(EDIT: as of 1.0.14 this mod is obsolete. I have rolled the changes into my community balance mod:

https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/37-modding/thread/15801-released-community-bug-fix-balance-mod

)



The goal of this mod is to make some improvements in the balance of custom traits. It may be impossible, or anyway difficult, to perfectly balance them. But there are some problems which many people agree, which can be improved with simple modding. This mod should be an improvement over the current released game. The idea and discussion is found in this thread. Each suggestion is made by multiple people, so probably credit goes to "everybody in that thread".



Although no changes have been made directly to the vanilla races, several of the changes do affect them. Amoeba will see less trade income, Craver worlds will degrade faster, UE will be better at invasion, and Sophons will be worse at invasions.



Disclaimer

• USE WITH VERSION 1.0.9 ONLY. As soon as a new version is released I will update the mod.
• This content is not Amplitude's, so this mod is installed at your own risk.
• This writes over files which are installed by the game release. To uninstall you will need to use steam to revalidate your game cache.
• Text changes are for English language only. The mod will work in other languages but the old text will be present.
• For multiplayer, the mod will work as long as everybody has the same mod(s) installed. Otherwise, it will lead to weird out-of-sync and probably crash.
  
  

Contents

• Nerf Craver affinity: change FIDS malus after locust point limit exceeded, from -25% to -50%.
• Nerf Diplomats I,II: Interestingly, the description "increases duration of positive diplomacy effects" does not match the actual effect "+25% trade bonus". Instead of +25% and +50%, it is now +10% and +20%. It affects amoeba affinity as well; I don't think this nerf will kill them.
• Nerf Merchant I,II: currently provide +1, +2 trade routes per system. I have deleted level 2, and doubled the cost of level 1 from +6 to +12. For 1v1 maps, this seems like a huge nerf, but on 8-player maps it seems reasonable.
• Delete Sloppy Sawbones I,II: this is a primary example of a point bonus with a negligable effect.
• Add restriction pair: Endless War prevents Blockade Breakers, and vice-versa.
• Buff Fearsome Warriors: currently +10, +20 flat to invasion defense. This is pretty worthless. It now gives +10 *percent* and +20 *percent* to invasion *strength*. This will significantly buff UE, which many people feel is needed.
• Make Feeble Warriors much more painful: currently -5, -10 flat to invasion defense. This is pretty painless. It now gives -10 *percent* and -20 *percent* to invasion strength. This will hurt Sophons but I think it fits with their theme.
• Includes community / balance mod described at this link:
  
  
  • Change colors of players, so that the colors are easier to distinguish. No more "three shades of green".
  • Undo buff to bushido bonus for Hissho; reset to +10% FIDS on invasion. The 1.0.3 release buffed it to 20%.
  • Replace generic AI ship names like Medium1HisshoTemplate with the actual ship names, such as Falcon.
    
    
  
  
  

Installation

• Download this zip file: comm-mod-008.zip
• Unzip into (your steam directory)\Endless Space. Usually your steam directory is c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common
• You should see a prompt from winzip confirming that it will overwrite two files, sharedassets17.asset and Localization_Locales.xml. If you do not, you have unzipped into the wrong place.
  
  

How it works

The xml files are contained inside sharedassets17.asset, which is a non-encrypted binary file. I wrote a program which updates strings in this file, as long as the old and new strings are exactly the same length. This is a strong limitation on what can be modded today. seiya gets credit for finding the files. I have unpacked and given some description here.

Based on the download statistics, I see 40 people have downloaded. If anybody has feedback, I am interested to learn. In particular, does the Feeble/Fearsome Warrior line now seem more meaningful? It buffs UE and nerfs Sophons.

Wish I could give you meaningful feedback but unfortunately I cannot, due to the nature of changes and my own lack of play knowledge (Minor tweaks can be hard to notice). Hell I'm still not even sure of what all food does in game still but for what it is worth, I have played with your mod, and I do remembing like the hero trait balancing from a cosmetic side. I can't wait for them to release modding support so I don't have to choose only one mod. Running the Pimp my galaxy mod currently.

As of 1.0.14, this mod is now merged into my community balance mod:



/#/endless-space/forum/37-modding/thread/15801-released-community-bug-fix-balance-mod



55 downloads before being retired.