playable advent mod: details, feedback

[hunterkiller33]

 

Does anyone have a list of the perks, status effects and item effects in the code?

 

For soldier abilities, there is this, which is linked in the pinned resource thread:

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/3843350-soldiers-abilites-list/

 

For alien abilities, each alien has X2Ability_<alien name>.uc which defines all the abilities. For the medkit, actually this is already done in the "molt" effect of this mod, contributed by Lucubration; see PA_ViperAbilities.uc and PA_MoltCondition.uc. For items, see a file something like X2_ItemGrantedAbilitySet.uc (don't have the files here.)

 

I'm not aware of any other documentation, but if somebody wanted to write one based on what they have found, that would be great.

 

Yeah, I had no trouble locating the soldier abilities in the .ini files. What I was more interested in were abilities like regenerate, acid blob, rage and battle frenzy. Alien specific abilities and perks that I haven't really been able to find except for references. As for looking for what let the medkit cleanse things, I was hoping to try to create the ability myself for testing purposes, as I do not have the version you guys are currently working with.

So much for trying to save space by not utilizing the development tools. Gonna download those and get back to it.

[davidlallen]

Er ... I did not realize you were trying to make these changes just from ini files. No, these are all uc related changes which require the SDK.

[hunterkiller33]

Er ... I did not realize you were trying to make these changes just from ini files. No, these are all uc related changes which require the SDK.

Well, I had the Dev tools, but I had to make room for other programs related to my University work. Nothing else was as expendable, and I regret that. I've been making direct changes to the mod's .uc files with the Sublime Text 2 editor, and they have absolutely worked. Up until this point. I know what to change and where to change it, just not what to change it to.

 

By the way, a rookie has a hacking score of 5, the playable viper didn't even have the hacking skill listed. Just hack defense, which is superfluous because it is both organic, and player controlled. No enemies can hack, so i replaced it with hacking. We'll see how that goes on my next hack mission, but I think the hacking -ability- will also need to be applied to the list of character abilities, like hunker down.

Additionally, you wanted poison to apply disorient right? You know it applies -20 to aim and -6 to mobility as it stands, right?

[davidlallen]

We definitely need more testing to make sure an all-alien team is viable. I will add some hacking skill to all the aliens except chryssalid. Another player pointed out that the playable aliens can't rescue civilians, which is interesting, but perhaps realistic ...

 

I was thinking about several kinds of spit, or several different optional effects added to spit by levelups. Acid is one you mentioned, disorient was mentioned by somebody else.

[hunterkiller33]

We definitely need more testing to make sure an all-alien team is viable. I will add some hacking skill to all the aliens except chryssalid. Another player pointed out that the playable aliens can't rescue civilians, which is interesting, but perhaps realistic ...

 

I was thinking about several kinds of spit, or several different optional effects added to spit by levelups. Acid is one you mentioned, disorient was mentioned by somebody else.

Yes, I believe acid to be a good upgrade to give the Viper a late game boost against Mechs and heavy armor, since she can't really throw grenades.

[PepprmintButler]

I've been doing a playthrough with an ini-modded 0.6.1. Currently about to get to plasma.

 

General remarks :

- Aliens that don't get access to soldier weapons or specific weapons upgrades are utterly useless. I gave my Vipers access to Shotguns and Rifles (essentially a variation on the Ranger theme), and Mutons and MECs weild cannons which seems to make sense scale-wise.

- MEC wrecks are surprisingly difficult to come by. I just got enough to build my first one, 2 weeks away from plasma tech. He's completely obsolete by this point.

- rookies mid-game, with a 70 base aim stat, really need scopes and/or tracer bullets to even be able to feed off team kills properly. More incentive to give access to soldier weapons. Hopefully the "unnamed" animation contributor can make some magic happen on that front because the broken animations is the only reason I see not to do this.

 

Alien specific feedback :

- MEC : I've already talked at length of my vision for them. I do like a lot the suggestion in this thread about differentiating them from grenadiers with less deadly explosives, but more of it. I would really like to see a "micro missile bombardment" thing as a major/colonel ability, that would still deal low/mid damage but have extreme radius and would be able to level like half a large building in one go. Doesn't seem particularly complex implementation wise either. I would like to see an improved Shieldwall early in the "tank" tree. bg has an improved version of the ability up on the workshop if a reference is needed (I'd still add specific explosive damage resistance self-buff on top).

- Viper : I like them as a different flavor of Ranger. Shotguns and Rifles seem relatively natural. Poison is utterly useless, I keep the can in the slot for flavor but there are no situations where I would want to use it. First thing is to make it pierce armor ; second would be to up the damage, probably even at base level - 6 over three turns (effectively 2 at the beginning of next turn, further damage is usually irrelevant) is meh even early/mid game. A passive that boosts it further to keep it vaguely relevant late game would probably be a good idea. Upgrading to Acid seems like a logical direction to take it. I really like implacable on them (nice bonus for when they kill a unit by strangulation, starting the turn with 3 AP). Mobility boosts seem a natural fit. I would not give them rapid fire because it's too close to the ranger tree and the skill itself is OP anyway, but they'd need something of the same caliber to stay competitive.

- Muton : seems particularly weak by the time you get them. A few more base Aim points wouldn't hurt. A skill version of combat stims seems interesting and flavorful. Other than that, not sure about what role I would actually want them in. Maybe focusing a bit on the melee with Reaper (which no one uses on ranger anyway) would not be a bad idea. Intimidation (debuffs) would also probably be up their alley.

- Chrysalids : not tested. I don't really want to play them, it makes too little sense to me flavor wise and I don't really see them having much interesting gameplay attached. Maybe I'm just being unimaginative.

- Sectoids : could be interesting. I would rather have them as a field-leveling, at least vaguely balanced version of the psi operative (which I find disgustingly OP and do not use at all anymore).

- Sectopods : I wouldn't use them. There are also unique problems with them besides UI - they can't change elevation, which would screw you royally on some maps (like the Vial blacksite where the evac is on high ground !)

- Andromedons : why not, but by the point you have multiple andromedon corpses do you really want to level a new unit from scratch ? Besides I'm not sure what role they would even fill. I wouldn't concentrate on that, late-late game is a joke anyway.

 

Long-long term, if we're going for the DLC level of quality, I think a way to introduce the whole "playable aliens" thing would be to have a special VIP rescue mission in the style of the Zhang one in EU, to go grab a deflecting advent genetic scientist that deflected with cloning technology. It'd unlock an Avenger room where you can pop out some aliens spliced from cadavers (or possibly implanted with modified ADVENT control chips that give you zombie aliens which would be amusing lore wise). MECs still belong in the Proving Grounds as it's essentially earthly tech.

 

I'll comment more later on specific class trees, abilities, etc.

 

Let me know if you need specific testing done or something. I'm still mostly useless with the SDK though.

 

Keep up the good work !

Edited March 10, 2016 by PepprmintButler

[sgtcal10]

Excellent thanks for the time taken to write all that feedback, all these things were are working on, see updates above this page. Thanks again!!!

[LargeSpider]

This thread is for discussion and feedback on the Playable Advent mod.

 

This mod allows you to train a number of the Advent units to fight for you. Currently it supports MEC, Viper, Muton and Chryssalid. There are no plans to support the humanoid units; use Dor's Armor Mod for that.

 

Download link (so far nexus only):

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom2/mods/392/

 

Previous (dead) threads with various screenshots:

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/3849515-brainstorming-abilities-for-playable-mec-and-viper/

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/3825375-playable-mecs-help-requested/

 

Help wanted!

 

* Send us cool screenshots of your aliens in action!

* Playtesters: How do the stats and abilities compare to similar level humans?

* 2D artist: improve the icons, add new icons for new buttons

* Animators: each unit has some animation problems; see below for details.

 

Frequently asked questions

 

Q. Do I need to start a new game?

A. No.

 

Q. Do I need any other mods or any previous versions of this mod?

A. No.

 

Q. Is it available on steam workshop?

A. Not currently.

 

Q. How do I get the units?

A. Once you complete the autopsy of a supported unit, a proving ground project will be available to train it. This costs several corpses plus some other resources. After the project completes, the soldier is in your barracks.

 

Q. But I don't want to wait!

A. Good news, there is a test mode which makes all the new proving ground projects free and instant. See the ini file XComPlayableAdvent, and set FREE_ALIEN to true everyplace it appears.

 

Q. How can I level up the units fast?

A. There is an existing "cheat" console command levelupbarracks. Does that work for you? This mod adds a similar command, levelupaliens. So, to get a full squad of alien colonels, "levelupaliens 6".

 

Q. I get crashes / weird behavior.

A. Please make sure you have no other mod active, and make sure the problem is repeatable by loading the same save game. Then, send us the description and the save game file.

I have an idea for the chryssalid, since they are essentially wild animals they would have trouble learning basic abilities such as conceal.

This is where i suggest having some sort of implants, gene modifications or augmentations to allow them to do these abilities naturally such as glands that produce acid instead of poison or an ability similar to the camouflage from enemy within (enhanced conceal)

[LargeSpider]

I want to also suggest treating the Mutons like shock troopers since they have a lot of health and start off with armor. Maybe bring back that good ol' blood call the support other Mutons in your pack as an innate ability as well as abilities which regenerate health, all Mutons have s*** aim maybe this can act as a balance for them. Mutons seem to be the units that would be a high priority threat and at higher levels become a bullet sponge that deals out a decent amount of damage but are highly susceptible to enemy support roles such as the shield bearers (Culling the damage from the Mutons) , vipers and even possibly sectoids due to the Muton's low will (should also make them resilient to morale shocks such as casualties and reinforcements but weaker to psi attacks) You could also make a variation of the old beserker's "move when hit ability" which can either work in your favor or lead your Muton into an ambush. A variation of the new bersker's enrage ability could be made but do more damage against the enemy that shot at you which could eventually turn into blind rage if that enemy manages to hit the Muton again or deal a large amount of damage.

Edited March 10, 2016 by LargeSpider

[gaultesian]

In the prerelease version, I have copied the original mec gun and fixed the problem of editing loadouts in the armory. I plan to buff that gun a little (maybe +15 aim?). But, I also plan to add an upgrade of this gun which is available with plasma technology. I haven't created schematics yet, but my hope is that this wouldn't require spending any more supplies. Today when you get plasma technology, and then pay the supply cost to build the plasma rifle, all your soldiers with assault rifles automatically upgrade to the plasma rifle. I hope that simultaneously, all your mecs will upgrade. The upgraded mec weapon will look the same, unless we get an artist to come along and reskin it. Maybe, we can make the upgraded weapon shot look like a plasma shot, if we can figure that out.

 

Do you think the exact stats of the plasma rifle will be enough of a boost?

 

 

I think the MEC rifle (plasma version) should either have increased damage (as it is larger than the other weapons in the game), but with a disadvantage (aim penalty?) or some other such thing. What could happen is that you can have 3 versions of the MEC cannon (conventional, Magnetic and then Plasma), and each have a corresponding damage scale. From conventional to plasma, the damage amount would increase, but the bonuses (such as aim and crit bonuses) could possibly decrease. That is a rather simplistic scenario, but you get the idea: any buff of the MEC cannon should come with some inherent disadvantage...not large enough to remove the buff bonus, but enough to offset it from being OP.

I was wondering if you could change the bullet animations for these guns....using possibly the heavy machine gun animation for the conventional, and then possibly using the static gun emplacement or magnetic heavy machine gun animation for the magnetic and the plasma machine gun bullet animation for the plasma variant (yes, I know that the MEC cannon has its own magnetic bullet animation, but this would separate it from the original MEC cannon in terms of its increase damage potential, or crit/aim bonuses...and it would make it look cool).

Of course, I know nothing of the amount of time, energy or skill it takes to jury-rig this, but I am assuming it can be done (as other imported guns from various mods have been able to implement a variety of bullet animations from the game).

Keep up the great work....your mod is by far the most prized of my xcom 2 mods.

Edited March 10, 2016 by gaultesian