Flavors... How to use them? (+ Great People editing)

[jlocke]

I triede to incorperate flavors into my buildings and units, and I added them (FLAVOR_COMMUNISM and FLAVOR_CAPITALISM) into the file with the list of other flavors, but they seem to have no effect... I tried it with the iFlavor (what ever that is) integer at 10 and also at 1 ...

So if anyone wouldn't mind explaining to me how to use flavors, I would be very thankful.

PS:
How do you make Great People appear less often??

 

[Shqype]

I still don't understand how flavors are implemented exactly, and it's possible that they are referenced either within the SDK or Python as well. So, in order for them to work as intended, values might need to be added in python files or the game core.

You can make Great People appear less often by editing the GP threshold values and by editing the GP points that buildings and wonders produce. The former you will find in the GlobalDefines.xml file, although you should add altered tags in the GlobalDefinesAlt.xml file and use that instead. The latter you will find in their respective entries in CIV4UnitInfos.xml and CIV4BuildingInfos.xml.

 

[The Great Apple]

They're AI things. The SDK uses them to help the AI determine what to build.

 

[Shqype]

I know that, but how are they used? What is the point of the different values? I thought the higher the better, like if you had 10 for one flavor then that is a high priority for a civ of that flavor .. but what if their interest in gold is 3, let's say, and something has a gold flavor of 10 ... does this mean that the civ won't go out of its way to build it because it's not "interested enough" since its flavor is only 3 whereas a level 10 is needed?

 

[Padmewan]

I'm quite sure that the higher the value of the flavor, the more it will be desirable for that purpose. So I think you have it backwards, Shqype, though your interpretation makes sense.

I had asked earlier if the AI accounts for negative flavors, but got no response. Anyone who is willing to looking to the AI code on this? (Earlier excavations of the AI decision-making process for tile improvements were incredibly helpful).

 

[The Great Apple]

Ok. As far as I can tell, they are used in two places - tech selection and building selection.

The item flavour rate is mutiplied by the AI flavour wieght, and then that value is added to the value of the tech/building.

I had a quick hunt through, and it appears that the AI flavour wieght cannot be negative, but the item flavour rate can be. This kinda makes sence as if they were both negative the multiplication would make it good to have...

 

[Padmewan]

I had a quick hunt through, and it appears that the AI flavour wieght cannot be negative, but the item flavour rate can be. This kinda makes sence as if they were both negative the multiplication would make it good to have...

Thanks for this investigation. It makes sense that an AI can't have a negative preference, as it just makes more sense to "crowd out" flavors with more positive flavors. However, I'm curious about the fact that a building can have a negative flavor -- why, then, isn't the factory coded as negative Growth? When playing the game, I remember the AI always telling me to build factories when a city was on the brink of unhealthiness.