Topic: Time.gf (OP)

[The Postman]

Is the start date for early era hard coded into the game? Using the 3.1 shiplist, I was not seeing any F-CA's. so I roled the date back to 2230 and adjusted the other eras to start at the proper time ie. 2273,etc. When I start a new campaign, the clock does read 2230 however I am seeing ships with start dates of 2260 and later in the yards. Any ideas? Or is this a function of the scripts and campaigns ported over from EAW?    

[Corbomite]

The date a ship comes out is controlled by the shiplist. It is a number that indicates the number of years after the start date that a ship will appear. Changing the start date is only a cosmetic change. The ships will still appear in the same order regardless of date unless you change the Year First Available collumn in the shiplist.

[The Postman]

Quote:
The date a ship comes out is controlled by the shiplist. It is a number that indicates the number of years after the start date that a ship will appear. Changing the start date is only a cosmetic change. The ships will still appear in the same order regardless of date unless you change the Year First Available collumn in the shiplist.  

This is the stock taldren file

Quote:
 [Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear   = 2263
0         = 0
1         = 10
2         = 20
3         = 40
 

Here is how I changed it
 

Quote:
 [Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear   = 2230
0         = 0
1         = 43
2         = 53
3         = 73
 

as you see the mid, late and advanced should start at the right time. What is happening is that when I start an early campaign in year 2230, I am seeing ships with start dates as late as 2263 in the shipyard and one or two turns later I am seeing F-CC+ (2265) in the yards. Meanwhile the date is 2230. Is there some other file I need to change?  I am not trying to change how they come out. I just would like to start a campaign before the CC and the DN come out.

[Corbomite]

As I said, none of that matters. The shiplist couldn't care less what the actual date is. It does not release ships based on date, but on a certain number of years passing from the start date of the campaign. So if a ship is scheduled to appear one year after the start of the campaign, it always will, no matter what date you set. You can only change this in the Year First Available collumn in the shiplist. If the ship was scheduled to appear before year zero (2263 by default), it should always show up in the yard at the begining of a campaign. If you want certain ships to show up later then you need to add 33 to the number in the Year First Available collumn for each and evey ship in the shiplist file and the fighterlist (except the really early ships) file to do what you want.

[The Postman]

Ok, I understand the part with the shiplist now. If I add 33 years to every thing in the shiplist and use the following settings:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear = 2263
0 = 0
1 = 43
2 = 53
3 = 73
 
will med ( yes ,I know they are broken right now) and high speed drones show up at 10 and 20 years after start or will they show up at mid and late era? Also with this setup, will mid era start at 2306 or at 2273?

 
   With the above settings early era lasts for 43 years, mid starts at 2306, late at 2316 and advanced at 2336. This way it takes 73 years to go from early to advanced instead of 40. For reference the F-CA starts in 2263 and the F-XCB in 2338 with this setup.      

[mathcubeguy]

Woah...

er, can you put negative numbers into the era start dates like 0 = -33 and so on?

that way you dont have to mess with adding to each YFA in the shiplist...

[NuclearWessels]

No MCG, if you use negative numbers in the era adjustment fields you actually get stardates coming out like "year 2258.-95", and things tend to deteriorate from there.  Adjusting all the shiplist YFA dates really does seem to be the only way to pull it off.  It does work (at least I've done it a couple of times in the past), it's just tedious.

dave
 

[The Postman]

Is the start date for early era hard coded into the game? Using the 3.1 shiplist, I was not seeing any F-CA's. so I roled the date back to 2230 and adjusted the other eras to start at the proper time ie. 2273,etc. When I start a new campaign, the clock does read 2230 however I am seeing ships with start dates of 2260 and later in the yards. Any ideas? Or is this a function of the scripts and campaigns ported over from EAW?    

[Corbomite]

The date a ship comes out is controlled by the shiplist. It is a number that indicates the number of years after the start date that a ship will appear. Changing the start date is only a cosmetic change. The ships will still appear in the same order regardless of date unless you change the Year First Available collumn in the shiplist.

[The Postman]

Quote:
The date a ship comes out is controlled by the shiplist. It is a number that indicates the number of years after the start date that a ship will appear. Changing the start date is only a cosmetic change. The ships will still appear in the same order regardless of date unless you change the Year First Available collumn in the shiplist.  

This is the stock taldren file

Quote:
 [Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear   = 2263
0         = 0
1         = 10
2         = 20
3         = 40
 

Here is how I changed it
 

Quote:
 [Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear   = 2230
0         = 0
1         = 43
2         = 53
3         = 73
 

as you see the mid, late and advanced should start at the right time. What is happening is that when I start an early campaign in year 2230, I am seeing ships with start dates as late as 2263 in the shipyard and one or two turns later I am seeing F-CC+ (2265) in the yards. Meanwhile the date is 2230. Is there some other file I need to change?  I am not trying to change how they come out. I just would like to start a campaign before the CC and the DN come out.

[Corbomite]

As I said, none of that matters. The shiplist couldn't care less what the actual date is. It does not release ships based on date, but on a certain number of years passing from the start date of the campaign. So if a ship is scheduled to appear one year after the start of the campaign, it always will, no matter what date you set. You can only change this in the Year First Available collumn in the shiplist. If the ship was scheduled to appear before year zero (2263 by default), it should always show up in the yard at the begining of a campaign. If you want certain ships to show up later then you need to add 33 to the number in the Year First Available collumn for each and evey ship in the shiplist file and the fighterlist (except the really early ships) file to do what you want.

[The Postman]

Ok, I understand the part with the shiplist now. If I add 33 years to every thing in the shiplist and use the following settings:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear = 2263
0 = 0
1 = 43
2 = 53
3 = 73
 
will med ( yes ,I know they are broken right now) and high speed drones show up at 10 and 20 years after start or will they show up at mid and late era? Also with this setup, will mid era start at 2306 or at 2273?

 
   With the above settings early era lasts for 43 years, mid starts at 2306, late at 2316 and advanced at 2336. This way it takes 73 years to go from early to advanced instead of 40. For reference the F-CA starts in 2263 and the F-XCB in 2338 with this setup.      

[mathcubeguy]

Woah...

er, can you put negative numbers into the era start dates like 0 = -33 and so on?

that way you dont have to mess with adding to each YFA in the shiplist...

[NuclearWessels]

No MCG, if you use negative numbers in the era adjustment fields you actually get stardates coming out like "year 2258.-95", and things tend to deteriorate from there.  Adjusting all the shiplist YFA dates really does seem to be the only way to pull it off.  It does work (at least I've done it a couple of times in the past), it's just tedious.

dave