Topic: Mission matching question for Herr Burt

[luckyFed]

I have an NVS (Fed) which has 12 fighters, bpv 236. All patrols I draw, without fail, match me up agst a Rom SUB, which has 24 fighters (bpv 400). Is this correct as per intended mission matching?

If it is, it is too much.

[FPF_TraceyG]

What hull class is the the Rom SUB, Lucky?

[luckyFed]

Do you mean by Hull Class the "Class Type" or the "Hull Type" as listed in shiplist.txt? Anyway, I'll write both:

F-NVS - Hull Type = CL; Class Type = New Heavy Cruiser
R-SUB - Hull Type = CA; Class Type = Battleship

Any ideas?

[FPF_TraceyG]

Well, that's weird. There is a cap in the patrol scripts that limit the AI hull. In your case, you shouldn't be seeing anything bigger than one hull class above your own ship. The mCreateShip method in the API has a tough time sometimes though, when it can't fnd an appropriate ship in the shiplist, given the restrictions. At any rate, you shouldnt be seeing a Battleship as AI at all, unless you have one yourself (or possibly a very big Dreadnought). On another note, the SUB shouldn't be classed as a Battleship (because it isnt), it should be classed as a Carrier, even still, a Heavy BattleCruiser is the largest hull class you should be seeing in a New Heavy Cruiser.

For the record, the following is the enumerated type found in the scripting AI for hull classes.

   kClassShuttle = 0,            // smallest hull size
   kClassPseudoFighter,
   kClassFreighter,
   kClassFrigate,
   kClassDestroyer,
   kClassWarDestroyer,
   kClassLightCruiser,
   kClassHeavyCruiser,
   kClassNewHeavyCruiser,
   kClassHeavyBattlecruiser,
   kClassCarrier,
   kClassDreadnought,
   kClassBattleship,            // largest hull size

In determining which hull class an AI opponent will have, I used a restriction where the hull class will be between one above and one below your own class. As you can see from the above list, for a New Heavy Cruiser, you should be seeing either a Heavy Cruiser, another New Heavy Cruiser, or a Heavy Battlecruiser.  I'll have to look at the script again and see why you're seeing a Battleship, that shouldnt be happening at all.

[Herr Burt]

The short answer is no, you should not be seing SUB's if you are in an NVS.  Tracey's scripting settings and my reclassifying the SUB as a BB should prevent this.  (Not to mention the fact that you have BPV 236 and he has an even BPV of 400.  Ouchie.)  Very weird.  Under no circumtances should your ship ever face an SUB in one of Tracey's patrols.

At this late date in the game, however, I fear we are at the workaround stage.  Either try to select different missions, trade in your ship, let someone else draft you, or experiment with buying an escort ship and see what kind of matchups you get then.  There are always several FF/DD sized escort ships in the yard for a mere few hundred points.  My apologies for your trouble.

Quote:
Originally posted by TraceyG
On another note, the SUB shouldn't be classed as a Battleship (because it isnt), it should be classed as a Carrier, even still, a Heavy BattleCruiser is the largest hull class you should be seeing in a New Heavy Cruiser.

I can explain that.  I found the carrier classification, as used by Taldren, to be unworkable.  It's a catchall category that includes everything from FF-sized carriers to DN-sized carriers.  Who wants to draw a DN-sized carrier while in a New Heavy Cruiser?  Obviously not (un)LuckyFed, and not me either.  The F-CVA and the R-SUB both stand head and shoulders above everything else in the game  -- except each other --  and thus they got reclassified as BB's.

-Herr Burt  

[FPF_TraceyG]

Quote:
  I found the carrier classification, as used by Taldren, to be unworkable.  It's a catchall category that includes everything from FF-sized carriers to DN-sized carriers.  Who wants to draw a DN-sized carrier while in a New Heavy Cruiser?  Obviously not (un)LuckyFed, and not me either.
-Herr Burt  

Indeed, while this wasnt really a problem in the single player campaign, for multiplayer, the ship classifications do have some problems. War Destroyers fall somewhere in between a Destroyer and a Light Cruiser, but quite often have a BPV that's higher than a Heavy Cruiser. If hull class and BPV were proprtional to each other, and the cost modifier was proportional to the hull class (which is changeable in the gf setting), then we wouldnt have a problem. But as you say, the Carrier class has quite a mix. I lost a 18,000 prestige Heavy Battle cruiser on DOE and as its replacenemt I got a 3000 prestige War Destroyer. Why? Because the War Destroyer had the right BPV (75% I think its set at). Clearly though, the price was not 75%. We might have to look further into matching the cost multipliers, the shiplist and ship hull clasifications in conjunction with mission matching (gf setting and mission scripting), to avoid problems like that in the future, however, some ships are always going to be out of place. War Destroyers , IMHO, are the worst offenders, along with carriers.