Sorting the build options

This topic is about what you might fix with the original build options, not how to actually do the sorting. To learn more about how to sort, check out the 'Cameo Sorting' topic at modenc.

Original order of build options:

Building:
Power Plant
Refinery
Barracks

War Factory
Air Force Cmd.
Naval Yard
Service Depot
Battle Lab
Robot Control
Ore Purifier 
Tech Level:
1
1
2

2
3
4
6
8
10
10
Cost:
800
2000
500

2000
1000
1000
800
2000
600
2500
Building:
Tesla Reactor
Refinery
Barracks
Naval Yard
War Factory
Radar Tower

Service Depot
Battle Lab
Nuclear Reactor
Industrial Plant
Tech Level:
1
1
2
2
2
3

6
7
9
10
Cost:
600
2000
500
1000
2000
1000

800
2000
1000
2500
Building:
Bio Reactor
Slave Miner
Barracks

War Factory
Psychic Radar
Naval Yard

Battle Lab
Grinder

Tech Level:
1
1
2

2
3
4

8
9

Cost:
600
1750
500

2000
1000
1000

2000
600

From the table it is clear to see that the Soviet Naval Yard has been given the wrong TechLevel.
That is why, as part of the core fixes, we changed the Soviet Naval Yard's
TechLevel to 4.

It also seems that the Soviet Battle Lab should have a
TechLevel of 8, not 7, but this doesn't seem to make any difference so why worry?


In Red Alert 2, the Cloning Vats appeared on the structures menu. In Yuri's Revenge it was moved to the armory menu.
Why?
By removing it from the structures menu, all three sides have an even number of build options.
So? What does that matter?
Let's see shall we...

Note: For this example, I'll assume that we have already changed the Soviet Naval Yard's TechLevel.

Step 1.
We are Allied. We've built everything Allied.
We get a Soviet MCV. We build everything Soviet.
How does the structures menu look?

Power Plant Refinery
Barracks War Factory
Air Force Command Naval Yard
Service Depot Battle Lab
Robot Control Ore Purifier
Tesla Reactor Refinery
Barracks War Factory
Radar Tower Naval Yard
Service Depot Battle Lab
Nuclear Reactor Industrial Plant

Looks pretty neat doesn't it?
But if Allied had an odd number of structures then it would mess up the nice symmetry.
So there IS a reason why the Cloning Vats was moved - so that Yuri could have an even number of build options in the structures menu.

However, there are several problems with this idea of symmetry in the menu as we shall see...


Step 2.
We get a Yuri MCV. We build everything Yuri.
How does the structures menu look now?

Power Plant Refinery
Barracks War Factory
Air Force Command Naval Yard
Service Depot Battle Lab
Robot Control Ore Purifier
Tesla Reactor Bio Reactor
Refinery Slave Miner
Barracks Barracks
War Factory War Factory
Radar Tower Psychic Radar
Naval Yard Naval Yard
Service Depot Battle Lab
Battle Lab Grinder
Nuclear Reactor Industrial Plant

Oh dear. Looks like another mistake.
The Grinder should really appear earlier, in-line with the Service Depot.
So we should set the
TechLevel of the Grinder to 6 (NOT part of the core fixes).

How does the menu look now?

Power Plant Refinery
Barracks War Factory
Air Force Command Naval Yard
Service Depot Battle Lab
Robot Control Ore Purifier
Tesla Reactor Bio Reactor
Refinery Slave Miner
Barracks Barracks
War Factory War Factory
Radar Tower Psychic Radar
Naval Yard Naval Yard
Service Depot Grinder
Battle Lab Battle Lab
Nuclear Reactor Industrial Plant

Not bad.


Step 3.
Now we're going to see what the menu would look like if you originally chose to be Soviet.

Tesla Reactor Refinery
Barracks War Factory
Radar Tower Naval Yard
Service Depot Battle Lab
Nuclear Reactor Industrial Plant
Power Plant Bio Reactor
Refinery Slave Miner
Barracks Barracks
War Factory War Factory
Air Force Command Psychic Radar
Naval Yard Naval Yard
Service Depot Grinder
Battle Lab Battle Lab
Robot Control Ore Purifier

Not bad.


Step 4.
Now we're going to see what the menu would look like if you originally chose to be Yuri.

Bio Reactor Slave Miner
Barracks War Factory
Psychic Radar Naval Yard
Grinder Battle Lab
Power Plant Tesla Reactor
Refinery Refinery
Barracks Barracks
War Factory War Factory
Air Force Command Radar Tower
Naval Yard Naval Yard
Service Depot Service Depot
Battle Lab Battle Lab
Nuclear Reactor Robot Control
Ore Purifier Industrial Plant

Oh dear. D'ya know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking that at some point during the production of Yuri's Revenge they just stopped caring.
If they wanted the order to be right, they would not have allowed the 'other' two sides' structures to be mixed together at all.

Before we try to fix things any further, we should consider something else:
What if you're on a map where there's no water and the Naval Yards have been disabled?
Answer: The whole symmetry falls apart.

Solutions?

1. Make Naval Yards completely unavailable, make lots of other building changes to make sure there are an even number of build options (Yuri's Cloning Vats could be moved back to structures, Allied and Soviet would each need a building added or removed).

2. Provide in your mod a modified copy of all the necessary official maps to allow the building of Naval Yards even when there's no water.

3. Prevent player's from gaining access to other sides' build options.

4. Sod it. The build options are going to be disorganised.

Personally, I think #4 is your best option.

You may wish to reorder some of the buildings (such as the Cloning Vats, Grinder and Robot Control) but that's entirely up to you.

I'm not even going to bother looking at the armory menu because there's super weapons to consider, Allied have one less defense but two 'special-function' buildings, if you're France you get the Grand Cannon, it's a total nightmare.
I don't think the armory menu places your own side's build options first - I think they're mixed up just like they are for Infantry and Vehicles. I'm not sure about that without loading the game up to check.

And all of the above is without any of your own building additions.


Changes Since UMP7

Start / Welcome

Updating to 1.001

Updating to 1.002

Terrain Expansion

Extra Fixes (Optional)

046 / 048

Distributing Your Mod

Fix List

Credits