I'm stuck!

[Aralez]

Sigh. Atm nothing i try turns into anything useful.

 

1. I only can add some faces and voices to the crewpool (and i did even run out of voices!) , no new models (e.g. copied reti-model), no tanks, not even Transgenants. This is because of the game NOT accepting anything else except the MALE and FEMALE models in the crew-pool. Believe me i tried EVERYTHING, i added armours, creatures, copied models, heads etc. ... but the game doesn't accept them. The only thing i managed to see was a reticulan with a BIG male head, companied by a grey (Mr.Slooz) in the tutorial mission. But that was caused by a bug.

 

2. Voice and sound files : I simply can't find ANY useful voicepacks etc. It seems either the voicefiles i find are two limited or in an unknown format (packed). Or the downloadlinks are broken.

 

3. Modelling software. Sigget discovered that NO known 3d-software can read the UFOAM-model files. I tried BLENDER, ANIM8TOR, GMAX and even some good old pencil-on-paper work, No success.

 

4.Adding new Aliens, might work BUT their names DO NOT show up in the tactical missions or elsewhere. I can already see the complaints about the "bugs" here.

 

So, basically it comes to this: I can--

 

-Add new faces (camouflaged, normal, some funny ones and cyborg)

-EVENTUALLY add some new aliens (probably w/o names) which basically would be copies of aliens already in the game. (with new sounds, if i CAN find them, and different armours and AI etc.)

-And..... Oh that was it

 

I'm really close to giving up. What shall i do? Add those "final" things i actually CAN do, or wait for the next bunch of tools/patches.?

[Cpl. Facehugger]

Complain to slaughter so he can complain to Altar!

 

Or you could do the things you can do...and wait for a bit.

[BulletSix]

hmm ... i would say don't wait, the next patch could be a bit away.

 

And i liked your idea of having a fixed set of troops (marse-spec-ops ... or was it moon?), less new equipment per new base etc. (you mentioned those things on another thread).

 

Is there a possibility to add custom missions? e.g. a special rescue-mission (like the one with the two greys) for getting a new crew-member...

 

As for the soundpacks ... have you thought about Jagged Alliance 2 ? they have some nice soldier-voices.

 

If you want, you can drop me a mail (bulletsix@web.de) or pn and we could find a way to "port" those files from my pc to yours (afair i have the german ones only ...) ...

 

*thinks ivan in UFO:AM .... nice*

[Lurker]

Well, you can't do beyond what you can do.

 

When you have reached the point that you can do no more, yet you still want to do more, then the only solution is to find a way to get in contact with Altar and present to them what you want to do. Then they will either say 'no way', or they will say 'do it this way', or they will say 'putting it on a list for the next patch, so wait to see what happens.'

 

If UFO:AM modding is to continue, then at some point some modder is going to have to get cozy with Altar and become one of the 'inside' guys, or Altar is going to have to open up even more.

[Slaughter]

I have now contacted Cenega. It is they who decide whether we get what we need to make total conversions and proper mods for Aftermath. I have asked for a 3d plugin and the sourcecode. Will keep you posted.

[Lurker]

Cool!

 

Cause I think Strahd and the Stargate mod hit a brick wall and came to a stop on some of the same issues. Maybe I'm wrong, but I sense that everything kind of stopped, because a Stargate kind of total conversion isn't really possible with what modding tools they have now.

 

We definitely don't want Aralez to stop, if we can help it. Aralez does good stuff!

 

Keeping fingers crossed!

[Aralez]

Thx for the nice comments everyone, i really needed them. As you said, i felt like i was running against a brick wall. Bulletsix, excellent idea! I think i have Jagged Alliance 1+2 somewhere, maybe even "Unfinished bussiness". I 'll look at their sound files. Damnit, really good idea!

 

Btw, fnurg looked into adding custom missions, but he couldn't find a way, and the map-editor is a pain-in-the-a**

 

>>>And i liked your idea of having a fixed set of troops (marse-spec-ops ... or was it moon?), less new equipment per new base etc. (you mentioned those things on another thread).<<<<<

 

This would be a new mod and most likely NOT compatible with the RBMOD at all. But it is completely do-able. I'll take a look in it AFTER the final RBMOD release (~6.0) promised! (I will do a poll about the scenario of the mod then)

 

Ok, so here is what i will do now. I will add those new crewmembers maybe with new voices, correct final balancing issues (if there are such) and upload the whole thing as 6.0. Then i will maybe do a "hardcore-RB-weapons-for-Aliens" plugin (for Black-Almaz, heehee) and will then CLOSE work on the RB-MOD until some new tools/patches appear.

 

After that i will make that new mod Bulletsix reminded me of.

 

Thx to everyone for your input, again!

 

Have fun!

 

Aralez

[BlackAlmaz]

very funny...hahaha...NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lurker]

We like to tease the BlackAlmaz, but he is right. It's a bit easier to kill the aliens than it was before, so it does kind of beg Aralez to give the aliens some more of the new weapons.

 

BlackAlmaz is also right when he says "NO" to giving the aliens all the weapons in a future IronMan version.

 

The eq_mod needs to be a dynamic mod. Since it can be added midgame, I assume that it can be removed mid game, presumably during a Geoscape save? If you were to replace the eq_mod with an iron_mod, I assume that you could delete the iron_mod if it gets too impossible, and go back to the eq_mod or go to nothing?

 

Also, with Aralez's mini-tutorial on how to change the eq_mod, I image we could have a variety of these floating around until we find the right balance? If some of us figure out how to mod the eq_mod ourselves, we could get in there and dynamically give the aliens more weapons, and then if it is too tough, take some way, and keep going until we find a balance that we like. And eventually find a balance that everyone likes.

[Aralez]

I will make three eq_mod's as a start.

 

1. (easy) The available eq-mod

2. (medium) All RB-weaponsincluding grenades EXCEPT the BFG's , NUKER and HOVER

3. (hard) All RB-weapons

 

But don't expect to see the last two before the next week. I will try to complete the final RB-Mod this weekend first. Maybe later a glossary for it will follow from Llama8 as an "addon" to the mod.

 

The soundfiles Bulletsix suggested could be used in the other mod, i probably need them there but i don't have any FULL plans for that atm.

 

Oh and maybe i will do an updated version of the "famous-people"-plugin for the RBmod

[Lurker]

Sounds great to me!

[BulletSix]

will the rb-6.0-release compatible with rb-5.6-savegames?

 

And I thought you talked about a new mod (spec-ops-mod) not a version of the RB-mod, already in the original thread

 

OT:

 

just got a bfg4500 and 2 Berzerk-armors around the time the biomass starts to grow ... looking very nice so far (a bit early to get them imho, but nice )

 

greets

BS

[Lurker]

While you are finishing the RB-Mod, I have a request.

 

The SNIPER rifle takes up a lot of backpack space for a weapon that only puts out five shots and then has to be discarded because it can't be reloaded. The damage it does isn't all that powerful either for an endgame weapon. It usually takes about three shots from the SNIPER to down an alien, and it only has five shots. To make things worse, my soldiers tend to miss half of their shots, which means that they run out of shots, the alien is still coming, and they have to switch to another gun in order to keep from getting killed, if they are alone.

 

The SNIPER rifle needs more power, or more rounds before it expires, or it needs a reload cartridge, or it needs to be smaller so you can put more of them into the backpack. The SNIPER needs to be looked at, rethought, and rebalanced. Out of all the new rebalance weapons, the SNIPER is the weapon that has the most handicaps. The only real thing it has going for it is range.

 

All the other RB weapons I'm very happy with. But, I eventually noticed that I have been leaving discarded SNIPER rifles all over the battlefield, which ends up with holes in backpacks, and during a tour of multiple missions, I was sometimes running out of ammunition. The conclusion or solution I came to was to carry the Accuracy International instead of the SNIPER.

[Lurker]

I've got it bad! I don't know why I like trying out new weapons so much. Tonight, I thought of a couple of more weapons that would be cool.

 

The aliens have the Plasma Grenade Launcher, and I was thinking it would be cool to have a Plasma Machine Gun with a fast rate of fire that does splash damage. It would be like a machine gun UZI, but use the Hybrid Power Cell. And it would have an area effect or splash damage and spray a lot of plasma. It would be like a machine gun version or handgun version of the Plasma Rifle.

 

Even cooler, though, I found myself thinking of a machine gun type version of the PSIBURNER. The hot little bullets in the FLAMIN' MACHINE GUN would have smaller area effect and less damage than the PSIBURNER, but there would be a fast rate of fire and a lot more bullets and it would be reloadable. And as the alien runs away, he would leave a line or a trail of fire where he has been. It would be like in the cartoons where the critters leave a trail of fire behind them as they run. Just have the fire from the bullets be long lasting but no sizable area effect, so that it can really build up a trail of fire as they run.

 

It would be like shooting flares out of a machine gun, except the flares would ignite when they hit a target or reach their destination. I have heard of people being killed by flare guns. A MACHINE FLARE GUN? Or a Nitro Glycerin machine gun?

[Aralez]

Hehe, Lurker what you describe is EXACTLY the definition of the Autocannon. Re-Read your message and you'll see what i mean.

Btw, the SNIPER comes early in the game and i don't wanted it to be too "uber" at that stage. So i gave it some handicaps

 

Bulletsix: Yes the 6.0 version will be 100% able to use 5.6 savegames. No problem there.

[UfoMan]

Just double or triple the number of rounds in the SNIPER gun.

 

Handicaps are fine. But, a discardable weapon should have at least ten shots, and preferably twelve to fifteen.

[BlackAlmaz]

read the damn ufo pedia...it first sniper you get the remington ha only 4 shots...the psg1 has 5 shots and than on has 10...untill the falocn

 

and arealz i had alkl the good guns beore i got those sniper...that dont do anything anymore...you should all the human weapons apear soon...but in limmited numbers

[Cpl. Facehugger]

read the damn ufo pedia...it first sniper you get the remington ha only 4 shots...the psg1 has 5 shots and than on has 10...untill the falocn

You see, those weapons can be reloaded in the field with clips. Thus, you don't have to discard the weapon once its shots are out.

[Lurker]

Cpl. FaceHugger is right, and of course, I have already put in my vote for doubling or tripling the number of rounds in the SNIPER.

 

Of all the RB-Weapons, the SNIPER is the only one where its limitations have been translating into annoyance for me. That's not bad at all, for a bunch of new weapons.

 

The SNIPER usually doesn't make it past the first battlefield. And if you have two or three more missions to go before you get back to base, it makes no sense to carry the SNIPER in the first place. It's just ends up littering the first battlefield where you drop it when its empty. Just as well leave the SNIPER in the inventory and fill your belt up with Accuracy International ammo instead.

 

BTW, I don't think the UfoPedia has anything to say about the new SNIPER rifle, at least not yet. Furthermore, Aralez said he was 'stuck' looking for things he could do, and I suggested that he take a look at the SNIPER before he quits.

 

Still, the following is the most important part of Aralez's current plans, in my humble opinion:

 

I will make three eq_mod's as a start.

 

1. (easy) The available eq-mod

2. (medium) All RB-weaponsincluding grenades EXCEPT the BFG's , NUKER and HOVER

3. (hard) All RB-weapons

 

 

I would say for the HARD eq_mod, the aliens should be given all the weapons and see how it plays out. Or, maybe there should be a fourth eq_mod, the UBER, where the aliens get all the weapons at the 'appropriate' time?

 

And of all the new RB-Weapons I would also say that, in addition to Aralez's original list, the aliens should not have the LurkerGun or the LaserGattling at the MIDDLE or MEDIUM setting. That LaserGattling in the HEAVY weapons column rocks big time!

 

It would be a lot of fun to try different game balances and to see what BlackAlmaz ends up liking best.

[Lurker]

Hehe, Lurker what you describe is EXACTLY the definition of the Autocannon. Re-Read your message and you'll see what i mean.

 

Well, I thought that you would be wrong, but you are absolutely right. The AutoCannon with the Burn brand of ammunition is exactly what I was looking for. It's critical to get the Burn type of ammo into the definition.

 

The AutoCannon is one of your creations isn't it? I think I tried your RB version of the AutoCannon a couple of weeks ago with just the regular ammo, and it was just like any other machine gun. And, truthfully, I had memories of the overweight and underpowered AutoCannon in XCom clouding my vision, so I never went back to your creation.

 

But, the Rebalance AutoCannon with the burn ammo mows down the Reticulans and leaves a trail of fire as they run. Great stuff, I must admit. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

 

Now I have got to see what the other type of ammunition does. It's always fun to discover a new toy, especially one that's been overlooked.

[Aralez]

Ok, will triple the Snipers ammo. And raise it's damage a tiny bit.

 

(Done!)

 

The different eq_mods will be made next week after the release of 6.0.

 

CU soon with 6.0,bye!

[Lurker]

This last week, I was wondering about a specialized scenario and how it would play out.

 

I was wondering if Aralez gave the aliens ALL the weapons (Rebalance and Everything else) in an UBER_eq_mod, except the 5.62 version of the LurkerGun, how would it play out? If our soldiers had a generous supply of 5.62 LurkerGuns, and the Reticulans had access to everything else except the LurkerGun, could our soldiers hold their own against the Reticulans?

 

The apparent super-strength of the 'old' LurkerGun had me thinking along these lines.

 

With these eq_mods, there's hundreds of different scenarios that can be played out. And, I imagine that if we had twenty of these eq_mods, we could switch from one to the next one tactical mission after another trying out different game balances or mixtures of weapons that the Aliens show up with. In a single UFO:AM game, a person could try hundreds of different scenarios if he had a hundred different eq_mod BALANCES to feed into the UFO Aftermath subdirectory one at a time.

 

I just assume that you would make your eq_mod switch during a Geoscape save, but maybe that's not even necessary, as the next tactical mission generated after the switch of an eq_mod would be generated using a different balance?

 

Where the eq_mods are concerned, my mind runs wild with the possibilities.

[Aralez]

Maybe we could get Sigget or another programmer to make a editor especially for that files?

[Lurker]

What you would need to do is create some sort of working 'baseline' eq_mod in which the aliens are given everything that they can be given.

 

Then you present the 'baseline' to sigget, and the new editor program's job would be to remove things from the baseline and create a custom eq_mod according to a user's desires.

 

I have never done any modding of anything. I did manage to unpack the eq_mod, I think. But, I couldn't make sense of it. It wasn't like it was some sort of list with a single check box to turn things on or turn them off. With work, I feel lucky if I can get in a half hour a day on the internet, and an hour or two playing a computer game. So, I really haven't had the time to figure out what my unpacked eq_mod data is telling me or how to properly change it.

 

So, yes, it would be neat to have a working eq_mod editor. If you, the Aralez, could create a 'baseline' mod in which the aliens are given ALL the weapons, then maybe somebody like sigget could find a way to automate the 'removal' process and thus create new eq_mod balances on the fly so to speak.

 

It would be cool to have an editor for the eq_mods. And, it would be a much simpler file for sigget or someone else to work with than the whole gamedata.vfs. But, someone would have to sell sigget or someone else on the idea of making such a tool. Last time I suggested something to sigget, I was kind of ignored, so I'm not the one to present the idea to him or to coax him into it. I have no clout with sigget.

 

You or Slaughter or someone with influence and clout with the sigget will have to approach him with our request, after you have created a 'baseline' eq_mod in which the aliens have been given everything.

 

Or, at least that's the way I see it.

[Aralez]

Ok, i will work on the eq_mods today. Hopefully a programmer takes your excellent idea (hint, you programmers, hint!) and makes that editor. A simple dos-batch-file should be all we need i think....