"Very Difficult Choice" Mod, irc channel: irc.quakenet.org/vdc

Information, How-to's, and discussion about mod'ing Master of Orion II.
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Overlord2
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"Very Difficult Choice" Mod, irc channel: irc.quakenet.org/vdc

Postby Overlord2 » Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:26 am

After long period of testing and playing it in moo community I finally decided to make my mod public. The idea of the VDC mod is based on the Sirons DC mod and in some way it is improvement of it. Yet there are many proprietary features that distict this mod from any other mod, like:
- new' 46 points race picks balance;
- individual tech tree (fusion of DC and original tech tree plus some ideas of mine);
- careful balance of all kind of weapons. Many weapon types that weren't used in other mods now come into play.
- improved leaders stats (special thanks to C'G Expa mod, which game me some interesting ideas).

I want to thank the following people who contributed to this mod either directly or indirectly:
Siron - for creating DC mod which inspired me to create my own mod;
Alex, Darza and Rocco for their great input in developing MoO2 by releasing extremely progressive 1.50 patch, which both enhances the game play with new interface features and fixes most substantial & known bugs, which were present for long and couldn't be fixed.
Andrey Tyukov - for taking part in updates, finding many new offsets, including the revolutionary stealth feature, and fixing some bugs;
TF8 - for taking part in VDC updates, finding offsets on many new things significantly improving VDC balance.
Cabman - for critical analysis;
PK - for creating EVO mod, which also gave me some fresh ideas, and for playing and criticism of my mod;
Cybersaber - for playing and appreciation;
Futurist - for testing and playing;
ALEX|D - for great input into race balance and for playing and appreciation;
Sir_Moz - for appreciation and playing;
ValpraX - for new ideas in VDC and also for appreciation and playing;
Also I want to thank Nirran, who made an excellent tool, which makes it much easier to work with the mod.

The new version of VDC Mod uses the 1.50 patch to run, the X9 version requires 1.50.v18.1 (or higher) version of the patch installed. VDC is now launched as a separate config run by 1.50 patch executable ORION150.EXE - could be renamed to orion2.exe or dosbox line should be updated. Linux users should remember that linux os is case destinctive, so it matters in what case the executable is written.
1.50 Patch could be found at: moo2mod.com
Don't forget to backup your build lists when installing the new version of the patch!

The current version of the mod is 'VDC X9 V66 B3'; download link: http://moo2.nirran.com/FTP/vdc_x9_v66_b3.rar
Phase bomb graphics (replaces original files):

Installation notes:
- make sure you have working version of 1.50.18;
- extract the vdc pack 'as is' to the root folder of the game replacing old files;
- check the enable.cfg of the 1.50 patch to have the following lines:
enable VDC-GM3;
enable MAP5_VDCGM3;

-otherwise use 'Launcher' application, which comes with 1.50 patch.


Future plans now depend on the 1.50 Patch development team. From wished changes I'd mention:
- make possible to save and restore combat data in case of crash;
- improve mapgenration process via custom scripts;



KNOWN ISSUES [BUGS] , which hamper multiplayer games:

1. "Mutation Issue": any battle occuring on the next turn after someone techs mutation no longer desyncs in 1.50 Patch, but picks taken in mutation are not applied on the next turn battle. The fight goes with old picks. On turn 2 picks update normally. If one wants to get picks applied on the next turn battle he will have to manually edit the save to give the player who mutated his new picks, then load the save.

2. Beam Computer Bonus Issue: in 1.50 Patch Battle Scanner bonus is added to beam computer bonus (in ship design screen*) and could lead to erroneous conclusions about total beam attack value. Previously it wasn't added and one could think it doesn't now either. I hereby give a special notice about it;

3. Star Base Classes Issue: 1.50 Patch doesn't treat VDC Star base classes correctly, namely ship class weapons such as Pulsar or Gyro Destabilyzer still treat star base classes as old (-1 size). Starbase specials hp and shield multipliers are updated correctly. - Fixed in 1.50.v15

4. Reddened pd beams stop shooting in auto : Someone might be caught by suprise their pd beams not shooting when left on red status. This happens since 1.50.6 version of the patch. Initial patch note was missing this change.



VDC Legacy Code is now supported by 1.50.v14 patch or higher

1. Insta-stop only for tractors and BHG, no remobilization unlike ICS. In ICS insta-stop happens after any damage of ships engines from any kind of weapons. While in vanilla tractored ships as well as ships captured by Black Hole Generator retain their move points until the end of the combat round;
2. Stealth detection as of 1.40, i.e. ship class has no effect on the range at which ships with stealth device will be detected.
The value of stealth is calculated as follows:
150, non-stealthy race: device_bonus + size_penalty
150, stealthy race: device_bonus + racial_bonus
vdc, non-stealthy race and no stealth devices: size_penalty
vdc, otherwise: device_bonus + racial_bonus

3. Cloaking Field plus separate defense bonus for all 3 cloaks; in 150 there is no cloaking field and no beam defense for phasing cloak in the round it decloaks from phasing.
4. Three squads of fighters instead of two for fighter garrison;
5. Bio-weapons cannot pass any planetary shields;
6. Antaran defensive titan and destroyer gets one extra special; - not spported
7. Starbase class increased by one ship size (SB goes to BB, BS goes to Titan. Star Fortress goes to Doom Star).
Last edited by Overlord2 on Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:57 am, edited 394 times in total.

Qaz
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Postby Qaz » Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:02 am

Great Job.

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Overlord2
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Postby Overlord2 » Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:48 am

Thanks Qaz.
Meanwhile I have a small update. The last change making unification cheaper (i.e. 7 points) proved to be unjustified, allowing two very strong races: uni tol prod and uni aqua +2 prod rich hw. The practice showed that they are too strong even with strong demo in this mod. I have updated the link for latest 12.f version with several race costs changed.

Futurist
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VDC Mod

Postby Futurist » Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:13 am

I have been the "Demo" tester. One of the versions was after Irakly played me and I called it the anti-demo anti-Future version. :roll:

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Overlord2
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Re: VDC Mod

Postby Overlord2 » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:37 am

I have been the "Demo" tester. One of the versions was after Irakly played me and I called it the anti-demo anti-Future version. :roll:
I was searching for balance, you know, and I changed the race picks costs respectively. Your initial demo race was cut a bit (demo aqua +1 BC large arti charismatic lowG -ship def). Now you can take with +1 BC arti hw only :P

Eldariel
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Postby Eldariel » Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:50 pm

Hmm, is there a reason you prefer 20-point system to Siron's 40-point model? It seems like 40-point model both, allows for much more customization and makes finding the exact balance easier.

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Overlord2
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Postby Overlord2 » Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:32 pm

Hmm, is there a reason you prefer 20-point system to Siron's 40-point model? It seems like 40-point model both, allows for much more customization and makes finding the exact balance easier.
Hi Eldariel,
I agree that 40 points model can be more flexible, but practically it is all about decision, which races should be banned and which should be allowed. You can do this by giving each pick approptiate weight. Then you check sum of the picks your race consists of and see if it fits or not. Advantage of 20 picks balance is that you fully enjoy the exra 4 picks given after researching Evolutionary Mutation. In VDC mod you have wide choice of the race improvements. For example you can take telepatic or transdimensional or heavy-G or +50 BA/BD or even remove repulsive and take charismatic (in the latest VDC 13 version). So this is the main advatage of 20 picks balance inherited from original moo.

DakaSha
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Postby DakaSha » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:30 pm

well. i wanted to give this a chance but as i said in another post i just dont like when the techs are all strewn about :(

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Overlord2
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Postby Overlord2 » Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:21 pm

well. i wanted to give this a chance but as i said in another post i just dont like when the techs are all strewn about :(
If you say so, you haven't seen C'G's Expa mod :roll: , try that :wink:

DakaSha
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Postby DakaSha » Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:31 pm

well dont take it personal. and just because another mod is "worse" doesnt mean anything.

right now i am stuck between your mod and normal DC... DC's tech placement seem to make more sense (yes im pretty anal about it... i like moo alot due to atmosphere and when it is ruined it kinda ruins the whole experience for me)

but since im playing in single player right now i like the way you did the default races... the picks make more sense.

i dont know which is more "balanced" though. i havnt played moo2 in years

edit:
which mod (in general) is used the most for MP games?

also... in the first releases of DC people were complaining about it being extremely unbalanced in regard to tech research speed and production. was that fixed in the last release?

like i said i havnt played in years and cannot remember how vanilla played out enough for comparison

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Overlord2
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Postby Overlord2 » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:12 pm

Lately in moo community VDC mod has been popular. However regular moo is still played more often (just a matter of habit I suppose).
As a creator of VDC I think it is more balanced than DC. But in order to get the feeling what is the difference in balance, you need to play a lot of mp games of both mods.
About fast tech in early versions of DC - well, I haven't played early versions, so I cannot tell what was changed in further versions.
Last edited by Overlord2 on Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

c'g~
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Ouch!

Postby c'g~ » Sat Oct 04, 2008 3:50 am

well. i wanted to give this a chance but as i said in another post i just dont like when the techs are all strewn about :(
If you say so, you haven't seen C'G's Expa mod :roll: , try that :wink:
well dont take it personal. and just because another mod is "worse" doesnt mean anything.
Hi guys.
I can’t say that that statement is not true, but - Ouch!
DakaSha, did u try EXPa Pro? I’d really appreciate if you will provide me with your thoughts about “gaps” in EXPa: for example, which technology is “out of place (branch of Tech Tree)” and etc.
And if you will, please write about EXPa Pro in corresponding thread. Thank You in advance.

Sorry for off topic, Irakly. I’m really glad that your VDC is somehow popular in live MoO2 community – a bit of icy conservatism was melted by you. Good Job!

By the way, thanks for advertising EXPa.

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Overlord2
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Postby Overlord2 » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:02 pm

Here is corrected tech description file for 14.a version:
http://rapidshare.com/files/160706527/HELP.LBX

The installation archive already includes this file since 11/5/08

Futurist
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Postby Futurist » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:32 pm

In vdc 14a, the race UniTolFood dominates if played properly. It needs to be banned or the cost of either food or tol needs to be increased.

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Overlord2
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Postby Overlord2 » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:53 pm

In vdc 14a, the race UniTolFood dominates if played properly. It needs to be banned or the cost of either food or tol needs to be increased.
Ok. I was planning to increase food +1 to old value = 3 points.
I'll update it shortly and post here when it's done.


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