Topic: [0.95a] Second Wave Options (0.6.5) - Options for Adjusting Campaign Difficulty (Read 162405 times)

RustyCabbage · « **on:** October 27, 2019, 08:36:51 PM »

(there's a new version, it's just on the discord server and i'm a bit lazy to update the OP with all the things it changes)

SeConD WaVE OpTiONs
by RustyCabbage
Download Second Wave Options v0.6.5

Second Wave Options is a highly adjustable challenge mod that seeks to increase the game's campaign difficulty. Every change is adjustable or toggleable so you can craft your own experience.

Examples of SlowCR, Odyssey Mode (from the sector edge), and sensor strength boosts from Dark Sector.

Current Features

Several gameplay altering options enabled by default:
- Slow CR: Significantly reduces the rate at which ships recover CR. Intended to make battles in hostile space more dangerous.
  Give Me The Details
  Under default settings:
  -Frigates will have 50% of their original CR%/day. For the fastest regenerating vanilla frigate, it takes about 20 days to go from 0% to 100% CR.
  -Destroyers will have 50% of their original CR%/day. For the fastest regenerating vanilla destroyer, it takes about 40 days to go from 0% to 100% CR.
  -Cruisers will have 33% of their original CR%/day. For the fastest regenerating vanilla cruiser, it takes about 60 days to go from 0% to 100% CR.
  -Capital Ships will have 25% of their original CR%/day. For the fastest regenerating vanilla capital ship, it takes about 100 days to go from 0% to 100% CR.
  
  The idea is that players are more encouraged to have a good reserve of ships when they plan of fighting multiple battles after one another. If you're familiar XCOM: Long War, this is sort of like the greatly increased fatigue timer for your ships. As a consolation, the decreased CR%/day means you'll pay less per day when not at max CR, mitigating the death spirals you can suffer from by damaging too many of your ships.
  Note that this also makes hyperspace storms more dangerous if you intend to fight quickly afterwards.
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- Doctrine Evolution: Factions will now develop their fleet doctrine as time passes and as their markets grow and stabilize. This means their fleets will be larger, of higher quality, and better lead than before. Be careful of dawdling too much lest you find yourself outnumbered and outgunned beyond your control.
  Give Me The Details
  Faction doctrine is split into 3 qualities:
  1. Officer Quality (and quantity)
  2. Ship Quality (increasing by 0.125% per point by default--vanilla settings)
  3. Ship Quantity (increasing by 25% per point by default--vanilla settings)
  Doctrine Evolution will increase or decrease the values used by AI factions for these qualities through 3 different bonuses:
  1. Flat bonuses (disabled by default)
  2. Time bonuses (default 0.4 per cycle since 206, 1.0 for remnants and other market-less factions)
  3. Market bonuses (based on the size and stability of the markets these factions own, whether it's a hidden market and whether or not they contain military bases or heavy industries).
  
  Summing these bonuses up (they may also be negative), a given faction will have a certain number of points that they will allocate to/remove from the above 3 qualities. The result is that as time passes by and as factions become stronger or weaker in the sector, the size, quality and command of their fleets will change, ultimately leading to a more dynamic, but generally more difficult late game.
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- Secure Markets: An option to improve the defenses of AI-markets at the start of the game through the construction of ground defenses/heavy batteries, Patrol HQs and, for larger markets, stations. It's among your first priorities as a colonizer; why wouldn't the core worlds do this as well? This only affects new games. To apply it mid-campaign, use the console command RCSWApplySecureMarkets.
  - Also includes options to add military bases/high commands to large markets.
  Give Me The Details
  Under default settings:
  -All markets will have Ground Defenses if they did not have them before. Any markets that are size 6+ will have Heavy Batteries, either created from scratch or upgrading an existing Ground Defenses.
  -All non-raiding markets (e.g. Pirates/LP) will create a Patrol HQ if they did not have them before. There is an option to allow it for Pirates/LP, but this usually greatly increases the number of clashes and hence salvage in systems, making the game easier, so it's off by default.
  -All markets of size 5/6/7+ will get an Orbital Station/Battle Station/Star Fortress of random tech level if they did not have a station before.
  -Starting in C.222, if the player knows how to build planetary shields, factions will also add a planetary shield to their best market(s), as determined by Doctrine Evolution's market scores.
  -Optionally: military bases/high commands can be added to size 6/7+ markets if they did not have them before. This increases the number of military markets a player can buy things from, so this option is disabled by default.
  
  Basically, it's pretty strange that the major factions don't try very hard to secure the safety of their markets. It may make sense in Vanilla, with everyone being static, but in the dynamic 4x experience that is Nexerelin, markets should be much more difficult to take over than they normally are. Furthermore, due to the power creep provided by Doctrine Evolution, the added defenses prevents the Sector from falling apart due to raids and general warfare.
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Several gameplay altering options not enabled by default:
- Reduced Salvage Chance for Larger Ships: Reduces the base recovery chance for larger ships destroyed in combat. However, the chances will return to normal as your character's level increases, so this is purely an early game extension option. Thank you to Johan for the idea and testing.
  Note: this may cause frame rate drops on some systems
  Give Me the Details
  Under default settings:
  -Base multiplier to ship recovery chance for Frigates/Destroyers/Cruisers/Capitals: 1.0/0.6/0.3/0.1.
  -Every level, multiplier increases by 0.25/0.25/0.2/0.2, up to a maximum multiplier of 1.0.
  -Vanilla recovery chances are reached at level 0/16/35/45.
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- Odyssey Mode: Increased supply and fuel costs as you venture further away from the core. It no longer seems that the entire map is open to you after your first Dram purchase.
  - Note: as these values are dynamically updated, your Tri-tachyon datapad will overestimate your travel capabilities when heading away from the core, and underestimate it when heading towards the core.
  - Caps out at a distance to ensure compatibility with mods that increase the size of the sector.
  Give Me The Details
  Under default settings:
  Within 20000 units of the core (basically a bit further than Tyle), the game works as in vanilla. Once you venture further past that point, the supply upkeep and fuel upkeep of your ships will increase somewhat geometrically the further away from the core you travel. To prevent the costs from being too high for larger ships, the effect is mitigated depending on the ship class:
  -Destroyers take only 90% of the increased upkeep.
  -Cruisers take only 80% of the increased upkeep.
  -Capital ships take only 60% of the increased upkeep.
  The increased upkeep maxes out at a distance of 100000, so mods that increase the sector size should still work under default settings.
  
  I wanted there to be more costs to exploring. The game currently doesn't become more dangerous the further you move from the core, (but I think it should) so I wanted to add something to simulate that feeling.
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- Iliad Mode: Companion to Odyssey Mode. Supply/fuel use increases the more time you spend without having docked at a friendly market. The penalty is comparatively lax, and you have a (default 15 days) buffer before the debuff kicks in, but it will eventually add up. Thank you to Dal for the idea.
  Give Me The Details
  Your fleet will have a timer or "buffer" of supplies (default 15 days). Upon the expiry of this buffer, your fleet's supply/fuel upkeep will begin to increase at a linear pace. The debuff disappears and the buffer is restored any time you visit a market from a faction with whom your reputation is Friendly (10/100) or greater. To prevent the costs from being too high for larger ships, the effect is mitigated depending on the ship class:
  -Destroyers take only 90% of the increased upkeep.
  -Cruisers take only 80% of the increased upkeep.
  -Capital ships take only 60% of the increased upkeep.
  This effect maxes out after being away from a friendly market for 180 days, with up to a 90% increase in costs.
  If both Odyssey Mode and Iliad Mode are enabled, the effects of both are reduced to 60% and Iliad Mode has a longer buffer duration (to 25 days).
  
  I like the idea.
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- Dark Sector: Adjustments to improve the sensor strength of smaller ships, and increase the sensor profile of larger ships. Additionally, the player's fleet has reduced sensor strength and increased sensor profile.
  Give Me The Details
  Under default settings:
  Factions with which the player has a negative reputation will have a linearly scaling bonus to their sensor strength, by default up to +30% at -100/100.
  -Frigates will have 45 increased sensor strength and 0 increased sensor profile (now 75/30, from 30/30).
  -Destroyers will have 30 increased sensor strength and 15 increased sensor profile (now 90/75, from 60/60).
  -Cruisers will have 15 increased sensor strength and 30 increased sensor profile (now 105/120, from 90/90).
  -Capital Ships will have 0 increased sensor strength and 45 increased sensor profile (now 150/195, from 150/150).
  -Phase ships will still have 0 sensor profile.
  
  Mostly I just wanted to give smaller ships sizes a boost to incentivize their use, or conversely disincentivize the use of capital ships, even if by a little. Also I found sneaking around is a little too easy in Vanilla, so I wanted to mitigate that somewhat. (Also also, if you check out the settings.json in the mod, there's an optional preset that significantly increases the consequences of using the black market, since otherwise, I've found there's no reason to not use it).
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Additionally:

Hand-crafted AI-friendly variant loadouts replacing most loadouts found in vanilla. In addition, there is reduced auto-fit variation from these loadouts (this can be toggled off in the settings).
A Comparison
I used the AI Battles mod (found on the Unofficial Discord) to create a mission that would test a 200 DP personally designed benchmark fleet against a random assortment of ships with arbitrary fleet size, both with this mod installed and without. When this mod is in use, the benchmark fleet can reliably defeat fleets of up to around 280 DP. With this mod removed however, the benchmark fleet can reliably defeat fleets of up to around 340 DP. Given that the difficulty of a fleet battle compounds with fleet size, this should give a good idea of the scale of improvement. (One caveat: these are the variants as explicitly designed, rather than the inflated fleets you'll find in campaign which are inevitably weaker - but it should still make for a significant improvement.)

Typical result vs 290 DP fleet with mod enabled. Vanilla variants @ 340 DP - yes that's three Paragons.
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Version Checker and Console Command integration.

Customization

These features as adjustable as possible, so you can enable, disable or otherwise modify these settings as much as you desire in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini. Notepad++ recommended for better formatting.
You can change settings in the above .ini file and apply them without restarting the game by using the console command RCSWReloadSettings.
Feel free to let me know if there's something in these settings that you want to be more adjustable.
The improved variants used by the mod can be disabled by deleting the Second Wave Options/data/world/ folder (will still affect goal variants available when autofitting, in which I think you can safely delete the /variants/ folder after deleting the /world folder.

Compatibility & Uninstallation and Stuff

Shouldn't conflict with other mods, but let me know if it does.
Safe to install on existing saves and always will be, to the best of my abilities
All features can be safely disabled via editing RCSW_SETTINGS.ini.
Secure Markets is set to only apply on new games. To enable it mid-game, use the console command RCSWApplySecureMarkets.
- Note: Secure Markets can not be undone when applied. Imo it affects game balance too much to tinker with past application.

While Second Wave Options cannot be wholly uninstalled, as of 0.6.0 all features can be disabled.

Disabling Instructions

Open RCSW_SETTINGS.ini
Set everything in the FEATURES section to 'false'
Go to mods/Second Wave Options/data/
Delete the 'world' folder
Load your save
Using the console commands mod, type 'RCSWReloadSettings'

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Changelog

Spoiler

0.6.4
-Fixed a crash that occurred when running Nex Random Sector, Industrial Evolution and enabling Secure Markets.
-Disabled some WIP stuff that I was working on and forgot about before porting to 0.95a. whoops!

0.6.3
-Fixed some weird CTDs, probably.

0.6.2?
-Updated version numbers
-Removed Hyperion variant.
-SlowCR set to off by default.
-Adjusted the level-based scaling for some of the options to fit the new level 15 cap. No new features or anything, so if you already tuned things to your taste just keep your old settings.

0.6.1
Fixes
-fixed putting a Persean station in Mairaath when Mayasuran Navy was enabled.

v0.6.0
Additions
-No longer overrides .variant files. Still affects AI fleets, but now missions and the simulator will still contain the original variants. Updated the simulator to include many Second Wave variants. You can now disable the updated variant files by removing data/world/default_ship_roles.json. Side effect: some of the goal variants are going to have identical names.
-Doctrine Evolution: reimplemented infinite fleet size scaling, but it will only have an effect in hyper late game scenarios.
-Many new variants added.
-Updated .version file for migration to GitHub.
-Relocated .java files to places a proper src file.

Fixes
-Doctrine Evolution: fixed issues with point allocation stopping too early.
-Fixed dumb decision to mess around with derelict and remnants .faction files.

Variant Changes

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v0.5 series

v0.5.4
.ini Changes:
-"DEglobalMult": *NEW* Added a global multiplier for Doctrine Evolution, so you don't have to tune individual effects.
-"DEaddRemnantShips": *NEW* option to increase size of remnant fleets to account for their improving numShips doctrine (previously was an always-on setting).
-"DEraiderFactionMult": Default from 1 to 0.8. Makes it a little harder for pirates/LP to get better gear.
-"DEmaxNumShipsFromDoc": Default from 6 to 2. Now matches vanilla constraints, which probably won't solve cap spam issues but at least I can say I tried!

Other
-More new custom variants for variety.
-Rebalanced DEaddNewTechnologies.
-More attempts to massage the auto-fitter (no, game, the PCL is not a fitting replacement for a Locust)

Variant Changes

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v0.5.3
Additions
-New custom variants for autofit to inevitably butcher!
-Salvage Experience (renamed; previously Second Wave) Hullmod now has adjustable settings in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini.

Fixes
-Hopeful fix to some slowdowns in heavily-modded games when reduced salvage hullmod is enabled. Looking for feedback: let me know if you're experiencing consistent lag spikes when this option is enabled. Thanks to wtftucker.

Variant Changes

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v0.5.2
Additions
-Doctrine Evolution: applyNewTechnologies now also allows for variations and additions in commander skills as factions develop. Commander skill shuffle probability now increases with OfficerQuality (0/10/20/30% for OfficerQuality <5/5/6/7). This means, for example, that in the late game Hegemony fleets will rarely come with Electronic Warfare.

Balance
-Doctrine Evolution: if applyNewTechnologies is true, maxOfficerQuality is increased from 5 to 7 (beyond 5 has no effect on fleet inflation - simply used for commander skills). Net nerf.

Fixes
-Hopefully a fix for the hullmod BP dropping

Other/QOL
-Doctrine Evolution: slightly better logic for allocation of points.
-Added more sim opponents

Variant Changes

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v0.5.1
Fixes
-Fixed CTD on new games/new loads when Doctrine Evolution is disabled in settings.

Variant Changes

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v0.5.0
Additions
-New feature: a hull mod that scales your ship recovery chance with your character's level, so it's harder to simply salvage cruisers and capitals from combat. Should help to extend the early game for those interested. Will not affect procgen ships/Vayra's ghost ships and stuff. Default Off. In collaboration with Johan.
-Doctrine Evolution: Rather than hard-coding learned optimal hullmods/weapons/fighters for AI friendly loadouts, factions will learn these things as their doctrine improves. Only applies to non-redacted vanilla factions. Added an option "DEaddNewTechnologies" to disable this.

Balance
-Doctrine Evolution: Altered remnant ship additions: accounts for more ship roles, keeps the same max ship size, smaller fleets have less bonus fleet points, bonuses are generally larger.
-Doctrine Evolution: Reduced default max value for NumShips doctrine from 41 to 25 (10x mult to 6x mult). Basically has no effect unless you're in year 240, but whateva.
-Doctrine Evolution: Removed penalties for factions with hidden markets. Hidden markets now have no effect on market points. Should help the Luddic Path a bit.
-Doctrine Evolution: Added level-based scaling for changes to doctrine. By default from -24% at level 1 to +25% at level 50. Editable in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini. Accounts for SkilledUp/increasing the max level.
-Doctrine Evolution: Added player colonization scaling for market scores. By default increases 2.5% per player market (for reference, each cycle increases it by 5%, so this is fairly minor unless you have many colonies). Editable with "DEmarketIncrPerColony" in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini.

Fixes
-Another possible static variable memory leak thing fixed.

Dev
-src is now just found in /data/

Variant Changes

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v0.4 Series

v0.4.2
Balance
-Doctrine Evolution: Adjusted order that the three doctrine values increase (from NumShips->ShipQual->OfficerQual to OfficerQual->ShipQual->NumShips).
-Doctrine Evolution: ShipQuality will not increase beyond the vanilla maximum (5) until OfficerQual and NumShips are at least 5 as well. Buff for Tritachyon and other high ship quality, low other-things factions.
-Doctrine Evolution: Remnant time bonuses (2.5x default by default) now apply to any factions that do not control a market - should help for elite groups like Lion's Guard, Blade Breakers, etc.
-Doctrine Evolution: Default time bonus from 0.75 to 0.4 (elite bonus from 1.5 to 1) per cycle. Nerf for all factions.
-Doctrine Evolution: Factions with hidden markets such as Pirates and Luddic Path now only receive 80% of doctrine evolution bonuses and maluses by default. Adjustable via "DEraiderFactionMult". Net nerf.
--Raised number of hidden markets required to be designated as such a faction from 2 to 3.
-Doctrine Evolution: "DEmarketIncrPerCycle" decreased from 0.10 to 0.05 (i.e. market bonuses will increase more slowly). Nerf for all market-holding factions.
-Doctrine Evolution: Negative market scores have at most a 1x multiplier (previously could be higher if they were still the "best" market available. Net buff for small, tall factions (e.g. Sindria, Tritach), or nearly wiped out factions.
-Doctrine Evolution: Default multiplier for market scores of hidden markets increased from 0.6 to 0.8. Slight buff to balance out the overall nerf to factions with hidden markets.
-Doctrine Evolution: Rebalanced multipliers for markets based on market score (reduced from 3/2/1.5/1/0.5 to 2/1.67/1.33/1/0.5. Nerf for all factions, but decreases the variation between the factions a bit (so bigger penalty for Hegemony than Tritach).
-Doctrine Evolution: Added multipliers providing slight bonuses to markets with military bases, high commands, heavy industries and orbital works. (1.05/1.1/1.1/1.2 respectively by default). This applies to negative scoring markets too, so destabilizing eg. Kazeron will have a bigger effect than a similar sized market that doesn't have orbital works/military bases.
-Secure Markets: Default cycle at which factions may start using Planetary Shields from C.216 to C.222. Previous conditions still apply.

Fixes
-Fixed autofit randomize probability reduction not applying.
-Removed manual edits to Derelict doctrine, aside from aggression.

Other/QOL
-Doctrine Evolution: Added options to customize the maximum ship quality / ship quantity doctrine values that factions can grow to.
-Secure Markets: Added an option to only build planetary shields if the player knows the industry (i.e. has completed The Red Planet). Default True.

Dev
-Added GetFactionDoctrine console command for debug info.
-Console command RCSWgetMarketScores edited for better debug info.
-Cleaned up market score/points calculation.

Variant Changes

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v0.4.1
-Fixed strange station generation when Mayasuran Navy is enabled. Sorry Chase.
-Secure Markets no longer affects mod factions by default.

Variant Changes

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v0.4.0
Additions
-Secure Markets: Starting annually in <default C.216>, factions will add a planetary shield to their best market as determined by Doctrine Evolution's market scores. Adjustable by settings.
-Odyssey Mode: Added an adjustable maximum distance option. I.E. support for Adjusted/Grand Sector.
-Iliad Mode: Added an adjustable maximum time option. Default is 180 days (excluding the buffer) for a maximum +90% increase in supply/fuel costs.
-Dark Sector: Added reputation-based sensor strength bonuses for enemy local fleets (up to +30%). Adjustable by settings.

Balance
-Odyssey Mode is now disabled by default. I personally like the feature, but truthfully it doesn't do much to address the inverse difficulty curve of Starsector, so making it optional seems right imo. As always, you can enable it in the options.
-Slow CR: Increased the default CR%/day multipliers by 50%. Hopefully still not high enough that you aren't waiting to restore CR as in vanilla, but not so oppressively low.
-Doctrine Evolution: Default time bonus reduced to 0.75 and 1.5, from 0.8 and 1.6, for non-remnants and remnants, respectively.
-Removed ship size changes and doctrine bonuses in remnant.faction. You should see fewer capital ships, at least in the early game.
-Iliad Mode: Default buffer time reduced from 30 days to 15.
-Dark Sector: Default player fleet sensor strength/profile multipliers set to 1 (from 0.8, 1.2, respectively)

Fixes:
-Fixed possible issue with uninstalling when Dark Sector is active.

Other/QOL
-Added a bunch more variants to the simulator.
-When both Odyssey Mode and Iliad Mode are enabled, their effects are reduced to 60% and Iliad Mode's buffer timer is multiplicatively increased by the inverse (5/3). Adjustable by settings.

Variant Changes

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v0.3 Series

v0.3.3
Balance
-Secure Markets: Now enabled by default, still only affects new games. Markets are simply too volatile against buffed fleets without the added defenses, leading to a lot of destabilization. If interested, apply it mid game with the console command RCSWApplySecureMarkets.
-Secure Markets: By default, stations are built for size 5/6/7 markets if they did not already have one. (Previously was default off)
-Doctrine Evolution: Time bonus for all factions reduced to 0.8 per cycle. Nerf for all factions.
-Doctrine Evolution: Nerfed Remnants again (TimeBonusMult to 2, from 2.5). Nex raids of multiple fleets with multiple Novas in 217 is probably a bit much.
-Doctrine Evolution: Hidden markets only apply 60% of their market effect on doctrine. Probable buff for LP/Pirates, nerf for Kadur.
-Doctrine Evolution: Increased MarketScoreMult for factions with 4-10 markets. Net buff.

Fixes
-Secure Markets: Adding stations should no longer have problems with mods that have their own station (will still only add default stations).
-Doctrine Evolution: Increased how often the game checks for remnant fleet updates.

Other/QOL
-Details of each option added to the mod page.
-Updated RCSWGetMarketScores and RCSWForceDoctrineUpdate debug to follow new formulae and give more info.
-Factions that have 2+ hidden markets are now RAIDER_FACTIONS for the purposes of calculating market scores and adding stations/bases. Under default settings this has no effect.

Variant Changes

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v0.3.2
Additions
-Added more ships to the simulator. They're kind of in a weird spot depending on your mod list, though.

Balance
-Doctrine Evolution: Market scores now use the square of the market size normalized for a size 5 market (e.g. 0.6x as much for size 3, 1x for size 5, 2x for size 10). Net buff.
-Doctrine Evolution: Officer Quality now only increases if it is lower than Ship Quality and Ship Quantity, further delaying officer spam in the early game.
-Doctrine Evolution: Buffed Remnant time bonuses to match market buffs. Remnants can no longer get negative points due to time.

Fixes
-Doctrine Evolution: Fixed a freeze that could occur when a faction has negative doctrine points. (Thank you to Venolak for help with identifying this issue.)

Variant Changes

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v0.3.1b
-Literally just updating the source, because I am dumb. Substantial updates probably won't happen until the end of the tournament.

v0.3.1
Additions
-Doctrine Evolution: Added options to choose start year for time bonuses, as well as the option to make time bonuses negative (i.e. if the start year is later than the current year, then the time bonus will detract from faction doctrines). Default is still 206.
-Secure Markets: Added option to give markets of a given size Military Bases / High Commands if they have a free industry slot and do not already have one. Default Off since this messes with the economy a bit.
-Secure Markets: Added options to give markets of a certain size a random Orbital Station/Battle Station/Star Fortress. Default Off since this may mess with mod factions that have their own station.

Balance
-Dark Sector: Now disabled by default - it's always felt like a weird option that I personally liked but might not jive for others. Enable it in the options if you want.
-Doctrine Evolution: Now adds and rounds the three bonuses before allocating points, rather than doing each one individually. Overall slight buff.
-Doctrine Evolution: ShipQuality and OfficerQuality now both require 2 points per increase to slow down the time it takes for everyone to have high quality well-crewed fleets. Overall nerf.
-Doctrine Evolution: Less bonus due to time, and more bonus due to markets. This ends up buffing Heg/Persean the most, but all factions (except perhaps pirates/LP) are improved. Market bonuses now scale over time (maluses do not) so that time bonuses aren't overwhelming in comparison. Overall approximately the same.

Fixes
-Doctrine Evolution: Fixed player doctrines possibly being switched every time faction doctrine updated.
-Doctrine Evolution: In remnant systems, new ships now remove their exact value in fleet points rather than using an approximation. Expect fewer ships to come with Novas, basically.
-More file cleanup - file name changes, reordering the options menu yet again. Now Enabled By Default > Importance of Editing

v0.3.0
-New Feature: Iliad Mode. Companion to Odyssey Mode. Supply/fuel use increases the more time you spend away from a system containing a friendly market. The penalty is comparatively lax, and you have a (default 30 day) buffer before the debuff kicks in, but it will eventually add up. Thank you to Dal for the idea. Default Off. Enable it in the settings if you're interested.
-Edits to show Vanilla values for relevant options in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini
-Cleanup of RCSW_SETTINGS.ini, now shows all features first for easy enabling and disabling. Edited order to be roughly in terms of importance of customization.
-Console command RCSWReloadSettings now forces a doctrine update. Duh.
-Added console command FindRemnantSystems [danger level]. Was for debugging purposes, but if you don't wanna search for them, it's all right here.
-Split features involving time (i.e. Doctrine Evolution and Iliad Mode) to a new EveryFrameScript class with runWhilePaused set to be false. Whoops!
-Compiled everything into a .jar, finally.
-Reduced possible memory leaks (thanks Wisp and LazyWizard).
-Severely reduces the rate of notifications to update max ships due to Doctrine Evolution. Now under default settings it should appear more like every two cycles instead of every month-or-faster-depending-on-how-much-you-pause. As before, you can still disable it in the options if it's still too much.
-Added hacky means of making stronger fleets in remnant systems according to Doctrine Evolution. Currently does not affect similar mod factions, nor derelicts.

-Added some minor optional (default off) changes to ship_data.csv and weapon_data.csv (you have to manually rename them, otherwise they won't affect your game).
ship_data.csv:
-Added no_autofit tags to Radiant and Scintilla. Remnant fleets should be more dangerous to face now.
weapon_data.csv:
-Removed Standard Bomb Bay and Paladin PD Systems from stores/AI autofit loadouts, because imo at the moment they're all unconditionally awful. (Tier X->4)
-Slightly reduced Heavy Burst Laser autofit chances, for similar reasons (Tier 2->3)
-Slightly reduced Swarmer SRM Launcher autofit chances, for similar reasons. (Tier 1->2)

Variant Changes

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v0.2 Series

v0.2.0
-Reminder: if you have a previous version installed, do not overwrite the mod folder. Instead delete it (keeping whatever config files you deem important) and re-extract it. A number of files were removed this update and the balance of your game will be affected if you don't update properly.
-New Feature: Doctrine Evolution. Factions will now develop their doctrine as time passes and their markets and empires grow. Be careful of dawdling too much lest you find yourself outnumbered and outgunned beyond your control. (Though as always, you can disable or adjust everything as you see fit).
-Fixed ship sensor strength/profile buff/malus not affecting other fleets. Whoops!
-Added DSshipOnlyAffectsPlayer to RCSW_SETTINGS.ini in case you want the original behaviour.
-General cleanup of console commands, code and files.
-Added an argument for console command RCSWApplySecureMarkets for selecting what type of markets get Patrol HQs (same config as SMaddPatrolHQ)
-Added two new console commands, RCSWForceDoctrineUpdate and RCSWGetMarketScores. Currently doctrines update once every 30 days, or upon game load, but you can force it with the former command. The latter is more of a debugging tool, but it may be nice if you're interested in the mechanics.
-Added a large number of config options to RCSW_SETTINGS.ini for Doctrine Evolution.

Variant Changes

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v0.1 Series

v0.1.0b
-RCSWApplySecureMarkets no longer requires the setting in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini to be true. Refactored the names to emphasize that the setting affects new games only.

Variant Changes

Guardian | Standard | Hurricane MIRVs -> ECCMed Locusts - less vulnerable to Electronic Warfare and massed frigates/destroyers. Switched a dual flak at the back/side to single flak - it was a bit overkill.
Conquest | Elite | Squeezed a little more OP by switching to Pilums - other medium missiles feel substandard for once. Added ATG.
Conquest | Standard | Removed because it's just not very good. default_ship_roles.json will now only use the Elite Conquest variant at the moment.
Apogee | Balanced | Switched to a Plasma/Locust build over Autopulse/Sabot - thought I fixed this earlier, whoops. Might switch to HIL depending on how fragile they feel.
Brawler | Assault | Annihilators -> Atropos. Now they won't die 1v1 against hounds.
Cerberus | Standard | Railgun -> Light Needler, LMGs -> Vulcans, added ITU. Burst is more valuable to this ship, and the range is the main thing keeping it competitive with other frigates. Doesn't get close enough to use LMGs, so Vulcans for better PD.
Dram | Light | Aux Thrusters -> Unstable Injector. Originally intended.
Falcon P | Strike | Back to Vayra (P) with Thunders over Wasps.
Gemini | Standard | Xyphos -> Wasp, added EDC. Considering the use of Thunders, since Low Tech doesn't have access to Wasps and I want to preserve the teensiest bit of lore friendliness.
Mule | Standard | Now a missile boat - don't know what I was thinking when I made that original variant.
Mule P | Smuggler | Now an SO ship - I don't think it's as good as a missile Mule, but a) the original variant was madness and b) maybe aggressive pirates can make use of it.

[close]

-Did not update .version file for this - changes are far too minor.

v0.1.0
-Modding forum release.

[close]

Current Issues:

Spoiler

-Salvage Experience Hullmod does not immediately apply to your starting ships - does not get added until they're refitted.
-Messages will not show up when loading directly from the main menu screen. Related to splitting these messages into a second EveryFrameScript class that does not run while paused. Honestly, I have no idea what's happening here.

[close]

Comments, critique and criticism appreciated! You can also reach me at the Unofficial Starsector Discord @rubi#0864.

Special Thanks to:
-techpriest for... uh... um...

Sundog · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2019, 02:32:17 AM »

My next run just got a lot more painful!

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2019, 02:03:02 PM »

Second Wave Options v0.1.0b

Changelog:
-RCSWApplySecureMarkets no longer requires the setting in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini to be true. Refactored the names to emphasize that the setting affects new games only.

Variant Changes

Brawler | Assault | Annihilators -> Atropos. Now they won't die 1v1 against hounds.
Cerberus | Standard | Railgun -> Light Needler, LMGs -> Vulcans, added ITU. Burst is more valuable to this ship, and the range is the main thing keeping it competitive with other frigates. Doesn't get close enough to use LMGs, so Vulcans for better PD.
Dram | Light | Aux Thrusters -> Unstable Injector. Originally intended.
Gemini | Standard | Xyphos -> Wasp, added EDC. Considering the use of Thunders, since Low Tech doesn't have access to Wasps and I want to preserve the teensiest bit of lore friendliness.
Falcon P | Strike | Back to Vayra (P) with Thunders over Wasps.
Mule | Standard | Now a missile boat - don't know what I was thinking when I made that original variant.
Mule P | Smuggler | Now an SO ship - I don't think it's as good as a missile Mule, but a) the original variant was madness and b) maybe aggressive pirates can make use of it.
Conquest | Elite | Squeezed a little more OP by switching to Pilums - other medium missiles feel substandard for once. Added ATG.
Conquest | Standard | Removed because it's just not very good. default_ship_roles.json will now only use the Elite Conquest variant at the moment.
Apogee | Balanced | Switched to a Plasma/Locust build over Autopulse/Sabot - thought I fixed this earlier, whoops. Might switch to HIL depending on how fragile they feel.
Guardian | Standard | Hurricane MIRVs -> ECCMed Locusts - less vulnerable to Electronic Warfare and massed frigates/destroyers. Switched a dual flak at the back/side to single flak - it was a bit overkill.

[close]

-Did not update .version file for this - changes are far too minor.

Figures that the moment I decide to release something, I notice the day after some of the dumb stuff I ended up doing.

Quote from: Sundog on October 28, 2019, 02:32:17 AM

My next run just got a lot more painful!

I hope you enjoy! Ruthless Sector was a major improvement to my play experience, so I hope I can provide a similar, if lesser, experience back.

NaitNait · « **Reply #3 on:** November 01, 2019, 06:37:25 AM »

I hope to see some really interesting second wave options later on that can really change the way the game flows! The first things that come to mind are the Mutators from Prison Architect and the Second Wave options from XCOM.

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #4 on:** November 01, 2019, 01:41:25 PM »

Second Wave Options v0.2.0
This update is save compatible.

Changelog
-Reminder: if you have a previous version installed, do not overwrite the mod folder. Instead delete it (keeping whatever config files you deem important) and re-extract it. A number of files were removed this update and the balance of your game will be affected if you don't update properly.
-*New Feature*: Doctrine Evolution. Factions will now develop their fleet doctrine as time passes and as their markets grow and stabilize. Be careful of dawdling too much lest you find yourself outnumbered and outgunned beyond your control. (Though as always, you can disable or adjust everything as you see fit).

Spoiler

Featuring alerts! Greetings from Cycle 219 (ft. Tahlan Shipworks, SWP, Seeker).

[close]

-Fixed ship sensor strength/profile buff/malus not affecting other fleets. Whoops!
-Added DSshipOnlyAffectsPlayer to RCSW_SETTINGS.ini in case you want the original behaviour.
-General cleanup of console commands, code and files.
-Added an argument for console command RCSWApplySecureMarkets for selecting what type of markets get Patrol HQs (same config as SMaddPatrolHQ)
-Added two new console commands, RCSWForceDoctrineUpdate and RCSWGetMarketScores. Currently doctrines update once every 30 days, or upon game load, but you can force it with the former command. The latter is more of a debugging tool, but it may be nice if you're interested in the mechanics.
-Added a large number of config options to RCSW_SETTINGS.ini for Doctrine Evolution.

Variant Changes

[close]

Quote from: NaitNait on November 01, 2019, 06:37:25 AM

I hope to see some really interesting second wave options later on that can really change the way the game flows! The first things that come to mind are the Mutators from Prison Architect and the Second Wave options from XCOM.

I hope so too! I haven't played Prison Architect, but I've heard good things about it, and XCOM's Second Wave options was the inspiration for both the name and concept of this mod! If you have any cool ideas, feel free to shoot them by me (in fact, looking at the ones available in XCOM, I can think of a couple that might port well to Starsector...).

123nick · « **Reply #5 on:** November 01, 2019, 07:24:11 PM »

Can you add an option that forces you too be hostile too the remnants regardless of tri tachyon commision? this is mainly for use with faction mods that tend too have sort of weird relations pre set. just being able too not have too engage a late game threat/ challenge just by having good relations with tri tach is sorta weird. this could also apply too the blade breakers from DME which function similarly.

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #6 on:** November 01, 2019, 08:10:41 PM »

Quote from: 123nick on November 01, 2019, 07:24:11 PM

Can you add an option that forces you too be hostile too the remnants regardless of tri tachyon commision? this is mainly for use with faction mods that tend too have sort of weird relations pre set. just being able too not have too engage a late game threat/ challenge just by having good relations with tri tach is sorta weird. this could also apply too the blade breakers from DME which function similarly.

Honestly, I'd love to be able to do that since I feel similarly, but it's outside my expertise. For the most part, the options included in this mod have been relatively simple and tackling something like that would require skills I don't have at the moment. Additionally, for example, remnants being neutral to Tri-Tach commissioned fleets is a Nexerelin feature and even if I could, it would be awkward, not to mention very poor form, to try to manipulate that back to vanilla settings. You're better off asking Histidine (or Soren for your latter example) to perhaps add a setting or toggle for this.

Histidine · « **Reply #7 on:** November 01, 2019, 09:29:43 PM »

TT is neutral to Remnants in vanilla and it affects the player in Nexerelin simply because the player's relations are synced with the commissioning faction.

You can change it (untested) by making Remnants a non-relationship-syncing faction (add "noSyncRelations":true, to Remnant config in data/config/exerelinFactionConfig).

Starareo · « **Reply #8 on:** November 06, 2019, 10:40:17 AM »

Quick question on Doctrine Evolution. Basically, it lets the AI fleets scale in size/power as time goes on?

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #9 on:** November 06, 2019, 11:39:04 AM »

Quote from: Starareo on November 06, 2019, 10:40:17 AM

Quick question on Doctrine Evolution. Basically, it lets the AI fleets scale in size/power as time goes on?

Yup! Faction doctrine is split into 3 qualities:

Officer Quality (and quantity)
Ship Quality (increasing by 0.125% per point by default)
Ship Quantity (increasing by 25% per point by default)

Officer Quality is capped at 5 in FleetFactory, Ship Quality effectively has no reason for existence once you get ship quality above 120%, and Ship Quantity is effectively uncapped. So every time a faction obtain a bonus point, either through flat bonuses, bonuses over time, or due to the size and stability of their markets, these qualities will increase in this order: Ship Quantity > Ship Quality > Officer Quality.

Under default settings, the AI will receive no flat bonuses, gain 1.5 points per year (rounded down, so year 1 it's +1 point, year 2 +3, year 3 +4, and so on), and a rather convoluted formula based on their markets (I can elaborate further if you're curious) that generally amounts to +2-6 points (I might need to adjust it so this has a stronger effect late game). It also lets you hamper factions by raiding and conquering their markets.

For example, later in the game you'll be able to start seeing capital level ships in Hegemony Fast Pickets. Some fleets aren't bound by the 30 max ships count, so you could also see stuff like 60-ship strong Mining Fleets.

One caveat is that it currently doesn't improve Remnant or Derelict fleets (and probably not Bladebreakers and other similar mod factions), which I'm trying to find a solution for but recently hit a wall. Remnant raids from Nexerelin will of course still be buffed as shown in the screenshots (though I'm not currently sure why they spawn with Dmods...)

Harmful Mechanic · « **Reply #10 on:** November 06, 2019, 04:19:55 PM »

Quote from: RustyCabbage on November 06, 2019, 11:39:04 AM

One caveat is that it currently doesn't improve Remnant or Derelict fleets (and probably not Bladebreakers and other similar mod factions), which I'm trying to find a solution for but recently hit a wall. Remnant raids from Nexerelin will of course still be buffed as shown in the screenshots (though I'm not currently sure why they spawn with Dmods...)

It may be because Remnant fleets are spawned by RemnantSeededFleetManager rather than through markets (Blade Breakers use the same system, and in fact the same script, with minor changes). You might want to take a look at that script and see what can be done with it.

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #11 on:** November 06, 2019, 06:32:53 PM »

Quote from: Soren on November 06, 2019, 04:19:55 PM

Quote from: RustyCabbage on November 06, 2019, 11:39:04 AM
One caveat is that it currently doesn't improve Remnant or Derelict fleets (and probably not Bladebreakers and other similar mod factions), which I'm trying to find a solution for but recently hit a wall. Remnant raids from Nexerelin will of course still be buffed as shown in the screenshots (though I'm not currently sure why they spawn with Dmods...)

It may be because Remnant fleets are spawned by RemnantSeededFleetManager rather than through markets (Blade Breakers use the same system, and in fact the same script, with minor changes). You might want to take a look at that script and see what can be done with it.

Yup; RemnantThemeGenerator uses set fleet points to create the fleets. I've been trying to use FleetFactoryV3 methods to work around this (i.e. adding ships/FP), but my first few attempts failed and now I'm caught up in tournament things and haven't had a chance to revisit things. Thanks for the heads up, though.

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #12 on:** November 10, 2019, 06:01:36 AM »

Second Wave Options v0.3.0
This update is (almost definitely but not 100% guaranteed-I didn't have a previous save handy to test) save compatible.

Changelog
-Reminder: if you have a previous version installed, do not overwrite the mod folder. Instead delete it (keeping whatever config files you deem important) and re-extract it.
-*New Feature*: Iliad Mode. Companion to Odyssey Mode. Supply/fuel use increases the more time you spend away from a system containing a friendly market. The penalty is comparatively lax, and you have a (default 30 day) buffer before the debuff kicks in, but it will eventually add up. Thank you to Dal for the idea. Default Off. Enable it in the settings if you're interested.
-Edits to show Vanilla values for relevant options in RCSW_SETTINGS.ini
-Cleanup of RCSW_SETTINGS.ini, now shows all features first for easy enabling and disabling. Edited order to be roughly in terms of importance of customization.
-Console command RCSWReloadSettings now forces a doctrine update. Duh.
-Added console command FindRemnantSystems [danger level]. Was for debugging purposes, but if you don't wanna search for them, it's all right here.
-Split features involving time (i.e. Doctrine Evolution and Iliad Mode) to a new EveryFrameScript class with runWhilePaused set to be false. Whoops!
-Compiled everything into a .jar, finally.
-Reduced possible memory leaks (thanks Wisp and LazyWizard).
-Severely reduces the rate of notifications to update max ships due to Doctrine Evolution. Now under default settings it should appear more like every two cycles instead of every month-or-faster-depending-on-how-much-you-pause. As before, you can still disable it in the options if it's still too much.
-Added hacky means of making stronger fleets in remnant systems according to Doctrine Evolution. Currently does not affect similar mod factions, nor derelicts.

-Added some minor optional (default off) changes to ship_data.csv and weapon_data.csv (you have to manually rename them, otherwise they won't affect your game).
ship_data.csv:
-Added no_autofit tags to Radiant and Scintilla. Remnant fleets should be more dangerous to face now.
weapon_data.csv:
-Removed Standard Bomb Bay and Paladin PD Systems from stores/AI autofit loadouts, because imo at the moment they're all unconditionally awful. (Tier X->4)
-Slightly reduced Heavy Burst Laser autofit chances, for similar reasons (Tier 2->3)
-Slightly reduced Swarmer SRM Launcher autofit chances, for similar reasons. (Tier 1->2)

Variant Changes

[close]

Current Issues:

Spoiler

-Messages will not show up when loading directly from the main menu screen. Related to splitting these messages into a second EveryFrameScript class that does not run while paused. Honestly, I have no idea what's happening here.

[close]

I've also been thinking about making every option available in this mod off by default, so you'd only opt in to features that interest you. On the other hand, I don't know how many people actually poke around in the settings file to do this, so users who don't touch it will end up downloading a mod that doesn't actually do anything. Anybody have thoughts on this?

RustyCabbage · « **Reply #13 on:** November 13, 2019, 12:45:10 PM »

Second Wave Options v0.3.1
This update is save compatible. Remember to delete the old mod folder.

Changelog
Additions
-Doctrine Evolution: Added options to choose start year for time bonuses, as well as the option to make time bonuses negative (i.e. if the start year is later than the current year, then the time bonus will detract from faction doctrines). Default is still 206.
-Secure Markets: Added option to give markets of a given size Military Bases / High Commands if they have a free industry slot and do not already have one. Default Off since this messes with the economy a bit.
-Secure Markets: Added options to give markets of a certain size a random Orbital Station/Battle Station/Star Fortress. Default Off since this may mess with mod factions that have their own station.

Balance
-Dark Sector: Now disabled by default - it's always felt like a weird option that I personally liked but might not jive for others. Enable it in the options if you want.
-Doctrine Evolution: Now adds and rounds the three bonuses before allocating points, rather than doing each one individually. Overall slight buff.
-Doctrine Evolution: ShipQuality and OfficerQuality now both require 2 points per increase to slow down the time it takes for everyone to have high quality well-crewed fleets. Overall nerf.
-Doctrine Evolution: Less bonus due to time, and more bonus due to markets. This ends up buffing Heg/Persean the most, but all factions (except perhaps pirates/LP) are improved. Market bonuses now scale over time (maluses do not) so that time bonuses aren't overwhelming in comparison. Overall approximately the same.

Fixes
-Doctrine Evolution: Fixed player doctrines possibly being switched every time faction doctrine updated.
-Doctrine Evolution: In remnant systems, new ships now remove their exact value in fleet points rather than using an approximation. Expect fewer ships to come with Novas, basically.
-More file cleanup - file name changes, reordering the options menu yet again. Now Enabled By Default > Importance of Editing.

Harmful Mechanic · « **Reply #14 on:** November 13, 2019, 07:39:31 PM »

Quote from: RustyCabbage on November 10, 2019, 06:01:36 AM

I've also been thinking about making every option available in this mod off by default, so you'd only opt in to features that interest you. On the other hand, I don't know how many people actually poke around in the settings file to do this, so users who don't touch it will end up downloading a mod that doesn't actually do anything. Anybody have thoughts on this?

I'm a firm believer that what the player should get if they just drop your mod into their game is what you consider to be the 'optimal' experience. I'd turn off by default anything that's not finished and anything that's extra punishing, but leave on what you'd say is the most accessible mix of features. If nothing else, it'll get you the fewest complaints.

Fractal Softworks Forum

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Author Topic: [0.95a] Second Wave Options (0.6.5) - Options for Adjusting Campaign Difficulty (Read 162405 times)

RustyCabbage

[0.95a] Second Wave Options (0.6.5) - Options for Adjusting Campaign Difficulty

Sundog

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.1.0)

RustyCabbage

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.1.0b)

NaitNait

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.1.0b)

RustyCabbage

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0)

123nick

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0) - Options for Campaign Difficulty

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Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0) - Options for Campaign Difficulty

Histidine

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0) - Options for Campaign Difficulty

Starareo

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0) - Options for Campaign Difficulty

RustyCabbage

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0) - Options for Campaign Difficulty

Harmful Mechanic

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.2.0) - Options for Campaign Difficulty

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RustyCabbage

Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.3.0)

RustyCabbage

Re: [0.9.1a] Second Wave Options (0.3.1) - Options for Adjusting Campaign Difficulty

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Re: [0.9.1a] RC's Second Wave Options (0.3.0)