplish on their own as well. The game features an AI within your own empire that represents your own private sector investing in different areas and launching their own ships to make money on their own. We get a portion of those earnings in taxes. Currently we are are 3% tax both on goods and annual.
Constuction of the mining station is now underway. The game offers us a suggestion of building 2 more constuction ships and 2 exploration ships.
We now can see a mysterious ship closing in on our base. Visitors?
We have constructed a spaceport. We can now build exploration ships to discover secrets of the universe. The game recommends our empire build two of these and two more constructors, costing a total of 6,000 of our 11,000 credits.
>>108017
>>108021
We can certainly make some combat ships as listed in this build menu. I added 1 of each to the queue to show their costs and I will remove any that we don't deem to need. Their effectiveness is ordered from least to greatest.
How many do you suggest should be made of each type? Keep in mind we are currently losing money because our private sector hasn't made it to space yet to start the economy. We need to choose wisely.
>>108017
>>108021
We can certainly make some combat ships as listed in this build menu. I added 1 of each to the queue to show their costs and I will remove any that we don't deem to need. Their effectiveness is ordered from least to greatest.
How many do you suggest should be made of each type? Keep in mind we are currently losing money because our private sector hasn't made it to space yet to start the economy. We need to choose wisely.
We received communication with another ship. This time they have announced the intent of their approach. They are pirate smugglers and want to trade goods to get great deals as they continue their operations across the galaxy. This will help our resource shortage that is making everything build so slowly.
And just like that, our economy is surging. The market has exploded, giving us a much needed revenue boost. The private sector is now investing in spacecraft to expand to the stars with us. Our spacecraft are also done building.
The exploration ship as picked something up on our scanners and is headed to investigate. Who knows what we will find.
We have another decision. Our advisors suggest we should hire the smuggler to deliver more resources to our planet. Should we enlist their help?
>>108050
Neither do I, that's the fun part. Let's just have fun with it.
>>108049
Done, and just in time for our exploration ship to discover something.
They have found a strange obelisk on a desert planet called Oppeemav. They land and investigate.
They find hieroglyphs that depict a civilization that could appear to bend space-time to their will. They also handily outline how to build certain components as they found it a sacred ritual. It isn't the whole thing, but give us the needed scientific knowledge to begin studying warpfield tech.
Neither do I, that's the fun part. Let's just have fun with it.
>>108049
Done, and just in time for our exploration ship to discover something.
They have found a strange obelisk on a desert planet called Oppeemav. They land and investigate.
They find hieroglyphs that depict a civilization that could appear to bend space-time to their will. They also handily outline how to build certain components as they found it a sacred ritual. It isn't the whole thing, but give us the needed scientific knowledge to begin studying warpfield tech.
>>108051
Nice! That should help us in the future.
Seems like exploration could really benefit beyond more territory.
Nice! That should help us in the future.
Seems like exploration could really benefit beyond more territory.
>>108052
>>108053
Indeed, but our exploration might just get sidetracked. Our fleet only contains one ship and the pirates that we have been trading with have suddenly grown a bit greedy...
They have messaged us they they are owed "protection money" and that we better pay up if we know what is good for us. The fee is 93 credits every ingame month.
>>108053
Indeed, but our exploration might just get sidetracked. Our fleet only contains one ship and the pirates that we have been trading with have suddenly grown a bit greedy...
They have messaged us they they are owed "protection money" and that we better pay up if we know what is good for us. The fee is 93 credits every ingame month.
>>108055
13,000. It isn't very much actually, but we do have a negative cashflow at the moment. Our economy is keeping that at just a few hundred credits lost every month. Not too shabby actually, we can bounce back to positive flow with a little more work.
It is up to you if we want to pay up or not. Just remember, they have hyperspace and we don't.
13,000. It isn't very much actually, but we do have a negative cashflow at the moment. Our economy is keeping that at just a few hundred credits lost every month. Not too shabby actually, we can bounce back to positive flow with a little more work.
It is up to you if we want to pay up or not. Just remember, they have hyperspace and we don't.
>>108059
That is something that is a hard balance as we don't have much trade with other empires yet. Simply building things only increases the amount of stuff we have, which isn't bad, but it can harm the economy of the private sector when they were the only ones making mines and now the government is dishing it out cheap. Early game economy has eluded my understanding.
>>108061
>>108062
I agree. And if there are no objections to avoiding a pirate war, then we shall continue.
That is something that is a hard balance as we don't have much trade with other empires yet. Simply building things only increases the amount of stuff we have, which isn't bad, but it can harm the economy of the private sector when they were the only ones making mines and now the government is dishing it out cheap. Early game economy has eluded my understanding.
>>108061
>>108062
I agree. And if there are no objections to avoiding a pirate war, then we shall continue.
In a cruel turn of events, the pirates took their trade elsewhere, causing our private sector economy to tank, we are now making 21 credits a month while our cashflow has reached a negative 7,000. We need to strike back at this scum after we build up our forces.
>>108074
>>108075
Alright. Treaty over.
>>108076
This is true, but salavging is rare in early game because you need to board and capture the ship before it is fully decimated in battle. Unfortunately the ships don't leave anything behind when fully destroyed by our current tech level. Later we can get ion weapons that make salvage much easier.
>>108075
Alright. Treaty over.
>>108076
This is true, but salavging is rare in early game because you need to board and capture the ship before it is fully decimated in battle. Unfortunately the ships don't leave anything behind when fully destroyed by our current tech level. Later we can get ion weapons that make salvage much easier.
I think our troubles might soon be over. We have unlocked warpfield precursors. This will give us limited warp travel! Now our trade will be more profitable because it won't take so damn long.
>>108083
Cashflow is finally out of the red, but only a couple of hundred. I predict it will go back south soon due to upgrading ships and other costs... again, I wish I understood the private sector better as it is diving again.
But in other news, we have researched shield generators. Now our ships have a chance of warping out of danger as it pounds the shields.
Cashflow is finally out of the red, but only a couple of hundred. I predict it will go back south soon due to upgrading ships and other costs... again, I wish I understood the private sector better as it is diving again.
But in other news, we have researched shield generators. Now our ships have a chance of warping out of danger as it pounds the shields.
How many economic ships do we have, private or government owned? What other economic indicators exist? I elect we try to maximize our economy until it starts to be a liability, then build a stronger fleet.
>>108085
>>108086
>>108087
Well... some bad news...
One of our military ships flew out into an asteroid field for some reason, I swear I had him ordered to stay at the planet. The idiot got himself killed by a space slug. And now a new pirate faction wants us to pay over 500 credits a month. They look serious. I don't know how to handle this situation other than deny them and build up ships like there is no tomorrow.
>>108086
>>108087
Well... some bad news...
One of our military ships flew out into an asteroid field for some reason, I swear I had him ordered to stay at the planet. The idiot got himself killed by a space slug. And now a new pirate faction wants us to pay over 500 credits a month. They look serious. I don't know how to handle this situation other than deny them and build up ships like there is no tomorrow.
>>108089
I would guess extremely high. Our reports on them through diplomats guess they have 14 ships designed for combat.
I would guess extremely high. Our reports on them through diplomats guess they have 14 ships designed for combat.
First wave of ships inbound. We successfully destroyed 1 on them and one is slowly retreating as the starbase has unleashed starfighters to strike the incoming ships. Our two remaining ships are coming in to help the defense.
>>108095
Second wave destroyed our space station, making it impossible to make more ships until we make another. It will take some time. They landed a pathetic invasion force on the planet which was easily wiped. Our fucking ships never made it to the battle. We need to upgrade their engines badly.
Second wave destroyed our space station, making it impossible to make more ships until we make another. It will take some time. They landed a pathetic invasion force on the planet which was easily wiped. Our fucking ships never made it to the battle. We need to upgrade their engines badly.
Well, I'm going to save the game there. We got a pirate war, but we help up decently well. We destroyed 3 of their ships before 3 more destroyied our star base, and they couldn't even raid the planet and had to retreat. Our cash is no longer negative and we can rebuild the star base soon.
I'll try to pick back up tomorrow. See you guys next time.
I'll try to pick back up tomorrow. See you guys next time.
>>108276
Sorry I didn't get around to the game. I have been a bit busy. I'll try my best to get back to it tomorrow.
Sorry I didn't get around to the game. I have been a bit busy. I'll try my best to get back to it tomorrow.
We return to the devistating inconvience of losing our space station. We have to wait for enough funs to get that thing back or else we won't be sending out ships any time soon. Our cashflow is finally positive, but the private sector is still frozen from the loss of trade.
>>108381
Soon we will use friendship on everyone!
But first a moment of silence for the brave space warriors of friendship.
Soon we will use friendship on everyone!
But first a moment of silence for the brave space warriors of friendship.
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