Updated manual on covert ops

[Spinner]

http://www.planetarion.com/index.php...=10&submenu=35

check it out, I hope it isn't too technical towards the end. It SHOULD explain the whole mystery, and make sure everyoen can be prepared for the speedgames remaining.

[Wandows]

makes sence to me =), though i did have to read that formula part twice cuz the first time it was a tad unclear to me what the numbers meant. Other then that it gives a nice summery of cov-ops, i might even begin to understand how they work

[Tactitus]

Is that formula accurate for R10, or have there been some code changes?

[Spinner]

There have been several changes actually, and this explanation is for the CURRENT code, not what was used in rd 10. (not just changes, but quite staggering bugfixes!)

[cbk100]

Yeah finaly it has been corrected and my knowledge to it from the speedgames last weekend tells that now it it more or less perfectly as it should be.

There can be no doubt that b4 the changes cov-ops was far too powerfull and actualy to have a gal doing nothing but cov-opping and in the end donating EVERYTHING to 1 planet, that planet would be a secure winner of the round.

Now security centers is a serious construction to consider (b4 it was just there and was more or less useless), cause now just a few of them makes a serious differnece. This brings in another strategic aspect of the game and that is always nice.

What I could miss, is that cov-ops is not as based on size (like it is now so that only small planets can use it), but instead make it more based on how you build up planets. What about making constructions which makes cov-ops more powerfull and let constructions and research be the major factors deciding how powerfull cov-ops are. That would bring in a lot more strategy to the game and it will make cov-ops fun for everyone (or at least posible to be fun for everyone) and not just the small ones.

cbk

[Andy_r]

So there is no point in having more than 30% security centres because the bonus is capped?

It would be very useful to know if there are similar limts to the other constructions - a limit of 60 finance centres has been rumoured.

[Spinner]

CBK, size has never mattered in covert ops, just stealth and alertness.

Andy_r: Correct, 30 % is the max bonus on finance centers.
The research labs max out at 20% as written in the description.

[cbk100]

LOL spinner but I'm sorry to say that you are giving me a laugh now, cause it doesn't seem like you know your own formulas.

Score matters close to EVERYTHING as when you are big you can not steal as many resources as if you are small. I don't know the exact formulas, but I know for sure that if you cov-op a person above you in the rankings and he has enough res for you to get MAX res then you get more than 1k of each res (1 agent costs 1k of each) for each agent you send. If you cov-op a target much smaller than yourself you cap close to nothing. If you are small and cov-op a very big player you can steal like VERY high amounts of res (at least 100k of each). I don't know if there is a limit but one thing is for sure and that is that how big you are matters a lot.

cbk

[Andy_r]

no, Spinner is entirely right (barring unforseen bugs of course).

What he posted is the forumula that determines *success or failure* of a covert op.

There is an *entirely different* formula (or set of formulas for each type of operation) that determines what a successful operation actually achieves, which is what you are talking about.

[cbk100]

ahhh we are talking beside eachother then :-)

Seemed a bit hard to think that Spinner didn't know how his own game was made, but now I understand better since we talk beside eachother.

cbk

[ils]

mm, covert ops looks cool to me
onl a bit hard to understand in the start:/

[Gerbie]

http://jpaweb01.planetarion.com/manu...742959&page=14
Security Centre
These Security Facilities help against hostile Covert Operations, raising your normal alert level. This is achieved through having 30% of your buildings as Security Centres.
Total immunity from covert operations is possible with 30% of your constructions as Security Centres at the same time as setting your Engineering top priority to Security.

http://jpaweb01.planetarion.com/manu...878113&page=17
Alertness works a little bit different.
All races have a minimum alertness of 60.
Security centers will raise the planets minimum alertness by the percentage of Security centers * 3, with the bonus being capped at 35%. This means in order to be immune from covert-ops you need the full 35% bonus and security as priority 2 for engineering. As this gives (60*1.35)+20=101 - this is having 11% of your constructions as security centres.
With the secuirty as top priority only 5% of constructions need to be security centres to be immune

The minimum alertness is the number your alertness will DECREASE TOWARDS every tick if it is higher.

So how can I be immune with an alertness of 96 ???
You can with help from your Engineers security setting:

When a covert operation is attempted, the following formula decides whether it was a success or a failure:
random(25) + stealth - target_alertness - engineering_alert_bonus must be higher than 1 for the operation to succeed.

Engineering alert bonus is 30,20,10 or 0 depending on your security priority (first, second, third, none).
Since max stealth is 95, and random(25) can be max 25, we are looking at max 120 on the first half of the formula.
Max alertness is 96, and with first priority on security, we add 30, and see that we end up with 126.

So, with 30 % security centers, AND first priority on Security with the engineers, you are immune.

http://jpaweb01.planetarion.com/cons...pl?rn=13371337
These Security Facilities help against hostile Covert Operations, raising your alertness. If you manage to have 30% Security Centres (Max Bonus), you will be close to immunity. If you want FULL immunity, you need 30% + engineering priority on security.

This is no quote (I made this up):
<K@l> u will now need 1st prioity and 17.5% sec centres for immunity - having more than 17.5% will have no affect
<K@l> thats after the fix