Playing around with Map Settings - enemy_expansion

[AlyxDeLunar]

So, in thinking of ways to change up the warfare gameplay I bit, I found this handy dandy setting inside the game.
See, I like me some warfare elements, keeps the game fresh. And there are certainly some mods that play with that (DyTech Warefare and Hardcorio, both mods I have played and enjoyed), but it just...it doesn't feel right.

Me, I like a more ebb and flow to the game. Not a "enemies are going to just level up until they ARE SUPER!!!!" kind of gameplay.
I thought a fun change might be to have evolution factor affect expansion. Like, evolution factor goes up, and sometimes the biters will go into expansion mode and try to create bases everywhere, and evolution might go down depending on how many bases they created. This also makes having static defenses relevant, as opposed to having a cleared out area be pretty much safe as you expand.

So, I am not sure if anybody has played around with these settings too much, so my first test was "make the biters go crazy about expanding"
And lord, did it work.
If anybody feels like playing around with it, try changing these variables in your game...

Code: Select all

game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.enabled = true
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.min_base_spacing = 2
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.max_expansion_distance = 14
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.min_player_base_distance = 2
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.settler_group_min_size = 4
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.settler_group_max_size = 16
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.min_expansion_cooldown = 60 * 5
game.mapsettings.enemy_expansion.max_expansion_cooldown = 60 * 10

I have a test script to set these values a minute into the game...and it sure is fun to watch! In sandbox mode though, because my player would definitely not survive the chaos

[Degraine]

If these settings are changeable during gameplay...well, you could turn that into an interesting mod, I think. I agree that the combat feels rather stale at the moment, and this might give the native menace a real wax and wane feel, particularly if the evolution factor drops for a while after big periods of activity.

[AlyxDeLunar]

Yep, that was the plan!
Every setting you can change in control.lua so it is quite customizable during gameplay. The only question is what exact affect these settings have. My biggest curiosity is how the "min_player_base_distance" changes things, as I'm not sure what properly counts as a player base.
Either way, it's awesome this functionality is already in here. Another reason I love this game!

[Choumiko]

My biggest curiosity is how the "min_player_base_distance" changes things, as I'm not sure what properly counts as a player base.

I think everything the player builds counts as a base (even one single wall, electric post) To try: activate show_enemey_expansion_candidates in the debug screen, go in the wilderness and place something.