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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0021692AI War 2Gameplay IssueOct 29, 2019 11:33 am
Reporterwm46 Assigned ToBadgerBadger  
Severityminor 
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version0.892 All Ship and Structure Visuals Done! 
Fixed in Version1.002 ARSes, Instigators, and Tech Vaults, Oh My 
Summary0021692: Technology hack shouldn't roll the current technology cost to the next tier
DescriptionAs is stands right now, there's a great incentive to wait until you are at tier 3 of a specific technology to hack a technology vault because it still increases the cost of the next unlock to the next tier.

If you hack it before doing any research, you "gain" only 1500 science for hacking it. If you wait until tier 2 to hack the vault, you are "gaining" 5000 science!!! There's huge disparity in the powerlevel of this hack depending on how much you want to go all in on a specific technology.

Solution 1: Change the faction technology tracking from list<int> to list<refpair<int, int>>, where the first int is the current tier of technology you unlocked, and the second int is how many freebies you've obtained. Calculate cost for the next upgrade by subtracting the two.

Solution 2: The cost, length, or intensity of the hack increases for obtaining higher tiers of technology. If obtaining tier 1 of a technology is 10 HP, 180 secs, and "gives" 1500 science; obtaining tier 3 of a technology should for example be 30 HP, 300 secs, "giving" 5000 science.

Cons to solution 1: Memory increase, need to slightly recode the whole system of science.

Cons to solution 2: Balance nightmare, need to adapt the code for many different situations or possibly design a solution that automagically scales the hack difficulty with the equivalent science gain.
TagsNo tags attached.

Activities

BadgerBadger

Sep 27, 2019 8:11 pm

manager   ~0053292

Last edited: Sep 27, 2019 8:16 pm

I think it's fine the way it is. As is the player has a choice between immediate power and waiting to get a more powerful bonus later in the game. This seems like an interesting choice to force a player into, as opposed to making "Hack it immediately" always the right choice.

wm46

Sep 29, 2019 4:56 pm

reporter   ~0053310

Maybe a scaling difficulty for obtaining later techs is a good option then. Right now, 10 hacking points and a trivial hack difficulty is barely anything at all when it comes to going from Mk4 to Mk5.

BadgerBadger

Sep 29, 2019 5:34 pm

manager   ~0053312

I don't really want to put explicit difficulty scalings unique to this hack in. I'd need to warn the player and it would clutter the UI (or we could not warn the player and then the player might get screwed).

I can either make the hack much harder at all levels or leave it as is.

RocketAssistedPuffin

Oct 29, 2019 11:33 am

reporter   ~0054106

The Badger smited thy issue.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Sep 27, 2019 8:07 pm wm46 New Issue
Sep 27, 2019 8:11 pm BadgerBadger Note Added: 0053292
Sep 27, 2019 8:16 pm BadgerBadger Note Edited: 0053292
Sep 29, 2019 4:56 pm wm46 Note Added: 0053310
Sep 29, 2019 5:34 pm BadgerBadger Note Added: 0053312
Oct 29, 2019 11:33 am RocketAssistedPuffin Assigned To => BadgerBadger
Oct 29, 2019 11:33 am RocketAssistedPuffin Status new => resolved
Oct 29, 2019 11:33 am RocketAssistedPuffin Resolution open => fixed
Oct 29, 2019 11:33 am RocketAssistedPuffin Fixed in Version => 1.002 ARSes, Instigators, and Tech Vaults, Oh My
Oct 29, 2019 11:33 am RocketAssistedPuffin Note Added: 0054106