Stock Quirks (SEV)

There are a number of quirks in Space Empires V that aren't technically bugs because they can be corrected via modding. Here is a list of some of them, which may be useful for someone creating a new mod based off of stock, or even a barebones version of the Balance Mod which only fixes these quirks and doesn't change any major game mechanics (perhaps to be used as a base for other mods).

* All standard sized weapons increase by **5 damage per level**, regardless of size, cost, rate of fire, range, etc. (This also applies to small weapons, but they were eventually patched to increase by only 1 damage per level, making fighters less OP.) This means that at the maximum level (100), the **base damage output of a weapon is irrelevant**, as it is vastly **outweighed by the flat bonus damage** from levels. Thus, in the long run, the best weapons are those with the best stats apart from damage. And curiously, the humble *meson blaster* is one of the best weapons to use!
* "The evasion bonuses in this mod are too damn high!" Light hulls such as frigates and fighters get evasion bonuses such that they're **practically impossible to hit except at point blank range** - but they're also the fastest hulls, so the only way you can get that close is if you use a light hull yourself! Why even bother researching heavy ships?
* This is a bit controversial - some consider it a quirk, and some a feature - but for completeness it will be listed here. SEV uses the **same engines per move value for all ship hulls**, with **larger hulls allowed fewer engines** to make them slower. This has the odd effect of causing heavy ships to devote a disproportionately small amount of space to engines, and to have a disproportionately small amount of supply (without supply storage) for using weapons and special systems. Of course, adding supply storage to make up the "extra" space increases the endurance of the ship, which is reasonable since it's a larger ship. Mods that work around this typically use a system known as quasi-newtonian propulsion.
* Also regarding engines, light ships can install a **huge number of engines**, which is very tedious for the player designing them. (The frigate can install 12!) Mods have worked around this in various ways - increasing the size, cost, and thrust of engines while reducing engines per move, adding heavy engines in addition to standard engines to give players flexibility, and so on.
* Cloaking devices, nebulas, and other things that provide stealth **claim to "prevent level N scans"**. However this text is a carryover from Space Empires IV; the mechanics have changed slightly in the 5th game. A more accurate ability description would be **"prevents scans below level N"**, as now at equal ability values, sensors defeat cloaking, rather than vice versa.
* All the shipsets have a **varying number of slots**, e.g. a Terran frigate might have more armor slots than a Sithrak frigate, or whatever. This isn't particularly fair, as not only can players be **rewarded or penalized for their shipset choice**, but it's possible for a player to use a "cheat" shipset that fills up the entire design grid with slots, giving maximum flexibility. Fortunately the game was patched to include an override to use standardized slot layouts for all ships, but it's disabled in stock; some mods turn it on.