Reducing/eliminating "climate shifts"?

[Martok]

For almost the entire 11 years that I've owned BOTF, I've refused to play it with random events on. This was largely because of the Borg and stellar/planetary events.


The Borg became less of an issue, however, when the various mods came out (since most of them re-balance the Borg so they're not so absurdly overpowered). Also, now that I'm learning to use and take advantage of DCER's wonderful UE, I can nerf them to the strength of a kitten if I so choose.

With the supernovas, I've just realized I can largely deal with them by reducing the frequency of red giant stars to almost zero. As for the comet strikes, they're definitely annoying, but since they don't permanently damage/alter the planet (at least I don't think they do?), I can probably live with them.



However, the one type of random event that I can't figure out how to modify -- and one that I absolutely HATE with the fire of a thousand suns -- is climate shifts.

On a whim, I started up a Federation campaign tonight with random events enabled (for the first time in eons)....only to have Earth turned into a Barren planet less than 40 turns in. I don't know if it's technically possible to rage-quit a TBS game while in single-player mode, but I confess that's more or less what I did. Gods, that pissed me off.



I actually would love to play with the random events overall, but this climate shift crap keeps me from doing so. Has anyone any idea as to how they can be eliminated? If I could just keep the bloody things from happening, I could play with random events again ('tis a consummation devoutly to be wished!).

[stardust]

Comet strikes turn the planet affected into a J class wasteland, and in my case, the random events seem to unerringly hit a new formed colony so they get completely wiped out by said strike

if they hit an energy rich planet, the next turn you'll usually get a message saying your system has insufficient power and shuts down half the things you have powered, and I imagine something similar were to happen if a comet hit what was a planet with a high food bonus, though this at least is usually offset by the fact the planet hit can't sustain half the population it used to.

[Flocke]

On a whim, I started up a Federation campaign tonight with random events enabled (for the first time in eons)....only to have Earth turned into a Barren planet less than 40 turns in.

rofl, the first time in eons and earth turns into a barren

Well, for me it's likely the same with the randoms. I'd love them without supernovae, earthquakes and climate shifts and a little better balanced mosters for low tech.
If something really bad occures, I usually just load the previous turn and disable the random events for one turn, that already helps.

But to get rid of climate shifts and earthquakes, this information might help:
viewtopic.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1493

[zenith23]

I'm playing AAM mod and have noticed a definate difference in the frequency and type of random events. I'm at turn 200 and have had no plantery shifts at all (whereas in vanilla they pop up like a bad rash) Instead just a few major earthquakes = a few dead citizens and trashed buildings, but nothing that can't be fixed with some credits. I've not even had the wierd subspace anomaly turn up either.
Not sure if Stardust has done anything to the random events (and i don't remember it from the readme.htm) but it sure feels like it.
Come to think of it I've not seen Gomtuu, the Planet Killer or Species 8472 either. I have turned the Borg off but wouldn't have thought that would have any knock on effect.

[KrazeeXXL]

after eons dealing with random events=on I have some good tactics how to avoid the bad ones and to get the good ones.

wrote somewhere a large post about it. it's just guesses and gut feelings with no proof. but if you get mainly positive climate shifts in your games you're doing something right I think

Either way, I had not and still don't have any proof for what I've written there but I think there's at least some grain of truth in my former post. (still didn't find it after an hour) :/

it was in one of the huge threads... perhaps considered off-topic and therefor deleted

[edited: grammar]

[DCER]

I did a quick forum search - entered you as the author and climate as search text - got this as one of the top results:

viewtopic.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=15256#15256

[KrazeeXXL]

thx DCER, I've looked 3 times through the complete BOP, UDM3-thread and many more and think I had some tomatoes on my eyes

[Martok]

Comet strikes turn the planet affected into a J class wasteland, and in my case, the random events seem to unerringly hit a new formed colony so they get completely wiped out by said strike

Yeah, I just discovered -- the hard way -- that you're all too correct, stardust.

I continued playing the same Federation game (more out of morbid curiosity than anything else, if only to see what other disasters could happen), and I just had a comet strike hit a particularly nice colony of mine. Turned my lovely oceanic world into a J-class POS, causing me to lose the Aquaculture Center I'd constructed there. Of course, I also lost 50 million people as well -- the O-class planet's population was 105 million, while the new J-class has only 65 million -- so it evened out....sort of.


So yes, I now despise comet strikes as well. We need to find a way to eliminate them (or at least reduce their frequency as much as possible) along with the damn climate shifts!

On a whim, I started up a Federation campaign tonight with random events enabled (for the first time in eons)....only to have Earth turned into a Barren planet less than 40 turns in.

rofl, the first time in eons and earth turns into a barren

Yeah, it wasn't exactly a gentle reintroduction to the random events. And of course, I'm severely disinclined to play with them enabled ever again. *sigh*

Well, for me it's likely the same with the randoms. I'd love them without supernovae, earthquakes and climate shifts and a little better balanced mosters for low tech.

+1

But to get rid of climate shifts and earthquakes, this information might help:
viewtopic.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1493

Heh. Thanks for the link, Flocke, but I'm afraid that SCT's post might as well be written in Old High Vulcan for all that I can understand it! It made my head hurt just looking at it, such is my extremely limited comprehension of such things.



Oh well. I guess I'll go back to playing BOTF with the randoms forever disabled....

[KrazeeXXL]

in the case with the new formed colony which became worthless: I'd liked to give these colonies up sometimes in the past.

Oh well. I guess I'll go back to playing BOTF with the randoms forever disabled....

all I can say to this sad decision is that random events can be a much bigger challenge then the lame AI.

In the case that it hits SOL early I do the best I can to get positive climate shifts. I remember a game where I had 3 positive ones in Sol. That was amazing. It then switched to another far less important system and I finally was able to breath deeply.

If something really bad occures, I usually just load the previous turn and disable the random events for one turn, that already helps.

Not 100% sure but wouldn't this disable the BORG appearance permanently? Not really an option then.

edit: started a new game (UDM3L) and lucky me, had the vulcans only 3 fields away from Sol

So I thought I'd better terraform them ASAP rather colonizing the other systems in my area and I focussed completely on science in my homesystem.

Bad decision. Played it two times the same way and got both times a negative planet shift in Mercury in turn 21. :/
The Vulcans offered affiliation in turn 20, the same turn their system was completely terraformed.

As I said I played this 2 times for testing purpose. The third restart: (I always save the first turn, after map creation process /w nothing done) I focussed on colonization to get a greater diversity of planets. Had also FS with Vulcans in the same turn like in the games b4 but didn't terraform them.
Had my second colony in turn 20 which wasn't completely terraformed but better then nothing.

Got no negative climate shift this time. Another difference was that the vulcans offered their affiliation treaty 2 turns later in turn 22.

everything may be (soon) exposed as false pretences. I just can write about what I watch ingame w/o proof for anything. Perhaps a counter randomly chose the same planet (mercury)... I'm probably wrong with 99% about what I've written but I'd like to have proof about this events. It's sometimes really odd what happens in this game and it's hard to find any explanation w/o being a code-master

[Martok]

Oh well. I guess I'll go back to playing BOTF with the randoms forever disabled....

all I can say to this sad decision is that random events can be a much bigger challenge then the lame AI.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with that statement Krazee.

Yes, the wandering monsters (Borg, Crystalline Entity, etc.) and some of the miscellaneous events (i.e., the no-warp event) increase the game's challenge level, but the stellar/planetary events (supernovas, climate shifts, comet strikes, etc.) do not.

The only thing they are is extremely irritating: Partially because of their absurd frequency -- they occur way too often to be even remotely believable (even for a sci-fi game) -- and partially because they almost always have a negative effect. If comet strikes and climate shifts only occurred a few times per game, and/or if their effects were much less severe, I could tolerate them.

As it is, though, these events happen way too often, and their pronounced effects are way too negative. Their frequency & severity stretch my ability to suspend disbelief to the breaking point (and beyond). When that happens, it's no longer a "challenge"; they're just an incredibly annoying irritant, nothing more.

[stardust]

I'm playing AAM mod and have noticed a definate difference in the frequency and type of random events. I'm at turn 200 and have had no plantery shifts at all (whereas in vanilla they pop up like a bad rash) Instead just a few major earthquakes = a few dead citizens and trashed buildings, but nothing that can't be fixed with some credits. I've not even had the wierd subspace anomaly turn up either.
Not sure if Stardust has done anything to the random events (and i don't remember it from the readme.htm) but it sure feels like it.
Come to think of it I've not seen Gomtuu, the Planet Killer or Species 8472 either. I have turned the Borg off but wouldn't have thought that would have any knock on effect.

I've altered some of the monsters and I've decreased the red giant star frequency to reduce the chance of being hit by a supernova but that's it in that front. I didn't know there was a way to alter climate shifts/ comet strikes so I'll go read the link Krazee posted.

Sounds like you're just having a quiet game ... lucky you

[KrazeeXXL]

yea in some games it just hits the opponents and you can consider yourself really lucky

in normal large maps you can even watch it. when you see an opponent hit constantly then leave him alone he might be a good target but believe me... better leave him alone

[Peter1981]

theres an exchange table for the planets in trek.exe i think it was one of the last posts by SCT regarding random events you should be able to adjust the devistation there ie terran to oceanic not barran would be less of a blow in future games.

[stardust]

theres an exchange table for the planets in trek.exe i think it was one of the last posts by SCT regarding random events you should be able to adjust the devistation there ie terran to oceanic not barran would be less of a blow in future games.

Terran to Oceanic .... that could be a random event in itself.

'Hippocrates Noah Spotted in the Sol system! Third planet turned into an ocean world!'

( For those wondering who I'm on about: http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Hippocrates_Noah )

[zenith23]

I've altered some of the monsters and I've decreased the red giant star frequency to reduce the chance of being hit by a supernova but that's it in that front. I didn't know there was a way to alter climate shifts/ comet strikes so I'll go read the link Krazee posted.

Sounds like you're just having a quiet game ... lucky you

It's uncannily quiet. oh bugger I'm now worried on a number of levels. what viscious curve ball is it about to hurl at me?