Patch Changes

[Bearu]

This list covers the changes from my personal patch.
Completed:
The implementation of an icon for the TALENT social effect in social engineering window.
The implementation of Base Green status for probe teams.
The reinstatement of the Faction AI Social Effect Preference from the Player file.
The removal of a bug from the Faction Social effect display with the Talent effect.

In Progress:
I am working on a re-balance of the Social Engineering Effects and Models.
Goals of the project:
1. Ensure the Gaians run Green consistently.
2. Balance the positive and negative social model effects including TALENT. The original sum of values calculated ranged from 44 positive values to 40 negative values. This hinges into the social effects discussion.
3. Balance ECONOMY against other social effects.
4. Remediate the AI's obsession with MORALE in social engineering.
5. Discovered: The developers ran two separate sets of social mandate models for the AI before releasing the final game. A few social effects in the stock game borrow code from the alternate set, but the majority remain unused in the released game. This topic remains another post.
6. Discovered: The AI possesses a 2/3 modifier for all industry bonuses in social engineering. This ties into the Wealth problem.
7. Discovered: The AI for conquer factions could have remained in perpetual war values for social engineering, but the developers left the process unused.
8. Enable the AI's running Wealth at some point in the game.


This remains a list of changes I have made in the game.

[bvanevery]

+1 on getting the Gaians to choose Green.  I had to work around it by making Green in my SE table have no penalties.  Some players rightly don't like that, it does feel odd.  I don't like having to explain myself, over and over again, that some of my SE table "warts" are about what will make the AI behave in the real world.

Similarly for MORALE obsession.  My workaround was to remove it from the early game SE choices.  They don't to have any MORALE until they get to Power.

My rule of thumb is ECONOMY is worth 2x most of the other SE bonuses.

I removed all INDUSTRY bonuses.  They are overpowered.

Pretty sure my modded factions run Wealth if I've set them up to do that.  Not sure I've checked on it lately, but it is the core compulsion of my Pirates.