[MOD 1.1] Natural Evolution - All things Alien!

[TheSAguy]

Version 4.4.0 up.

Added Biological Ammo.
Tweaks to Biters and Spawners.
Fixed Loot bug - Thanks Irbork!
Some other balancing tweaks.


What else can we do with the small and normal alien artifacts?

[Elusive]

We are getting fairly quick and reproducible desyncs in multiplayer with Natural Evolution.

[StoneLegion]

The performance of this mod sadly would be insane because of biter distance
game.map_settings.enemy_expansion.max_expansion_distance = 50

[TheSAguy]

We are getting fairly quick and reproducible desyncs in multiplayer with Natural Evolution.

The performance of this mod sadly would be insane because of biter distance
game.map_settings.enemy_expansion.max_expansion_distance = 50

It's only 50 once the evolution factor is 99%+
But I'll tone this back to 20 in the next release.

I don't know what else could cause the desyncs in multiplayer, I don't ply MP, so can't test.
The mod does cause there to be a lot more biters. Not sure if that's the issue.

Let me know if anyone has optimization tips/code.

Thanks.

[Timeslice]

That should be causing lag, not desyncs. If a mod is causing desynchronizations then it's most likely a bug in core factorio.

[Evilness]

I am playing with dytech and i realised that item collectors have too little range. My defenses kill biters before they get into item collector range. Could you increase the range?

[orzelek]

I am playing with dytech and i realised that item collectors have too little range. My defenses kill biters before they get into item collector range. Could you increase the range?

I did it in my copy for artifact collectors. If you want you can edit control.lua file yourself - it's the radius in this section of code near beginning:

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--- Artifact Collector
local loaded
local radius = 50

I'm using 50 and it did not cause any problems. Graphics on the collector will be still 25x25.

[TheSAguy]

I am playing with dytech and i realised that item collectors have too little range. My defenses kill biters before they get into item collector range. Could you increase the range?

I did it in my copy for artifact collectors. If you want you can edit control.lua file yourself - it's the radius in this section of code near beginning:

Code: Select all

--- Artifact Collector
local loaded
local radius = 50

I'm using 50 and it did not cause any problems. Graphics on the collector will be still 25x25.

Orzelek is correct, just adjust the radius, but as he mentioned, the graphic overlay is not dynamic, so that will stay at the 25x25.

[chlue]

Hello,

I think there is something broken with the event handling in this mod. I tried to test the AlienControlStation, but nothing happened. After playing around with adding debug prints I came to the conclusion that the main event function which takes care of the mindcontrol and expansion behavior (the one around line 450 in control.lua) is not called at all.

If I get it correctly one cannot register for the same event multiple times or at least 'game.on_event(defines.events.on_tick, nil)' stops the event at all. So I commented out the other occurrences of game.on_event(defines.events.on_tick, ...) in control.lua and the AlienControlStation started to work.

Note: I am playing with version Natural-Evolution_4.4.0.zip

---

I have additionally have a balancing question. I generally like what you have made out of the AlienTemple mod --> TerraformingStation, but is the way you scale evolution reduction based on the evolution factor intended?:

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game.evolution_factor = game.evolution_factor - ((0.000125 * global.factormultiplier) * (1 - game.evolution_factor))

So the temples get more and more useless the higher the evolution factor is, which basically means build them early and you can stop the evolution factor or forget about them. For me the other direction feels more suitable.

Code: Select all

game.evolution_factor = game.evolution_factor - ((0.000125 * global.factormultiplier) * game.evolution_factor)

In that case you cannot easily stop the evolution factor from rising in the early game, but having some of them allows you to stay in the 50-70% range and avoid bitergeddon even with a big and polluting base.

[TheSAguy]

Hello,

I think there is something broken with the event handling in this mod. I tried to test the AlienControlStation, but nothing happened. After playing around with adding debug prints I came to the conclusion that the main event function which takes care of the mindcontrol and expansion behavior (the one around line 450 in control.lua) is not called at all.

If I get it correctly one cannot register for the same event multiple times or at least 'game.on_event(defines.events.on_tick, nil)' stops the event at all. So I commented out the other occurrences of game.on_event(defines.events.on_tick, ...) in control.lua and the AlienControlStation started to work.

Note: I am playing with version Natural-Evolution_4.4.0.zip

Chlue, Thanks for taking the time to look into this. You are correct. I actually found the bug and it will be fixed in the next release.
It was not caught during my testing, since it only starts once you place an alien artifact collector. So, in testing I usually test one component at a time and they all work The next release will be out once Factorio gets updated to 12.11, since they fixed a bug that's needed for my mod. Hoping that will happen on Wednesday/Thursday.

Hello,

I have additionally have a balancing question. I generally like what you have made out of the AlienTemple mod --> TerraformingStation, but is the way you scale evolution reduction based on the evolution factor intended?:

Code: Select all

game.evolution_factor = game.evolution_factor - ((0.000125 * global.factormultiplier) * (1 - game.evolution_factor))

So the temples get more and more useless the higher the evolution factor is, which basically means build them early and you can stop the evolution factor or forget about them. For me the other direction feels more suitable.

Code: Select all

game.evolution_factor = game.evolution_factor - ((0.000125 * global.factormultiplier) * game.evolution_factor)

In that case you cannot easily stop the evolution factor from rising in the early game, but having some of them allows you to stay in the 50-70% range and avoid bitergeddon even with a big and polluting base.

The thing is, Factorio applies the (1 - game.evolution_factor) to everything that causes the evolution factor to go up.
Vanilla: So at Evo 0, killing a nest will cause 0.002 increase in Evolution and at 50% it will only cause an increase of 0.001 and at 95% it will only cause 0.0001. Same goes for Pollution and time. So, as you can see it slows down a lot the closer you get to 100% evo factor.

If I don't do the same for the Terraforming stations, they will be totally overpowered towards the end of the game.
So, although they do reduce the evolution factor less at higher evolution, they still do the same % of deduction.

This is a extremely powerful building and getting the balance right is difficult.

For now, I'm not going to change this. But an open to feedback and suggestions.

Thanks.

[AlyxDeLunar]

I like this mod a lot! I've been using it for quite a while once I started playing again on version 12x.
And you gave credits to me, I feel all warm and fuzzy, thanks! I'm glad my mod was helpful to you! Thanks for the fun mod!

[TheSAguy]

Version 5.0.0 has been released!!

It is highly recommended that you start a new game! (You might lose some global values if you don’t, so for instance, your count of Terraforming stations will not be correct. You could probably pick them all up, save and then update...)

The mod has been split into modules now. All three modules are intended to be played as one mod, but they will work independently also.
The main reason for splitting the mods was to make future coding easier and optimize some of the existing coding.


Updates:
Biters and Spitters got their attack values updated. Infected units now attack with poison and mutated units with Acid.
Added a building – Thumper. Will attract nearby biters upon scan complete.
Lot's of balancing tweaks!

Bug Fixes:
By combining the artifact collector into the mod, some late game expansion stuff was not working as intended. Now fixed.

Multiplayer:
Getting there. It should work if you disable "Harder Endgame" in the config.
I don't play multiplayer, so let me know, and help with code!

Opening Post Updated.
Just want to give a special thanks to Rseding91 and Adil for their help!!!
Enjoy.

[Lothan]

Hello. Problem here. NE v5.0.0 Factorio 12.10

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Error Util.cpp:46: Error in assignID, entity with name 'Mutated-Projectile' does not exist.

[orzelek]

Hello. Problem here. NE v5.0.0 Factorio 12.10

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Error Util.cpp:46: Error in assignID, entity with name 'Mutated-Projectile' does not exist.

Seems that required version was not changed to 12.11 as intended. New version is only for 0.12.11+ from what I understood.

[TheSAguy]

Hello. Problem here. NE v5.0.0 Factorio 12.10

Code: Select all

Error Util.cpp:46: Error in assignID, entity with name 'Mutated-Projectile' does not exist.

Seems that required version was not changed to 12.11 as intended. New version is only for 0.12.11+ from what I understood.

Version 5 should work with Factorio 12.10. I released it just before 12.11 came out. I will definitely not work with 12.11 at the moment.
Lothan, I can't re-create the crash. Are you using all 3 modules or just the enemy one?


Thanks.

[Lothan]

Hello again. Crash caused by "DyTech-War 1.1.1"
A pair of this mods did not want to work together.

Code: Select all

Loading mod core 0.0.0 (data.lua)
   1.560 Loading mod base 0.12.10 (data.lua)
   1.755 Loading mod CORE-DyTech-Core 1.2.1 (data.lua)
   1.932 Loading mod MAIN-DyTech-War 1.1.1 (data.lua)
   2.199 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Buildings 5.0.0 (data.lua)
   2.436 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Enemies 5.0.0 (data.lua)
   2.650 Loading mod CORE-DyTech-Core 1.2.1 (data-updates.lua)
   2.944 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Expansion 5.0.0 (data-updates.lua)
   3.168 Loading mod MAIN-DyTech-War 1.1.1 (data-updates.lua)
   3.383 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Buildings 5.0.0 (data-updates.lua)
   3.607 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Enemies 5.0.0 (data-updates.lua)
   3.874 Loading mod CORE-DyTech-Core 1.2.1 (data-final-fixes.lua)
   4.086 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Expansion 5.0.0 (data-final-fixes.lua)
   4.302 Loading mod MAIN-DyTech-War 1.1.1 (data-final-fixes.lua)
   4.530 Loading mod Natural_Evolution_Enemies 5.0.0 (data-final-fixes.lua)
   7.286 Error Util.cpp:46: Error in assignID, entity with name 'Mutated-Projectile' does not exist.

[TheSAguy]

Version 5.0.1 is up. Hopefully this will be compatible with Factorio 12.11.
Have not done extensive testing, but everything seems to work.

Thanks to Orzelek for his help with the code!!

I've also left version 5 up, that's compatible with Factorio 12.10. (Unzip the attached in your Mod's folder. I zipped all 3 modules in there.)

Hello again. Crash caused by "DyTech-War 1.1.1"
A pair of this mods did not want to work together.

The version 5 on the opening post will now work with Dytech. You lose most of the new enemies though if you play with Dytech. He adds his own though.

[Chess]

I got the last version and now i have the double cost science after i disabled it in the config file.

PD: Forgot to say, i started playing with the double cost, then i realized i had to turn it off and i did. But science still cost double.

PD2: I erased the mod, launched the game, copied it again and relauch. Now is fixed.

[TheSAguy]

I got the last version and now i have the double cost science after i disabled it in the config file.

PD: Forgot to say, i started playing with the double cost, then i realized i had to turn it off and i did. But science still cost double.

PD2: I erased the mod, launched the game, copied it again and relauch. Now is fixed.

See! You can do it, you don't need my help...

[Timeslice]

I got the last version and now i have the double cost science after i disabled it in the config file.

PD: Forgot to say, i started playing with the double cost, then i realized i had to turn it off and i did. But science still cost double.

PD2: I erased the mod, launched the game, copied it again and relauch. Now is fixed.

You have to reset the recipes in the console for changes like that to take effect.
/c game.player.force.reset_recipes()
and if tech changed
/c game.player.force.reset_technologies()