The Art of War mod was inspired by a Shrapnel games forum discussion about whether it was more important in SEIV to master the science of what techs to use, or the Art of War and strategy aspects of the game.



I am attempting to do three things with this mod. First I want to lessen the impact of the various racial traits, and techs that modify combat to hit and avoid getting hit. In the stock game slight imbalances between opponents in these areas can result in hugely disproportionate combat results.



Secondly, I want to try to extend the life of some of the weapons and other tech (Including smaller ship hulls) that become obsolete too early in the game in my opinion.



Finally I want to try and introduce more "Guns or Butter" choices in the game. Areas where decisions need to be made between military and economic strength.



One decision I made early on that will make this mod somewhat unique is that I will not allow myself to become limited by what the AI can or cannot handle. I will make no effort myself to optimize the AI for use in this mod. Others are free to do so if they wish, but I will not even attempt it. This may result in the mod being only useable for multiplayer SEIV. If that is the case, I can live with that.