Feature request: expose race's special abilities to patchable game numbers

[1oom-fork]

^{Originally posted by sytnik-aa March 19, 2024}
Thank you very much for your work!

If possible, I would like to have the option to play around with the race's special abilities modifiers. Can the numbers be exposed in patchable game numbers?

Honestly, I didn't think much about it. I understand that this a large body of work and I'm not a big modder myself, so I would start small. Modifying the existing numbers looks easy, but it could be enough give the game a new perspective.

However, even this may not work as expected. The goal is not to give me as a player more bonuses, but to make the AI opponents more diverse. But I don't know to what extend the AI is aware of these bonuses. If, for example, I increase Bulrathi's racical bonus to ground combat to 50, will they emphasize ground envasions even more?

There are also some important traits that are not expressed in numbers. For example, it makes sense to me to give Melkars a lesser version of Silicoid's Tolerance. I think they shoud settle tundra worlds easly. But is it even possible?

The main questions for me are:

• Do changes to racial bonuses affect AI behavior?
• Can bonuses be penalties?
• Are bonuses attached to the race or they can be interchanged?
• Can new bonuses be introduced (for example, a bonus to ship HP)?
• To what extend non-numbered bonuses can be modified?

Thanks!

[1oom-fork]

I re-posted this question because Github does not respond adequately to my actions and floods the discussions.

Yes, custom races is one of my goals. I can make it higher priority.

• AI reactions to racial bonuses currently exist separately in 1oom. They will have to be connected somehow.
• Bonuses can be any, the only limitation is that currently there is a restriction on modifying the saved game file, since this may lead to compatibility problems, so bonuses at the moment can only be changed globally for a specific race.
• My plans are to create a bonus table for each race so that hybrid races can be made.
• New bonuses are possible, but not through PBX
• The limits for numerical bonuses are quite wide
  The tolerance of a race can easily be expressed as a number, it is even possible to create a race that will only live on radioactive planets.

I made a rough estimate. At least 100 edits will be required. This is comparable to the amount of work on more significant issues. I can't afford to start doing this right away