Phoenixwcu, your idea about the weapon/ammo skill combo should work. I'll have to think on it for a while to decide if I want to employ such a "messy" (non-intuitive) solution. I already get too many complaints (which is why I wrote my mod's FAQ) from people who don't understand why some things are as they are. Making the ammo use a different skill will just add to the grief I get. But many thanks for the inspired idea!

I'd never thought of that. Huh. Good thoughts, Phoenixwcu!

My first thought was, "Hey, now we can have true Psi-Sniper weapons!"

Not if the weapon uses no ammo ...

Personally, I would gladly spend the time to manufacture psi-ammo if the weapons were effective. And it would give the psi factories something to do. If the ammo required psi and the weapon required sniper, then the psi power packs could be universal to all of the long-range weaponry in question. Fluff/story-wise, a higher alien tech cost for the psi power cells could represent asking psionic communities to communally charge these items with extra oomph. Or you have psionic staff who aren't combat capable who use rare alien materials to catalyze what would normally be a psionic discharge lasting seconds into a much more powerful burst that also requires more energy than a single human mind could produce at once.If you're the more conquering sort, they're just gadgets your psionic slaves need.

If no ammo use is desired or if it is impossible to have a psi effect use ammunition, then of course it's a no go.

It was my intention, originally, that psi weapons should remain "powered" by the psi, not by mundane human technology. However, your reasoning that the long-range psi weapons require more power than a human mind can generate does have a lot of merit and is a way to justify "psi ammo". I need to think on this for a while. I'll let it percolate in my subconscious while I play Star Wars Empire at War ...

PS - I can always count on you for some interesting thinking and advice. Thanks.

Longer ranges psi-sniper weapons = more precise focusing tools. Psi-power cells = More oomph to push that more coherent "beam" of psionic effect. Voila!

You should see my sci-fi fluff for one of the more complex Homeworld2 mods...pages and pages and pages. That's where I learned to focus, instead of actually typing out the 100+ tangents I want to go one.

Yeah i was actually thinking of the long range sniper/psionic item combos when i had the idea for ammo skill. And regarding the complaints of added complexity I don't see that as a problem rather adding more depth to the game. Though yeah it is not exactly the most elegent hack to allow two skills on an item. Also you might could extend the item using new weapon add-ons to provide 3+ skill required items. I.E. a weapon that really stinks till you mount some addons that can only fit it then it becomes comparable where the addons require additional skills. And yeah i know even more complexity. Anyway as always keep up the good work.

We all know how good that is too.

I reached the wargots today, on Veteran difficulty. I tell you what, it's the most fun I've ever had in all my UFO memories. I didn't lose a single guy, and the guys that DID get hurt, was from the blast radius from a wargot grenade. (Didn't notice it sailing through the air until too late, lol.)

Keep up the great work, SW. I'm having FUN!! (hehe)

Thanks, Gorre!

I must admit that I haven't read anything before about page 98 (or thereabouts) so if this has come up: ignore me

Is it possible to make close combat weapons that do energy (or other) damage? As it is my CC guys have just about one option against wargots and SG's: the laser pistol(s). Sure, the plasma shotgun is nice, and there is apparently a warp pistol later in the game (haven't got that far) but I like the idea of making the enemy taste my blade. Also, given how effective my sword-wielding maniac cyborg is against cultists I wouldn't want him turned to slag later in the game
If it's possible to link CC weapons to the psi-skill it opens up a whole new path for psionics too, though not being able to take damage well doesn't bode well for someone who is supposed to run up to people with guns... But hey, that's her problem, not mine

While I'm at it a plasma pistol would be nice too

Tubal, please look at my to-do list at the bottom of post #1 in this thread. Specifically, the items "plasma torch" and "warp shears". And I have no intention whatsoever of creating psionic melee weapons. Such an item would be non-thematic.

Hi,

I am playing the game with Weapon Rebalance Mod v3.04, and I am having one problem and looking for some help.

I have completed the research of blueprints for railgun, needler and drone gauss autocannon, but none of them appear neither in manufacturing list or glossary. Do I need to complete anything else to actually manufacture these weapons?

Thanks a lot for your help,

injunjoe

No psi-swords, fair enough. I was mostly just interested in whether it was possible. Energy-based swords (à la powersword/lightsaber/etc) is still something I'm personally interested in though.

I saw the "plasma torch" reference in the list but didn't immediately think of it as a pistol

injunjoe, try pressing the "No Factory" button to see if you lack the required factories.

Isn't V3.04 one of the versions that had the research but not the actual weapons? Alot of people where confused about that. you may need to update, and edit your saved game to get the weapons, unless you just want to update and start a new game.

Welcome to the forum. You need to update the mod version to 3.07 or higher.

The plasma torch and warp shears are melee weapons. Neither has a range beyond a meter or two.

My my... look who's been busy!

Am back from Dubai... and started playing this again. (Had forgotten my CD so I couldn't load it on the laptop... stuck for a month with minesweeper...grrr!). I haven't yet finished a single AS game (This is my 5h restart)... currently playing the 1.2 version un-moded untill I get my tactical braincell(s?) working again.

Haven't taken the time to read all your changelog SW, but I did a search for "Tactical nukular* device" and haven't found a thing yet!

* edited for Dubya friendly spelling.

I despise all things Bush. Please do me the favor of not reminding me who (the more stupid) half of my country voted for. thx


PS - welcome back!

ShadoWarrior: Any update on including new skins (or option for including new skins) for you duralloy armor?

Tubal: Could you make some new Skins for ShadoWarrior's other new weapons, so that they look differently (like the .50AE Desert eagle, the different SMGs and stuff).

I know I ask a lot...

Tubal has already been working on new skins for both the Duralloy armors and other items in my mod. Please be patient. I said a while ago that it would take several weeks.

Phantastic news, thank you!

I don't want to be annoying, but I had just an idea, which I think is GREAT. Since you seem to be able to include different armor types, why don't you make about 3 or more types of all armors (which all have the same values), but each could be assigned a different skin.

For example (and I just consider Tubals skins here, because these are the only custom one's i know):
1) Green Camouflage armor
2) Wargot Camouflage armor
3) Standard armor (with the default skin)
and so on

So it would be possible in game to produce the armor you like most. This would allow skinners to make for example a "Captain's" armor or something, which should look a little different from the others...

I hope I made myself clear (I can't describe it better, because I am amiss of words in my euphoria about this idea).

Of course this would mean a very close co-work with skinners (Tubal mostly )

I'm not going to create multiple armors that differ only in skinning, sorry.

Tubal, Gorre, ShadoWarrior,

Thanks guys for your quick comments. Just updating the mod to the latest one did the trick, without editing the save games. Now I can manufacture those super weapons. There is one issue still, that is, those weapons I couldn't manufacture don't appear in the glossary even though I updated the mod. But this isn't a big problem.

Anyway, now I can start the game again. Thanks for this great mod, ShadoWarrior.

Okay I've got a bit of a problem - I can't seem to able to research AP ammo - the only thing I'm missing is a .50 cal weapon - but I already manufactured one (a sniper rifle) and some ammo for it - but it still says I don't have a .50 weapon. I believe I've read somewhere that someone had the same problem - but thru search I only hit the WR thread which is 100+ pages long ... :S
This happened on my newest profile under 3.14 version. O_o;

Hellbringer, that's not a mod problem. It's a bug in the game. Please search the General and Tips forums for one of the various threads that provide solutions. (I could give you the answer, but I wish to discourage off-topic questions in this thread.)

Two requests.

(1) Plasma SMG - 3 or 4 'round' bursts, poor accuracy, short range (20?) maybe 200-300 damage/round, one handed?
Something for rangers to use until needlers are available, or against enemies with high AP resistance? I know plasma pistols have been turned down, but I felt that something spitting a bunch of small globs of plasma at short range kind of kept with the feel of Plasma weapons. Of course, I'm not the one with a physics degree - feel free to say no.

(2) I see no long-range paralysis projector in the planned items. Please don't deny me my long-range paralysis projector: best psionic weapon by far. WG that can't move can't shoot.

Just installed the mod, not had a chance to do much with it yet. Wish I'd installed it sooner: I'm killing time (and WG) until I can take the mothership, and I've suddenly got a lot more challenge on my hands, and a lot of new techs that I really should have researched by now. Ah well. I'll manage.

How about of Duralloy Wakidzasi? As I know that 2xWakidzasi more effective than 1xKatana.

Far as I know it's there.

Sorry. I did'n noticed them.

Please read (or reread) the history.txt file that I supply with the mod. You might then discover other items you may have overlooked.

Some time back, ShadoWarrior, you asked for feedback on the various enemies.

Well, I've met the Wargot and the StarGhosts now, and I reckon they could probably take a bunch of girl scouts in a fair fight - but the odds wouldn't be far off even.

The problem is range and speed. The Wargot are unimpressive because they all attack at the same range - medium - and they're pretty slow. At the same range, human (Psionic/Cyborg) snipers are much more accurate, about as fast, and more damaging. And because all the Wargot always fight at medium range, the only time lots of snipers don't work is when you turn a corner, and walk into them.

StarGhosts are better, because the stars and defenders fight close-up, but because they're so much quicker than everything else, you can normally deal with them before the spiders and clouds finally arrive.

Compare this to the cultists - cyborgs and cultists attacking you at close range with SMGs and melee weapons, while more of them pound you at medium range with AKs and machineguns, and psionics snipe in the distance. And they (normally) all attack at once. If you take just snipers, you can't put the cyborgs down fast enough - you need a varied team, and tactics. The fights I've had against cultists have been the hardest, and most fun, in the game.

I'm not sure how far this is possible, but here's some suggestions on how to make the SG and WG more interesting:

Wargot
---------
They need (ideally) to attack at multiple ranges at once, they need to all attack at once (as far as possible), and their weapons need to outperform human weapons at the same range.
---> More agility: fire faster, get to combat quicker, so you have to deal with more at once.
---> If possible, tweak weapon selection. Make that chaingun thing the only weapon for the priests, so they have to run up close, and you have to handle WG at 2 ranges at once.
---> Seriously pump the range and accuracy of the WG plasma rifles. I'm thinking range 60, accuracy 75, and make them fire quicker. This would make them too powerful in human hands, so boost the plasma resistance of all the wargot - except maybe the priests and PA, which should be weaker (40% resist? 50% resist?) to plasma (but maybe more resistant to hard and laser), so you have to field a balanced spread of damage types.
---> Is there any way to make the PA use something other than missile launchers? They tend to miss, and they're just not scary. And the PA needs to be MUCH quicker. They're dead before they've got more than a couple of shots off, at best.

StarGhost
---------
Interesting, well balanced and TOUGH enemies, but they do very little damage, and the spiders and clouds take so long to turn up, and the defenders and stars are so fast, that you've plenty of time to deal with them before the spiders are in range.
---> So make that range longer. I'm think range 120, accuracy 80. Let's see you brush off stars and defenders when the spiders are knocking your men down from the far end of the map.
---> One of the SG units should have a fairly hefty warp damage attack - it can't be the defenders, or they'd be too hard. Maybe the hover, at medium range? It's possible they already do - none of them have lived long enough for me to find out. So maybe a few more HP on the hovers?

You asked what aura on the clouds: advanced interference. And if possible, given them psychic detection.

Great mod. Thank you.

The starghosts are the dullest to fight really (or they are as far as I've gotten anyway), they are only difficult because they are hard to kill. This isn't SW's fault of course, but I would like to see them changed even more then they already are
More similar speeds could be one idea, making them attack in groups. What they'd really need is an AI overhaul but I suspect that's a bit outside the scope of the mod (if it's even possible).

Khamul, thank you very much for your well thought out commentary and suggestions. Unfortunately, it is not possible (AFAIK) to change the speed of enemies. But I'll see what I can do about improving their weapons per your suggestions.

I already found them. Thanks.

Hello ShadoWarrior.
I've just registered to thank you for your wonderful mod.
However, there are small bits of it (as of v3.14) that catched my attention and I'd like to point out.
Nothing world-changing, of course, just small suggestions to improve your mod further.

1. Could you change camera for 66mm and 85mm ammo from
"tactical/configs/cameras/camera_ammo.txt" they are using now to
"tactical/configs/cameras/camera_reti-pistol.txt"? I'm talikng about equipment ids 195, 196, 197 and 198.
These types look odd in equipment screen as of now.

2. Throwing knives (equipment id 138). Currently, glossary ("Equipment/138::SHORT_DESCRIPTION") clearly states that throwing knives can be using in melee, which is false. Could you modify glossary entry or, better, add melee attack to throwing knives?

3. Could you replace "tactical/models/weapons/humans/66mm.txt" model used for fuel cylinder (equipment id 389) with "tactical/models/weapons/humans/napalm.txt"? And "tactical/configs/cameras/camera_ammo.txt" used for camera with "tactical/configs/cameras/camera_napalm.txt"? Simply more consistent looking.

4. It is also possible to use same model "tactical/models/weapons/humans/napalm.txt" for small fuel cylinder
(equipment id 391). I have no suggestions for camera atm, may be "tactical/configs/cameras/camera_ammobig.txt"?

5. There are also glossary pictures for flamer and fuel cylinder in share/textures/interface/opt/ufopedia/equip/.
IIRC they are 019(16).tga and 021(16).tga (need to check this). Could they be used instead of camerapkm.txt and camera66mm.txt?

6. Having nothing better to do, I poked in tactical/models/weapons/humans/ and created some new models for warp pistol (human edition), railgun and laser machinegun. Would you be interested in using them, and where can I upload them?

Welcome to the forum.


I'll check it out.


Sorry, no. I won't change the Glossary just because an item is bugged and doesn't work properly. It's my intent that the Glossary reflect how things should be, not how they actually are. I know this is counter-intuitive (and perhaps annoying), but I'd rather not have to change the Glossary later on if this silly game is ever fixed.


I'll check this out too. Thanks.


Perhaps. See answers above.


Don't think so. If those "text" files could be edited, perhaps, but that's beyond me.


You can email them to me, or upload them to savefile.com and then PM me the URL to get them.

Of course control######.txt are binaries. What I meant was take some control######.txt file which points to different tga picture, but same coordinates in it, then via hex-editing replace filename with correct one. I'll send modified ones to you also.
I just need to get home, which will be within 10 hours from now.

edit: I'm unsure these board's PM is functioning, so I'll double it here.
All model files and control######.txt for glossary are available at http://www.savefile.com/files/4511203.
Single zip file.

Sorry if this has already been said, but could you change the colours on your front page? The yellow on white is simply tooooo atomic! (plus I can't read it)

Also, I've just equiped my rangers with the all new MP7 (with accelerators). Now that is one hell of a weapon!

ShadoWarrior,
according to problem with powershields and cyborgs in your mod (yep, that question from FAQ provided with your mod).
Actually, adding following text into share/configs/units/armour_sr.txt

SubArmour_sr RECORD
_armour_name STR "Power shield"
_subrace_name STR "Soldier"
variant INT 1
actor INT 0
head INT 0
in_game STR "tactical/models/units/tools/powershield.txt"
torso STR "tactical/models/units/na_torso.txt"
backpack STR "tactical/models/units/na_backpack.txt"
particle STR "tactical/particles/energy groups/powershield.pgrp"
END_OF_SubArmour_sr

and incrementing ListOfArmour_sr counter accordingly allows game to use powershiled model when equipped on cyborg.

Thank you very much for finding this. Your fix will be in the next release of the mod.

No problem.
What about models? Did you like them? Need more?

I downloaded them, but I haven't had the time to examine them. I apologize. I'll get to them as soon as I can, but it might not be for a few more days.

There's nothing to apologize for. I've made two more - one for bayonett, and another - well, I tried to make plasma torch, but result looks like some bad parody for lightsaber. May be you find use to it. I'll PM you URL.

HK UMP 45 is "twoHanded BOOL TRUE". Is this intentional? The glossary description does not hint at it having to be wielded with two hands, unlike the other SMGs.

It is intentional, as is the Colt SMG also being two-handed. You would know this if you had read the FAQ that came with the mod.

I don't agree. If i can wield two MP5SD3, why I can't wield two Colt SMG? And vise versa.
I can wield two UZI - it's normal, because it has 'bullpup' system. Same as SMG Chestnut(PP Kashtan)(not in game). But where you seen, that somebody wielded two MP5? It's abnormal! Maybe only MP5K - small and handy, can be hidden under you jacket. Any other MP5 - has assault modifications and has NOT small sizes and weight.

And another bug. When I attach Weapon Link to Needler and giving them to my Cyborg, I can't shoot! Why?

The UMP and Colt SMG has been discussed in this thread before, and I will not discuss them again.

Ok. But how about Weapon Link mod?

Have you read the FAQ file for my mod?