Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7]

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Asgorath
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Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7]

Post by Asgorath »

Hello everybody,
after researching and building the Satellite Uplink Centre I tried to figure out how much energy my opponents were producing to compare it with my income.
But checking out their power generators didn´t give me an answer because the energy conversation over it was hidden.
On the other hand it was possible to see if their derricks are moving or not which I find inconsistent. To find out how many energy they are producing I only had to count the moving derricks so why not showing the energy conversion over the power generators as long as they are visible?
Because taking away the movement from the AI-derricks would look really stupid if you wanted to hide the AI´s income.
It would be great if you could implement it into 2.3.8 or any other version to come :)

Thank you in advance,
Asgorath
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Iluvalar
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by Iluvalar »

You are supposing that unused derricks are frequent, but they are not. Zoom your minimap, you'll instantly see that this opponent hold 4 or 5 (? it's really small here) derricks. That's enough to estimate his power. With or without the sat uplink.

I think it was like that in a past version. I'm not sure.
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zoid
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by zoid »

Oh, it's very easy to figure out much power your opponent has.

Total map oil-your oil=opponent's oil

That said, not showing power on enemy generators helps visually distiguish between yours and theirs.

~zoid
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Asgorath
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by Asgorath »

Iluvalar wrote:Zoom your minimap, you'll instantly see that this opponent hold 4 or 5 (? it's really small here) derricks. That's enough to estimate his power. With or without the sat
How can I zoom my minimap? I don´t want it to be that small, I just can´t find the key to enlarge it.
Apart from that: How can I see how much derricks my opponent holds without using a SUC?
zoid wrote:Oh, it's very easy to figure out much power your opponent has.

Total map oil-your oil=opponent's oil

That said, not showing power on enemy generators helps visually distiguish between yours and theirs.

~zoid
But if I want to know how much power only one opponent has (before running an attack) your method can´t help...
And I think that teamcolours should help to distinguish between mine and his generators. And it still is possible to assign if it´s your base or not (for example by checking out the placement of buildings)
Per
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by Per »

Asgorath wrote:How can I zoom my minimap?
Move mouse pointer over it, and use mouse scroll wheel.
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by BunkerBlaster »

If you don't have mouse scroll wheel press = to zoom and - to unzoom.
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zoid
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by zoid »

Asgorath wrote:after researching and building the Satellite Uplink Centre I tried to figure out how much energy my opponents were producing to compare it with my income.
But checking out their power generators didn´t give me an answer because the energy conversation over it was hidden.
On the other hand it was possible to see if their derricks are moving or not which I find inconsistent.
Asgorath wrote:But if I want to know how much power only one opponent has (before running an attack) your method can´t help...
Yes, but you can't figure out how much power only one opponent has by using a SatLink either. :wink:
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Asgorath
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by Asgorath »

@Per and BunkerBlaster
Thank you, worked very well :)
zoid wrote:
Asgorath wrote:after researching and building the Satellite Uplink Centre I tried to figure out how much energy my opponents were producing to compare it with my income.
But checking out their power generators didn´t give me an answer because the energy conversation over it was hidden.
On the other hand it was possible to see if their derricks are moving or not which I find inconsistent.
Asgorath wrote:But if I want to know how much power only one opponent has (before running an attack) your method can´t help...
Yes, but you can't figure out how much power only one opponent has by using a SatLink either. :wink:
For that I suggest the energy conversion of the KI to be shown^^
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by cybersphinx »

I have a patch somewhere that enables the power generator effects for all players. Is there some gameplay reason to not show them at all times? Maybe because AIs can cheat, so the effects could make you underestimate their power income?
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NoQ
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of KI [2.3.7

Post by NoQ »

Maybe because AIs can cheat, so the effects could make you underestimate their power income?
The effects are still informative. If you're clever enough to estimate how power incomes affect enemy force counts, then you are certainly aware that AI cheats. (?)
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7

Post by zoid »

cybersphinx wrote:Is there some gameplay reason to not show them at all times? Maybe because AIs can cheat, so the effects could make you underestimate their power income?
It's easier to visually distinguish between your power generators and the enemy's. Besides, you don't know how much power your opponent is getting because you don't know how many power generator upgrades he's researched.
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7

Post by cybersphinx »

zoid wrote:It's easier to visually distinguish between your power generators and the enemy's. Besides, you don't know how much power your opponent is getting because you don't know how many power generator upgrades he's researched.
But the difference is not "yours and the enemies", but "humans and AIs", which doesn't sound very useful to me. And if there really is a problem distinguishing them, changing the models/textures to make team colors more obvious sounds like the better solution to me.
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7

Post by zoid »

cybersphinx wrote:But the difference is not "yours and the enemies", but "humans and AIs", which doesn't sound very useful to me.
I think human opponents' generators don't show how many wells are connected either.
cybersphinx wrote:And if there really is a problem distinguishing them, changing the models/textures to make team colors more obvious sounds like the better solution to me.
That's true.
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7

Post by cybersphinx »

zoid wrote:I think human opponents' generators don't show how many wells are connected either.
The relevant code is http://developer.wz2100.net/browser/src ... .cpp#L4023 which basically says "draw the effects for human players in multiplayer, else for yourself only."
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zoid
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Re: Show energy conversion over power generator of AI [2.3.7

Post by zoid »

That's just strange. :? I guess I never noticed it because I never play MP with AIs. You're right, there's no reason for the game distinguishing between humans and AIs like that.
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