"Optimized" Designs?

[Nikratio]

Hello,

The "Designs" window has a column labelled "Optimized". In my games so far, it has always been set to "No" for every design. Can someone tell me what "Optimized" means, and how I can achieve that for a design?

Thanks!

[Aeson]

It's a leftover piece from ... RotS, I think, which allowed you to create a set of designs which would be used instead of the default designs. It has since been replaced by design templates, and I think I've seen people post that it is no longer functional.

[Nikratio]

ORIGINAL: Aeson

It's a leftover piece from ... RotS, I think, which allowed you to create a set of designs which would be used instead of the default designs. It has since been replaced by design templates, and I think I've seen people post that it is no longer functional.

Thanks for taking the time to patiently answer so many questions all the time Aeson, it's really much appreciated!

Coming back to my specific question: can you also tell me what a design template is, and how to use it? The only time "design templates" are mentioned in the Universe manual is in the sentence that says that they're now available [:)].

[Aeson]

A design template is a text file that gives the computer a set of guidelines for how it should design ships in various roles. It gives the computer a rough outline of what kinds of components and how many components of each type a design for a given role should carry. It's essentially a design target for the computer.

For example, the design template for normal empire Ackdarian capital ships has a target armament of 9 beams, 1 bombardment weapon, 1 super beam weapon, 14 torpedoes, and two tractor beams. The computer takes this design template and creates a design as close to what is in the template as it can using the the technology you have, so if I have, say, Maxos Blasters and Epsilon Torpedoes but lack a bombardment weapon, tractor beams, and a super beam weapon, I'll see a capital ship design show up in my designs list that has some number of Maxos Blasters and Epsilon Torpedoes.

You can find the design templates that came with the game in a folder conveniently named "designTemplates," separated into subfolders for each species, located in the installation directory (e.g. C:\Matrix Games\Distant Worlds Universe, if you installed to the default location on Windows). Each species subfolder also includes a subfolder for the pirate ship design templates.

Let's go back to that Ackdarian normal empire capital ship for a moment. There's a text file in designTemplates\ackdarian called "capitalship." If you open it, you'll see this:

'Distant Worlds Design Template - 1.9.0.0

'Specify amounts of each component type below. The amount should be a whole number greater than or equal to zero, and should be placed immediately after the semi-colon.
'Note that it is not necessary to specify Command Center, Life Support or Hab Module components. A sufficient number of each of these components will automatically be added to all designs.
'Also note that while Reactors and Energy Collectors can be specified here, an adequate amount of these components will always be added to meet the energy needs of the design.
'Also, for ships you do not need to specify a HyperDrive - a single hyperdrive will always automatically be added to ship design templates.

'Capital Ship type

AreaShieldRecharge ;1
Armor ;35
AssaultPod ;4
CargoBay ;0
ColonizationModule ;0
CombatTargettingSystem ;1
CommerceCenter ;0
ConstructionYard ;0
CountermeasuresSystem ;1
DamageControl ;2
DockingBay ;0
EnergyCollector ;1
EnergyManufacturingPlant ;0
EnergyResearchLab ;0
EnergyToFuelConverter ;0
Engine ;18
FighterBay ;3
FleetCountermeasuresSystem ;1
FleetTargettingSystem ;1
FuelCell ;7
GasExtractor ;0
GravityWellProjector ;0
HighTechManufacturingPlant ;0
HighTechResearchLab ;0
HyperDeny ;1
IonCannon ;1
IonDefense ;1
IonPulse ;0
LongRangeScanner ;0
LuxuryResourceExtractor ;0
MedicalCenter ;0
MiningEngine ;0
PassengerCompartment ;0
PointDefense ;8
ProximityArray ;1
Reactor ;3
RecreationCenter ;0
ResourceProfileSensor ;0
ScannerJammer ;0
Shields ;13
StealthCloak ;1
TraceScanner ;1
TroopCompartment ;0
VectoringEngine ;4
WeaponArea ;0
WeaponBeam ;9
WeaponBombard ;1
WeaponMissile ;0
WeaponPhaser ;0
WeaponRailGun ;0
WeaponsManufacturingPlant ;0
WeaponsResearchLab ;0
WeaponSuperBeam ;1
WeaponTorpedo ;14
WeaponTractorBeam ;2
WeaponGravitonBeam ;0
WeaponAreaGravity ;0

This is what the computer wants to include on Ackdarian normal empire capital ships. Let's say, for a moment, that I don't like this. Maybe I want Ackdarian capital ships to be more targeted towards planetary assault and close-quarters space combat. So I could change the file to look something like this:

'Distant Worlds Design Template - 1.9.0.0

'Specify amounts of each component type below. The amount should be a whole number greater than or equal to zero, and should be placed immediately after the semi-colon.
'Note that it is not necessary to specify Command Center, Life Support or Hab Module components. A sufficient number of each of these components will automatically be added to all designs.
'Also note that while Reactors and Energy Collectors can be specified here, an adequate amount of these components will always be added to meet the energy needs of the design.
'Also, for ships you do not need to specify a HyperDrive - a single hyperdrive will always automatically be added to ship design templates.

'Capital Ship type

AreaShieldRecharge ;1
Armor ;15
AssaultPod ;0
CargoBay ;0
ColonizationModule ;0
CombatTargettingSystem ;1
CommerceCenter ;0
ConstructionYard ;0
CountermeasuresSystem ;1
DamageControl ;2
DockingBay ;0
EnergyCollector ;1
EnergyManufacturingPlant ;0
EnergyResearchLab ;0
EnergyToFuelConverter ;0
Engine ;30
FighterBay ;0
FleetCountermeasuresSystem ;1
FleetTargettingSystem ;1
FuelCell ;7
GasExtractor ;0
GravityWellProjector ;0
HighTechManufacturingPlant ;0
HighTechResearchLab ;0
HyperDeny ;1
IonCannon ;4
IonDefense ;1
IonPulse ;0
LongRangeScanner ;0
LuxuryResourceExtractor ;0
MedicalCenter ;0
MiningEngine ;0
PassengerCompartment ;0
PointDefense ;8
ProximityArray ;1
Reactor ;4
RecreationCenter ;0
ResourceProfileSensor ;0
ScannerJammer ;0
Shields ;15
StealthCloak ;1
TraceScanner ;1
TroopCompartment ;2
VectoringEngine ;6
WeaponArea ;0
WeaponBeam ;20
WeaponBombard ;5
WeaponMissile ;0
WeaponPhaser ;0
WeaponRailGun ;6
WeaponsManufacturingPlant ;0
WeaponsResearchLab ;0
WeaponSuperBeam ;1
WeaponTorpedo ;0
WeaponTractorBeam ;2
WeaponGravitonBeam ;1
WeaponAreaGravity ;0

And now you can see that I've changed the armament around to focus more heavily on close combat, dropping all the fighters and the torpedoes, but adding railguns, a graviton beam, more blasters, and more ion cannons, and I've also increased the number of engines and maneuvering thrusters desired to improve the ship's speed and maneuverability, as well as adding some shields, though I also cut off a lot of the armor. I also added a pair of troop modules but dropped the assault pods. If I save these alterations to the capitalship text file, the next time I play a game where the Ackdarians are present, they'll try to build capital ships that approximate this design rather than the more standoff oriented capital ship design that the game came with. If you look at the 1.9.5.8 patch notes, you can see that you can also set the engagement stances for this design, so I could perhaps make the Ackdarians use their capital ships very aggressively against weaker enemies and colonies and very cautiously against stronger enemies by adding the following at some point in the design template:

TacticsWeaker ;PointBlank
TacticsStronger ;Evade
TacticsInvasion ;InvadeImmediately
FleeWhen ;Never