Hello all. I'm sure a lot of people are playing rebellion now... but i'm still having fun in classic sins... (yeah, i'll buy rebellion at some point, hehe)
Creating a mod, and i've got a few questions for those who have more xp than i do. I've managed to create a fairly large map with a fun theme. Most of it is working just fine at this point, but i'm running into a couple issues i either just can't figure out or haven't messed with because i don't want to "break" the setup i have now.
First, i've set up militia on pretty much every planet. In one system (the only one that doesn't have a starting player) all the militia spawn just as i wish them to. However, on all the systems that have starting players, the militia DO spawn, but the correct militia does not always work - they appear randomly. In other words, although the templates load correctly, the name of the militia seems to be random. This isn't a HUGE deal, because as i said, the templates load right, but since it is a themed map it doesn't fit the story well w/ random militia names on all the planets. I assigned them all the correct militia (militia0, militia1, etc) in galaxy forge, and double checked them in notepad. I can't find any difference between the entries that do always work and those that don't. The only difference i can see is that the central system has no starting players, and one of the planets is a "home" planet. The randomly spawning militias don't have a "home" planet, and are located on systems that have starting players. I can't see why this would make a difference, but it's the only variable i can find.
Second, in fitting the theme of the map, i was wondering if it would be possible to remove galaxy travel and wormhole travel research abilities, and force players to find the respective Ancient Artifacts that unlock these abilities. By placing one of each in each player's home system, i thought it would be an interesting way to allow the players to open up the galaxy by discovering the remnants of the "decaying empire" located in the middle of the galaxy. Is this feasible? If so, will it cripple the AI players to the point that they'll never leave the home system? It is a large map, so i am expecting it to take quite a while to actually clear it. If the AI players will EVENTUALLY discover the artifacts, then it should be ok because the militia are quite entrenched and it will take a while to colonize new worlds. Has anyone tried something like this before? I've created a good number of maps, but have yet to touch the tech trees.
Third, if i was to change the militia setting "isNormalPlayer" to TRUE, would it allow you to select them as a playable character? I was hoping it wouldn't, and instead allow that militia to actually counter-attack you as you move through their territory rather than being stuck inside each GW. If i removed the tech to galaxy travel and wormhole travel from everyone's tech trees, and didn't place an Ancient Artifact unlocking it in their star system, i was hoping it would basically confine them to one star system that they would actively defend and control. Does the militia AI actually upgrade planets and actively build new structures and ships? It seems that they do at least build new ships if you give them a shipyard, but i haven't taken the time to actually run a map long enough to see major differences. Plus, i have yet to upgrade their starting planet pop levels, so even though they start with a lot of credits, it would erode VERY fast due to all the maintenance fees. Not sure if they DO build but are just broke, or if they just don't build much and sit there waiting for real players to show up.
Those are the major questions i have right now. Thanks for taking the time to read through all that, and for replying. 
