I've been trying to make games where reds are no longer at a disadvantage and am wondering about the Rob/Steal Factors. Default is 100% while the range it can be set at is 10 - 850 in increments of 10. What would happen if I either lowered or raised this number? I tried doing a search on it but got no help that way.

Ahab,
In a nutshell, the lower the percentage, the easier it is for the red to steal/rob. The higher the percentage, the more experience the red needs.

From my site, http://www.tw-cabal.com/formulas.html

Evil Rob/Steal Settings
The Math:
There are two settings that affect how much you can rob or steal. The RobFactor, and the StealFactor. These settings are determined by the Sysop. (Although in MBBS mode, they are fixed.) They are measured as a percentage, i.e. 50%.

Here is the formula you need to use to figure out how much you can rob from a port with minimal chance of a bust.
(3 / %RobFactor) * EXP
Example: (Rob Factor is 50%. Your experience is 10,000.)
3 / .5 = 6, 6 * 10,000 = 60,000
You can rob 60,000 credits.

Here is the formula for stealing holds:
EXP / (30 * %StealFactor)
Example: (StealFactor is 70%. Your experience is 3,500.)
30 * .7 = 21, 3500 / 21 = 166.6 holds. (166 holds, drop fractions!)

For your convince, I have put the default values for a MBBS and a Classic game.
MBBS:
EXP * 6 = Maximum Credits you can rob at once.
EXP / 21 = Maximum holds you can steal at once.

Classic:
EXP * 3 = Maximum Credits you can rob at once.
EXP / 30 = Maximum holds you can steal at once.

Be sure to check the settings the sysop is using in a classic game by pressing * at the Game Menu. (The first menu after you choose which game you want to play.) And remember, even if you follow these settings, your chance of busting is around 1 in 50. You WILL bust!

-Traitor

Thanks Traitor. That does help.

Hey Ahab, when are reds at a disadvantage? Red's rule the game right now unless they're not playing correctly. Especially when you have two reds on a corp and a blue to furb.

Reds are at a disadvantage in combat (unless there are edited ships that reds can use which are comparable with the best blue ships).

Reds are at a disadvantage in edited games if planet production is high enough.

Reds are at a disadvantage if a blue can play long enough to get a lvl 4 planet. At that point, a blue planet trading will out-cash a red doing sdt.

It really depends how long the blue can keep the level 4. Getting there is one thing, but usually by that time the red will have a lot more resources... so the blue needs to keep and make use of his level 4 for long enough to catch up and surpass the red. But still, point taken, once there are level 4 planets, you're generally much better off being blue.

quote:Originally posted by Cherokee-TLTT

It really depends how long the blue can keep the level 4. Getting there is one thing, but usually by that time the red will have a lot more resources... so the blue needs to keep and make use of his level 4 for long enough to catch up and surpass the red. But still, point taken, once there are level 4 planets, you're generally much better off being blue.


Unless you're playing against the dastardly Doctor Who and his band of brigands...then it doesn't matter if you're red or blue; you still end up dead. [:P]

quote:Originally posted by Ahab

I've been trying to make games where reds are no longer at a disadvantage and am wondering about the Rob/Steal Factors. Default is 100% while the range it can be set at is 10 - 850 in increments of 10. What would happen if I either lowered or raised this number? I tried doing a search on it but got no help that way.

Ahab ; after you've read all the info on rob/steal factors, and if
you have Excel ...

you may want to download my Red's Helper from http://geocities.com/videotees/hintstips.html
And play with it a bit to SEE how the settings
change the factors.