Any simple way to create speed in between standard and epic?

[Jeddite]

I've experimented with two files cause they seemingly are providing a way to just adjust numerically everything: GameSpeedChanges.sql which has stuff like instant yield scaling and DifficultyChanges.xml which has stuff like player and AI policy, unit, building cost.

I wonder if there is simple way to adjust standard/epic to be exactly half the epic extra time, so +25% to everything, as standard is 100 and epic 150 in the files, that would be 125. Epic feels too sluggish, while standard reduces "empire building" aspect a lot, you basically start good, then rush mid-classical - renaissance, then everything is cooling down again and costs od buildings and tech rise significantly for a nice pace, but as soon as you past corporations and dig into ideologies everything breezes so much again, many times I'm not able to use most units or construct many atomic bombs before I unlock nuclear missiles. Ideally I would play something like +15% tech, units, buildings, but +25% tech cost, upgrade unit cost and building maintenance cost. Epic is everything +50% cost/time (of those that scale at all with gamespeed, some are not).

The files I mention don't work fully, for example I raised unit, building cost but it doesn't apply on cleared cache new game, but for some reason tech and policy cost increases did apply.

 

[hokath]

I think you probably don't want to think in terms of game speed.
The different eras of the game take more/less time because of the base balancing. Making everything 50% more doesn't change those relative durations.
So instead I would be more targeted, changing the cost curves only in the parts of the game you want to be longer/shorter. These are the files like UnitCostSweeps.sql, see the TechTier_UnitCosts helper table within for example.

Spoiler :

CREATE TEMP TABLE TechTier_UnitCosts (
TechTier INTEGER,
LandBasicCost INTEGER,
LandAdvancedCost INTEGER,
UnitFaithCost INTEGER
);

INSERT INTO TechTier_UnitCosts
VALUES
(0, 40, 45, 100), -- this is slingers
(1, 50, 55, 100),
(2, 70, 90, 150),
(3, 90, 100, 200), -- skirmishers
(4, 110, 130, 250),
(5, 135, 175, 300),
(6, 160, 200, 350),
(7, 300, 350, 400), -- tercio
(8, 325, 350, 500),
(9, 625, 900, 600),
(10, 700, 800, 700),
(11, 900, 1000, 800),
(12, 950, 1300, 900),
(13, 1300, 1800, 1000),
(14, 1500, 2000, 1200),
(15, 1800, 2250, 1400),
(16, 2600, 3000, 1600),
(17, 2600, 3000, 1600);

-- Melee, Ranged, Recon
UPDATE Units
SET Cost = (
SELECT LandBasicCost FROM TechTier_UnitCosts WHERE PrereqTech IN (
SELECT Type FROM Technologies WHERE GridX = TechTier
)
)
WHERE EXISTS (
SELECT 1 FROM TechTier_UnitCosts WHERE PrereqTech IN (
SELECT Type FROM Technologies WHERE GridX = TechTier
)
) AND CombatClass IN (
'UNITCOMBAT_MELEE',
'UNITCOMBAT_GUN',
'UNITCOMBAT_ARCHER',
'UNITCOMBAT_RECON'
) AND IsMounted = 0 AND MinorCivGift = 0;
.
.
.

If you download the Enlightenment Era mod, you can see the CostSweeps.sql file, it has most of them there (but ofc with the extra era added in).

Overall we need to work more on this era-length mouthfeel.
There is some discussion on it in the thread about adding buildings.

 

[Jeddite]

Thank you for the tip! I will try raising cost of postindustrial tech by 1000 a tier and adding another 1000 every tier, next game, along with 125% to GAP needed to trigger a golden age, since still too low tech costs and too easy golden ages tips me off.

About my findings on feasebility of creating +25% difficulty, here's what I discovered thanks to your tip:
TechCost Sweeps everybody can adjust manually in half a minute, and even buildings sweeps in same time by asking AI to increase certain columns by certain percent.
However unit sweeps is still doable with some more tinkering, BUT since those would be standard time adjustment creating this light epic speed, it would not affect 3/4 UC or monopoly mod or other buildings as far as i can tell, as they have their standard speeds set in their respective files which are usually scattered. There might be a possibility that because they are tied to a tech and buildingtechsweeps governs by tech tier they might be affected, but they might be not. Same with world wonders which is also governed by tech tier in buildingscostsweeps but i assume it might work for vanilla/VP only wonders. not necesarily for MWfVP.
Also while increasing GAP and general research points neeeded from GamePace file work right away, I didn't find a culture cost sweeps file, also there is stuff like Great Person points (didn't find a file, might be one), and spies speed (in gamepace file, untested), deal/vassal turns (in gamepace file, untested), instant yields (in gamepace file, untested) and work improvmeent speed (it is along with culture in difficulty xml but it is separate for AI and the player and tricky, some functions of it don't work). Without brining them uniformly to + let's say 25% (half the epic) that difficulty would be a betterment in many areas but gimmicky at best in others.

There technically must be some governing variable for increases in build/train cost at large, for game paces, because it is applied without being present in gamepacefile (like GAP or tech costs are) unifromly and even in modmods that doen't specify it, but whether it is working as one adjustment in one file (as those GAP/tech) or many functions dispersed in many files, maybe even split in both VP/vanilla, it is unknown to me.

 

[hokath]

Culture cost follows a formula not a table, see the EE post.
The rest, not sure, I haven't played with that. Maybe @Flamingcheesepie knows