- "Second in command" option (autoresolve) no longer available to the player (possibly a temporary measure, depending on things)
...
- Autoresolve algorithm changed, is now fully moddable
Unless you mean we can now change the algorithm behind all AI vs AI battles (which would be awesome), aren't these mutually exclusive?
Right, you can mod the AI vs AI algorithm. You
could also mod autoresolve back in so it's available for the player, too, if you were so inclined.
Added SectorAPI.getPersistentData(), used for saving arbitrary data in the savegame
Awesome, can you reveal how this will work? [/list]
The method is:
Map<String, Object> getPersistentData();
So, that's pretty much all there is to it. That map gets serialized (using XStream), so you don't need to do anything at all - in terms of serialization code - to make it work. You can implement readResolve()/writeReplace() methods if you've got any special requirements on that front, and you could flag things as transient so they aren't saved. Actually, you can do that for other stuff that winds up in the save game, too, like spawn points.
So, is auto-resolve completely gone now? I can see it getting very tedious when trying to destroy lower-level fleets, or perhaps that's what you're trying to discourage players from doing. If that's the case, I'd suggest increasing the amount of XP gained from battles, since the player now has to fight them all in real-time. Or maybe making the maps for huge player fleets vs really small AI fleets significantly smaller, so engagements are quicker.
Yeah. The idea is that even when you have a big fleet size advantage, you still don't want to just deploy all and steamroll, because of associated CR loss and supply costs. It's hard to envision the role autoresolve can play in that environment; you'd possibly need to tell it what you want to use, what you don't, how many ships it's ok to use, etc. At that point you might as well play it out. If you're "grinding" low-level fleets for money/XP, you wouldn't want to use it anyway. Either you'd end up with too many losses, or too many expenses.