Yitzi's unofficial SMAX patch 2.5

[TarMinyatur]

Artillery costs are unusually high when I use Unit Cost Formula #4.

The infantry chassis cost is set to 4. The costs of special abilities are unmodified.
My (4)-1-1 Impact Battery costs 7 rows, instead of 4!
(In comparison, a regular 4-1-1 Impact Squad costs 4, as expected.)

The calculation for artillery appears to be:

cost = (The greater of Weapon or Armor)  *  ( 4 + Special_Abilities + 3) / 4   *  Chassis/4
The number in bold represents the inflated cost of artillery.

Let's do the calculation...

Start with Artillery Special Ability cost = Armor + Speed - 2

(4)-1-1 Battery's Special Ability cost = 1 + 1 - 2 = 0   (Artillery doesn't add to the cost of unarmored speed-1 units.)
cost = 4 * ( 4 + 0 + 3 ) / 4 * 4/4
cost = 4 * 7/4 * 1
cost = 7 rows

--------------------

My (4)-5-1 Photon Battery costs 13, instead of 10.

Special = Armor + Speed - 2
Special = 5 + 1 - 2
Special = 4

cost = 5 * ( 4 + 4 + 3 ) /4 * 4/4
cost = 5 *  11/4  * 1
cost = 55/4
cost = 13.75 = 13 rows

[Yitzi]

Artillery costs are unusually high when I use Unit Cost Formula #4.

The infantry chassis cost is set to 4. The costs of special abilities are unmodified.
My (4)-1-1 Impact Battery costs 7 rows, instead of 4!
(In comparison, a regular 4-1-1 Impact Squad costs 4, as expected.)

The calculation for artillery appears to be:

cost = (The greater of Weapon or Armor)  *  ( 4 + Special_Abilities + 3) / 4   *  Chassis/4
The number in bold represents the inflated cost of artillery.

Let's do the calculation...

Start with Artillery Special Ability cost = Armor + Speed - 2

(4)-1-1 Battery's Special Ability cost = 1 + 1 - 2 = 0   (Artillery doesn't add to the cost of unarmored speed-1 units.)
cost = 4 * ( 4 + 0 + 3 ) / 4 * 4/4
cost = 4 * 7/4 * 1
cost = 7 rows

--------------------

My (4)-5-1 Photon Battery costs 13, instead of 10.

Special = Armor + Speed - 2
Special = 5 + 1 - 2
Special = 4

cost = 5 * ( 4 + 4 + 3 ) /4 * 4/4
cost = 5 *  11/4  * 1
cost = 55/4
cost = 13.75 = 13 rows

Hmm...you could change the cost of artillery from -7 to -3, though that will reduce the cost for artillery speeders...

If that's still a problem, let me know and I can change it so that methods 2 and 4 use chassis speed rather than chassis cost for ability cost calculations, though that wouldn't be included until 2.6.

[TarMinyatur]

If the special ability cost indicates "0" during workshop then there should be no increase. It's confusing otherwise.

As to whether the special ability cost for artillery should be...

Armor + Chassis - 2   // a minimum increase of 75%, since Chassis must be >=4

...instead of...

Armor + Speed - 2   // a minimum increase of 0%

...that's a separate issue (and would require a change in the reported cost).

I prefer the latter calculation so you can deploy effective low-cost anti-Mindworm/Sealurk/IoD forces, pre-Empath Song. Such as (4)-2-1 units for 50 minerals.

[Yitzi]

If the special ability cost indicates "0" during workshop then there should be no increase. It's confusing otherwise.

I believe you have found a bug: When describing the cost for abilities with cost based on chassis, it uses the chassis value (unit speed before certain modifiers), but when it actually calculates it it uses the chassis cost.  I'll put up a poll to determine which one it should actually be, and hopefully fix it in version 2.6.

As to whether the special ability cost for artillery should be...

Armor + Chassis - 2   // a minimum increase of 75%, since Chassis must be >=4

...instead of...

Armor + Speed - 2   // a minimum increase of 0%

...that's a separate issue (and would require a change in the reported cost).

I prefer the latter calculation so you can deploy effective low-cost anti-Mindworm/Sealurk/IoD forces, pre-Empath Song. Such as (4)-2-1 units for 50 minerals.

Actually, you could make artillery cost not depend on speed, and then it'd be just as cheap for infantry and even cheaper for fast units...

[Skyagusta]

Thanks for all the work on this patch, I've combined it with the Smaniac mod and been enjoying it for about a week now. A couple possible bugs I've noticed:

1) When I utilize the "enhanced information" variable, the game crashes at seemingly random points within the first 10-20 turns. No rhyme or reason that I can figure out.

2) Game also seems to crash regularly when I scroll over enemy units on the very bottom row (where it shows each unit of the stack) to look at their abilities and whatnot.

3) The 6th or 7th base I found (always around the b-limit) seems to operate by a different support value than my other bases. For example, if my support value in SE is zero, most of my bases will have the regular 2 units free, but one or two will commonly have only one unit free while all other require mineral support.

Thanks again for the fantastic patch. If I notice any other anomalies I will be sure to post them.

[Yitzi]

Thanks for all the work on this patch, I've combined it with the Smaniac mod and been enjoying it for about a week now. A couple possible bugs I've noticed:

1) When I utilize the "enhanced information" variable, the game crashes at seemingly random points within the first 10-20 turns. No rhyme or reason that I can figure out.

2) Game also seems to crash regularly when I scroll over enemy units on the very bottom row (where it shows each unit of the stack) to look at their abilities and whatnot.

3) The 6th or 7th base I found (always around the b-limit) seems to operate by a different support value than my other bases. For example, if my support value in SE is zero, most of my bases will have the regular 2 units free, but one or two will commonly have only one unit free while all other require mineral support.

Thanks again for the fantastic patch. If I notice any other anomalies I will be sure to post them.

You're welcome; please post a save showing the third one, and if the first two always occur for a particular action (i.e. always when you scroll over a particular unit), please post a save for that too as well as a description of the action, so I can figure out what's happening.

[Skyagusta]

Here's a save for 3 (along with alphax), notice Lindley's Rest has me spending one mineral to support the scout patrol whereas other bases get the first unit free.

As for the others, #1 happens every single game but there is no rhyme or reason as to when it happens, and I spent a considerable amount of time trying to pin one down. Sometimes it is at the beginning of a turn, sometimes the end, sometimes after I move a unit, sometimes when I come into contact with another faction, sometimes when I discover a tech. I will continue experimenting though and report back.

[Yitzi]

Here's a save for 3 (along with alphax), notice Lindley's Rest has me spending one mineral to support the scout patrol whereas other bases get the first unit free.

As for the others, #1 happens every single game but there is no rhyme or reason as to when it happens, and I spent a considerable amount of time trying to pin one down. Sometimes it is at the beginning of a turn, sometimes the end, sometimes after I move a unit, sometimes when I come into contact with another faction, sometimes when I discover a tech. I will continue experimenting though and report back.

Even if you have no idea what is in common, but can reproduce it reliably, that should be enough.

[Skyagusta]

Ok, here it is. The game crashes as soon as the colony pod moves out of the fungus.

Edit: To be clear, if I change the "enhanced information" variable to 0, the game plays out as normal.

[Yitzi]

I am not getting the crash for the latter save; in which direction are you moving the colony pod (though I can't think why that would make a difference)?

I am getting the bug for the former save, so I should be able to fix it.

[Skyagusta]

It doesn't matter what I do with the colony pod for the second save- I get the crash regardless of if I move it or simply end the turn. I suppose it has something to do with the merging of your patch with the Smaniac Mod?

Thanks for looking in to the other bug. These things don't bother me, I'm just doing my part to report possible bugs that I experience.

One more I forgot to mention earlier, and you may have covered it in another place, but after I build satellites the production reverts back to Stockpile Energy. Should I post a save?

[Buster's Uncle]

Correcting the satellite thing was the main point of v.2.5b,  http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=160  I believe.

[Skyagusta]

Right, which I'm 99% positive I have. I'll download again just to be sure.

Edit- Yeah, that fixed it. Thanks.

[Yitzi]

It doesn't matter what I do with the colony pod for the second save- I get the crash regardless of if I move it or simply end the turn. I suppose it has something to do with the merging of your patch with the Smaniac Mod?

Could be.

Thanks for looking in to the other bug. These things don't bother me, I'm just doing my part to report possible bugs that I experience.

Thanks.  And it's a trickier bug than I expected...Lindley's Rest is in fact getting two free supported units, but they're Consciousness units that must have been supported by the base before it was captured; I fixed the bug that causes units to not require support if homed to a base you don't own, and apparently this was hiding behind it.  I'll have to take a poll regarding what should happen in that case.

One more I forgot to mention earlier, and you may have covered it in another place, but after I build satellites the production reverts back to Stockpile Energy. Should I post a save?

If you confirm that you have 2.5b (not just 2.5) and it still happens, then post a save.

[Skyagusta]

Ok, I've run across another example of the support bug, in this case with a base that I founded (ie it wasn't captured). If you play out the turn in the below save, the game will notify you that Tinker's Junction cannot support the AI Formers Unit and it will be disbanded. The thing is, I never build AI Formers (Smaniac's Mod uses them to improve AI performance) and there isn't one listed in the supported units pane. So apparently the base is somehow supporting another faction's AI Formers. Weird.