Advanced Save Game Six Empires Huge Map and Minor Races

[UesugiKenshin]

I'm not a technocrat, but I do believe that advanced research plays a role in improving infrastructure, and eventually with exposure to it from other species, that advanced infrastructure spreads everywhere.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy

Gunpowder due to alchemical experimentation lead to chemistry and so artillery and ranged firearms spread everywhere. There would be no rocketry without that. It is a flaw to think only some minor race's have specialized advanced buildings.

[UesugiKenshin]

The Rotharian soloist paradigm is a perfectly acceptable model for a civilization.

Personally I am an isolationist so I am biased.

One could play BotE and never accept any members and never wage offensive wars only respond to it to protect one's empire. Never is a strong word and you might even not rule out a first strike action as your empire may be superior and needs to erradicate annoying militaristic conquering fools.

The Khaorans were bullying the Nuumbar and so I interceded once out of all the minor races.

http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... -P#Nuumbar

Early when I could do nothing, some empire bullied the Scytorians too, but I was too far away.

http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... cytorianer
I'm fairly certain that they were the ones I ended up liberating eventually after turn #480

[UesugiKenshin]

It's ironic as I hate bullies, and in real life messed with people who were bullies, so then in BotE it affected me, but this is moronic as the Omega are the worst bullies in the game. If you are strongest, you enjoy that power, and that is what BotE is designed to latch on to and make you desire to be a galactic emperor. It really is silly as there are such admirable aspects to the game so many more noble goals could be attained.

To be the strongest is initially fun, but then there is no struggle and that removes risk so vastly reduces joy. Old computer games like Doom (1993) had a "godmode" and you think that cheat mode will be fun until you apply the cheat and it makes things boring.

Human beings are peculiar as getting your heart's desire is seldom pleasing. What a paradox. What you really want is 80% of joy. Strange, no?

[UesugiKenshin]

By turn #400, if 10 more levels of research existed, as powerful as I was, I think I could have completed them and the Omega would transcend this existence and that would have pleased me more. It would have felt like Star Trek minus the conflict.

This is why I want to mod BotE so the AI are realistically adversarial and can back up military threats, but still have nonmilitary ways to win.

The research goal is still there where whichever empire attains all 10 special research first can win a tech victory, but that happens too fast. I think I did that by turn#300.

[UesugiKenshin]

Would anyone be insane enough to want to control every nation on the Earth? Heck no! It would be a terrible headache and a thankless job listening to whining citizens. Orissa may be a wonderful paradise, but micromanagement hell.

I don't subscribe to a conquering model and if that were the case, countless tv shows and films would be focused on that theme. They are not, and in fact Star Wars is the opposite of this and so are the Borg in Star Trek.

So a stories based game, or a mission based game, or transcendance, or doing humanitarian altruistic acts, all probably would appeal to 10-100 times the audience. You still have war (war is inevitable), but it is constructive not destructive.

BotE could have a research goal multiplied by multiple completion of several sub-branches to symbolize such transcendance. Maybe you can only transcend if you don't conquer any minor races as all who respect self-determination and autonomy can transcend. Peace then is a component of transcendance.

Maybe if you only maximize minor race sectors, then only then can you build a special project as it is cumulative with points and so many points equals transcendance. It is a very positive optimistic model of winning as altruism facilitates enlightenment.

BotE could be an archeology and anthropology game where cataloguing and study of species allows special artifacts from the first sentient species to be joined and achieve some goal. Maybe they left them there as a challenge, "We left. Come join us if you want."

[UesugiKenshin]

The Terrans would have big problems with transcendence in some iterations as they are meddlers who want everyone to be one big happy family. Doing so limited the self-determination of all those many species. That is ideological conquering and it is dishonest.

The synergy paradigm is likely a lie that is all sublimate their desires, a nobler greater goal than the sum of its parts is achieved. It is the hackneyed TEAM cliche: Together Everyone Accomplishes More. Guess what? That is fascism!

[UesugiKenshin]

Cheats are often put in games for beta testing to accelerate the process, then left in the code as Easer eggs for fanatical players.

One such cheat is finishing other empire's projects. See major races, likely human players, might intentionally do this, but not take membership as the prime directive is non-interference. It's like maddening Vulcan guidance of the human space warp program, but not giving the answers, but allowing little logical steps of advancement for safety. Maybe you help with agricultural reform and replication?

Puritan might say even that is interference.

[UesugiKenshin]

Complex research might have dangerous outcomes. Say genetic engineering happens without bioethics, then you end up with eugenics and Lebensborn experiments.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensborn

This is how I envision that the Cartare realize that slavery is horrendous and the Omega realize internment camps don't work, so future research switches the concepts into a more enlightened but also pragmatic views as levels. The Khaoran similarly have mining camps. You don't want to have one-dimensional aliens, but evolving ones over time. The Heyoun would realize bribery is a terrible issue as it ruins any chance for loyalty.

Terran young ensign "I'm bothered that the natural independence of various species is not promoted and so rather than make their starships, they make ours. Where is the innovation is that? Maybe the whole concept of a coalition is fundamentally flawed?"

[UesugiKenshin]

100% of aliens are flawed, but you would expect a range along an ideological spectrum and your empire should should not just willy-nilly help everyone in a naive manner. That might empower some to conquer others someday. Great! Meddling made it worse so some other species is subjugated. Now it's complex as you intervene to remedy your error and then make new enemies as their member races think you are bullying all of them.

Maybe you help the Heyoun and they help the Sevar and then use Sevar ships

http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... _Q-Z#Sevar

to subjugate Lukarians.

http://birth-of-the-empires.de/wiki/ind ... Lukarianer

[UesugiKenshin]

I'm dreading it, but my next test is to run the beta multiplayer, not change anything, try to configure everything as all six empires on a maximum map, likely not even contact minor races as I know their sector names, and then see if I can turn that in a "hotseat mode" and individually save it as six single player games.

If that works, then upload this in stages so you could start in turns #300, #400, and #480, but without a single built security building and even avoiding treaties and conflict. So essentially turn#300 would be turn #1 and aiming for maximum growth, wealth, research, logical standing military forces.

First I would just try a single turn for six empires. Ideally I could control all minor races as well.

This would eliminate sabotage until whenever you began to play as elect to start security buildings. That likely means a minimum of 3 months of work.

[UesugiKenshin]

Because a smart human player can out play the AI at the commodity price game, IF human players could complete AI construction in a single turn, maybe through the diplomacy screen, and knew what type of infrastructure was being made, then we would have a crude editor.

I make so much money that by doing this, it costs me very little, and I could raise up the strength of each AI empire and balance a game, save that, and suddenly the AI is on a stronger footing and is a better adversary.

Ideally there would be a hidden cheat menu, and so I could raise treasury amounts, raise infrastructure, place starships and troops, and change treaties and acceptance rates. Set research rates, or intel, or scrap things that the AI has foolishly built. Then I could totally balance everything.

That is how Civ 2 and Civ 3 have built in editors. A truly great feature is set one infrastructure level comprised of everything there and you clone that across specific regions. That way, you rapidly set up all of them. You even can set population levels.

Specific to BotE, if you could set mining supply caches, then the AI has the raw materials.

[UesugiKenshin]

The oldest method is save game editors. A save game is a snapshot of the galaxy at a single turn, so with an editor, every sector likely has all kinds of details and you could change all the values.

The problem remains with proper subclasses of ships as the AI doesn't change these attributes so the AI will always be weak. But if the AI is wealthy, then in successive turns built starships, that a modder designated, then the AI ships would be as good as the human players ships.

You cannot escape the fact that a smart wargamer can make more money unless you add a few difficulty levels where the AI makes a fortune. Without modder intervention, the AI may see another AI empire is weaker, and so attack them. Ideally that should not happen until after turn #400 based on all my thousand+ hours of testing.

[UesugiKenshin]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnmh3dQx8lA
This is what a Civ3 editor looks like. Something like that would mean an endless amount of scenarios could be created for BotE. I love doing that kind of thing and have done so for years and years.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZthy6_Gl8
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dqs2UGEElo
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UfjlDicrorE

You could have very specific games to teach beginners BotE concepts.You could have purely galactic war games that are extremely tough and pick some species with a bad map position in the center and all the others hate you.

The modder sets the intensity (operating tempo) based on how powerful each empire is designed.

[UesugiKenshin]

BotE would really shine then to new players as they could jumpstart all kinds of scenarios through advanced save games as well as just play regularly.

Some scenarios can be finished quickly so there isn't a huge time commitment.

You would essentially play "eras of BotE" so the troops and starships would be logical for that time period. You could have a game where the Khaoran actually had a few ships come from the future and so they are tempted to use them for conquest, so it unbalances everything, but once those advanced starships are destroyed, they can't make any until research catches up.

You could have a scenario where 10 advanced Rotharian heavy cruisers asked for political asylum from your empire, and then they are under your control. You now have a small amount of cloaking power. What do you do with it?

[UesugiKenshin]

I could make a small map and it would create a tactical level engagement between two foes. That might only last an hour and be perfect for a multiplayer game.

For multiplayer to be relevant, some modder has to be able to create games with an editor, or they will be very simplistic engagements.