Cybernetic Warfare Mod - ideas and planning

[PepprmintButler]

This is a prototype description for the “robot” mode I started thinking of a while ago.Here is the thread I made a while back about my experimental playthrough with a super-crude version of it. Now that ability tree modding is available, I think it could be made into something really interesting, I hope you guys agree.

 

Here is the prototype “pitch”:

 

XCOM Cybernetic Warfare Mod

 

In an alternate timeline, the people of Earth quickly discovered that humans were no match for the aliens in ground combat. Human operatives were instantly melted to a pulp by plasma weapons, and panicked soldiers would turn mad to the point of shooting their own teammates. Understanding that the fate of Earth would be lost if placed in the hands of such a weak force, the nations of the world united to create the Cybernetic Operations Matrix taskforce, nicknamed “The X-C.O.M. Project”.

Based on cutting-edge robotic technology, anthropomorphic robots were built with plasma-resistant materials and equipped with sub-human AI. These Cybernetic Operatives (“COs”) form the first human-built cybernetic army the world has ever known. Using tactical satellites and spy drones, the X-C.O.M. Commander himself commands the cybernetic squadron remotely with extreme tactical precision.

 

Major gameplay changes :

 Human soldiers are replaced with robotic “androids” called Cybernetic Operatives or COs. They are immune to Panic and Mind Control. They are also Immune to Poison, and Hardened (=have a better resistance to Critical Hits) thanks to their plasma-hardened composite construction.

 Terminally damaged COs tend to explode on the spot, and can never be repaired after a catastrophic system failure (which means sudden death every time health reaches 0, no critically wounded). COs also cannot be repaired with Medikit technology. Field repair technology is not available at the time of game start, but can be researched later on. These changes make it critical to carefully manage the Armor Rating (health) of the fielded COs.

 COs can be upgraded with optimized firmware and gain new Subroutines equivalent to the Skills human soldiers gain with experience. There are 4 models corresponding to the standard “Classes” used in human warfare. However, “Skill Trees” are slightly different. (Support class is especially heavily modified to reflect the changes on healing mechanics)

 

I’m thinking of integrating many of the aspects of the Warspace mod, if BlackAlpha doesn’t mind, in some slightly different ways. Armor mechanics for example are much better in Warspace than in vanilla, as are many other things. The Damage/HP ratios and values need to be completely rebalanced, which I have not done anything significant about yet. Strategic-level Panic should resemble vanilla more, as I find Warspace too easy on the Strategic level (I’m finishing my Impossible playthrough right now with no countries lost, no sweat…).

I’d also like to make the SHIVs much more useful, possibly by giving them the Repair Ability from the drone or (preferably) the Arc Thrower’s Repair SHIV, which would fit the theme nicely and free up the Support class for another role. I really hope that works technically. I have not tested yet, but I know the drone’s repair should. But I think it’s OP because it has unlimited uses, which is why I’d prefer the arc thrower version, however that seems more difficult.

On a cosmetic level, I’d like to modify or remake soldier skin textures to make them appear metallic /cybernetic, and package it with TexMod. Ranks and soldier names could also be modded for better coherence.

 

I’d love to know what you guys think; any input would be most welcome.

I’d be extra-delighted if someone would like to step in on the project or help on some specific aspects. This is my first semi-serious attempt at making a mod for release, so I could really use all the help I can get. I’m especially useless in the Art department, so if one of the talented ones could take a shot at those cyborg skins for example, that’d be wonderful!

 

But of course mod planning comes first, so be so kind as to let me know your thoughts on the matter - be it on general mechanics, specific ones, class and ability ideas, etc. Anything, really!

 

PS: kudos to BlackAlpha on the Warspace mod. It sets a high standard for gameplay quality and balance, and is all around amazing work considering the (lack of) tools at our disposition.

 

Edited December 17, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[PepprmintButler]

My objectives for this mod :

- Provide a fun alternative story arc for XCOM which reflects deeply on the gameplay mechanics

- Get rid entirely of the annoying soldier Panic. Immunity to Mind Control comes along with it and renders the Sectoid Commander pretty much usuless, but it actually makes the Ethereals even more formidable opponents (see linked post).

- Decrease randomness of taken damage by giving resistance to Criticals. Soldiers should not take huge damage when in good cover; Flanking should however give high Crit chance when flanking, to COs and aliens alike.

- Balance the above with more restrictions on health recovery (no medkits) and "sudden death" (no critical wounds)

- Give the support (repair) role to the SHIV and transform the Support into something new. Significantly modify other classes' skill trees too.

- Make a general rebalance of all or most items and values, heavily inspired by Warspace

- Integrate as many as possible of the wonderful community mods available, notably Bokauk's and Drakous79's work, and TexMod as an option ideally

 

My two hanging points at the moment :

- Damage/Health rebalance

- Ability trees tweaking

Which are, come to think of it, the two central pillars of any Xcom mod... This is ahere most of the work is.

 

Some other random ideas :

- Replace Nations by Corporations, and country flags by logos (you could have Skynut, Cyberdine Systems, Aperture Sciences, GLaDiS, Massive Dynamic, DARPA, and so much more)

- Units have the name of their native Corporation name as first names (same for everyone of the same “nationality”) and model numbers as last names - ex: Skynut T1000-01

- Rank names use MarkI, MarkII, etc and maybe different model names (uninspired example : Raptor MkI, Raptor MkII, Vangard MkI, etc)

- Limit "head" choices in soldier customization to full helmets for the robot look

Edited December 16, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[PepprmintButler]

Note : spoilers ahead, but then again I assume everyone has finished the game by now.

 

Psionic Robots !?

The fact that your robot operatives grow psychic powers is much more interesting in terms of story than I expected. At first, it sounds inconsistent at best. But here, the humans are incapable of psionics, but out of the blue the hyper-sophisticated androids appear capable to master the alien psionics. It becomes something new entirely. Maybe they even achieve sentience in the process ? It’s like the robots are growing a soul! I love the Ghost in the Shell vibe in this story. I think I should rename the SHIVs Tachikomas and change Will into the Kusanagi Coefficient or something. Anyway, there clearly is a new superior race on earth now, and this one is not alien. The story dialogue is strangely consistent with this alternate storyline. And in the end it’s the robots that the aliens are “ascending”, not the humans. They are the New Ones. We have created what the aliens were looking for, and probably doomed ourselves in the process. Because even if the aliens are defeated, the invincible psychic killing machines are not going anywhere…

 Possibility of making robots vulnerable to psi powers to be explored (don’t think it can be done)

　　Robots get to use psionics just like humans do in vanilla

 Will will be renamed but is kept mostly untouched

 I'd like to replace Psi Inspiration with Mind Merge ("AI Sharing")

 

 

Ability trees

 

Ability trees are built on the assumption that Warspace-style armors are used. Heavy armors with low mobility and 2 slots vs Light armors with high mobility and 1 slot is genius. Firaxis got totally 1-upped on this one !

I’m trying my best to make builds with as much tough choices as possible and that allow for flexible playstyles.

I you want to give these a spin, here are the values for the Visual Perk Editor :

1,4,5,2,9,32,7,22,10,6,11,12,13,14,15,16,38,20,19,17,21,22,23,24,27,25,30,29,15,34,14,28,26,33,35,36,37,18,8,41,44,3,39,43,33,10,46,48

 

Support :

Support loses its “necessary unit” status since it doesn’t heal anymore, you’ll need a SHIV for that in early/mid game, meaning it will need to be attractive enough to sacrifice an Assault or Heavy team spot in favor of a Support. It’s meant as a defensive, overwatch-heavy unit with Flush or Grenadier as a strong second ability. I’d like to insert the Command ability (unused in vanilla but functional)on the last tier as I feel it is very powerful but opens up interesting new tactical possibilities.

Smoke

Flush or Grenadier

Smoke and mirrors or Dense smoke

Holo-targeting or Covering Fire

Suppression or Opportunist

Battlescanner

Sentinel or Command

 

Heavy :

My modified heavy has the super powerful Bullet Swarm pushed to the next rank against a strong alternative, Danger Zone. One needs to choose between the two strong defensive abilities, and Heat ammo comes standard at the level when you start to need it.

Rocket

Shredder rocket or Suppression

Bullet Swarm or Danger Zone

Executioner or Rapid reaction

Extra Conditioning or Will to survive

HEAT Ammo

Rocketeer or Mayhem

 

Sniper

Squad Sight as first ability is a no-brainer to me. Snap Shot on 2d tier seems way too powerful in Warspace, I’m pushing it way up along with Gunslinger (choose you move-shot style). Overwatch-related abilities I find a bit OP on the sniper, plus the Support gets them all, so the Sniper gets a choice of one out of two offensive abilities from the assault instead (not sure about that), and only gets Opportunist in late game (I’m willing to trade it for something else in order to ditch overwatch sniper entirely, but not sure what. Suggestions ?).

Squad Sight

Headshot or Disabling shot

Damn good ground or Aggression

Low profile or Tactical Sense

Gunslinger or Snap shot

Opportunist

In the Zone or Double Tap

 

Assault

Close to BlackAlpha’s Assault because it’s just good. Lightning reflexes vs Sprint provides a choice in flanking tactic : safe shorter range, or more risky longer range ? Close Combat Specialist seems like a stronger contender to Rapid fire, but I’m not sure on that one.

Run & Gun

Tactical sense or Aggression

Lightning reflexes or Sprint

Close combat specialist or Rapid fire

Close and personal or Bring’em on

Extra conditioning

Resilience or Killing instinct

 

SHIV

The SHIV is meant to become “the fifth class”.

It gets the Drone’s repair ability, which allows for an unlimited number or Repair (3 points) to robotic units. Adding a count or a cooldown would be nice, but not sure if feasible. If not, it’s necessary to adjust the number of points healed relatively to the hit point values (TBD). But it still needs a way to make it impossible to just take 10 turns to fully heal all your units each time before advancing.

I’d also like to give SHIVs the Drone’s “self-destruct” ability, maybe with upped damage, to make them also usable as “consumables” (since they have no XP).

Soldier XP / ranks

 I’ll up the required XP values on all ranks, not sure by how much. Input welcome.

 Rank names will be changed to Prototype Test Unit (PTU), Cybernetic Operative Mark I (MkI), Cybernetic Operative Mark II (MkII), Cybernetic Operative Mark IV (MkIV), Cybernetic Operative Mark VI (MkVI), Guardian MkI (GnI), Guardian MkII (GnII), Avenger MkI (Avng)

Weapons and Armor

 Armor is copypasted from Warspace, for starters.

 Arc Throwers are not pistols – you don’t want every squad member walking around with one

Hit points and Damage

 copypasted from Warspace, for starters

Alien abilities

 I’d like to give Aim to most aliens, but needs testing to see if the IA uses it correctly. It would make them more dangerous in entrenched situations, and provide some variety.

 Sectoid commander needs a new ability to replace its now useless Mind control. It would be fun to give them grenades for starters, but I don’t think that’s possible and it’s still too weak. Input appreciated…

 Ethereals are perfectly fine as they are, they Rift instead of Mind controlling, which is awesome (in the sense that it will tear your squad apart like it’s made out of papier mache)

 I’d really like to give the Chrysalid a Leap ability, if at all feasible (there were some efforts in that direction, but AFAIK those did not succeed)

 Thin Man’s Poison also needs a replacement. I’m open to suggestions… (meaning, I have no idea at all)

Cover & Flanking mechanics

 Flanking should give a very large critical hit chance bonus to both sides.

 Buffing Cover protection would be best, but don’t know if doable

 

Strategy Layer

 Closer to vanilla, with a bit less Panic. You should still lose a couple countries at least (unless godly play)

 Would like to balance specifically for Marathon play (at 1.5 or 1.99)

 Will implement many of the tweaks featured in Warspace, here too

Edited December 18, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[Drakous79]

Man, that is very nice idea! And you post faster than I have time to read :)

 

Ghost in the Shell :) Think I saw part of it in the past, but my memory has only the name in it now.

 

Few things to consider:

• Substituting Wounded text for Damaged to be used on debrief and soldier list screens.
  
• Using Cyborg soldiers, as narratives may refer to Soldiers. Whatever you choose, check if the text isn't too log for the UI.
  
• Many people are too lazy to use Texmod, but it would be better than just helmets imo, because I can imagine how Lt. Data would look in a helmet, or Kryten from Red Dwarf.
  

Edited December 17, 2012 by Drakous79

[PepprmintButler]

• Substituting Wounded text for Damaged to be used on debrief and soldier list screens.
  
• Using Cyborg soldiers, as narratives may refer Soldiers. Whatever you choose, check if the text isn't too log for the UI.
  
• Many people are too lazy to use Texmod, but it would be better than just helmets imo, because I can imagine how Lt. Data would look in a helmet, or Kryten from Red Dwarf.
  

 

Thanks for the input :D

 

• Done
  
• Done. I used Operatives for Soldier and changed mqny other terms too, in UIs, descriptions and so forth. (I used COs for Cybernetic Operatives in the description but that's too cryptic I'm afraid). I'm too lazy to do UFOpedia right now though.
  
• Since most armor shows at least a bit of skin, it would just look bad without modding IMO. You could just give everyone the darkest skintones with a helmet, that might do, but that means the player has to select it himself for each CO - which I'd like to avoid if possible. Do you know of a way to restrict the range of available heads/skin tones/etc, for both the customize menu and the generator for "soldier hiring" ?
  

 

You should definitelty try to see Ghost in the Shell, or read the mangas, whichever ; it's really a classic. :thumbsup:

Edited December 17, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[Drakous79]

It is going to be tough.

 

Helmets are merged with hair, defined as HairPackageInfo with bIsHelmet=true. And customize spinner is set to check all available hair. On top of it, soldier's hair is shared with civilian's. So disabling hair in inis could result in bald civilians! Haven't checked skin tones, but they may be shared as well.

 

I may be able to restrict customization and maybe set helmet to soldier generator, but there are some obstacles. Mainly it is space for the bytecode manipulation, where I won't be able to check for installed DLC packages (Soldier's Pack hemlets, Slingshot helmets, both), while I need to know exact numbers for helmets start and end positions in hair index. The best would be to provide specific version of XComStrategyGame.upk for installation for every case.

 

What DLC do you have installed? How many helmets do you have? Also what is target version of the game (if restricted to Slingshot or not).

 

I'll try to manage helmet customization for starters.

[PepprmintButler]

It is going to be tough.

 

Helmets are merged with hair, defined as HairPackageInfo with bIsHelmet=true. And customize spinner is set to check all available hair. On top of it, soldier's hair is shared with civilian's. So disabling hair in inis could result in bald civilians! Haven't checked skin tones, but they may be shared as well.

 

I may be able to restrict customization and maybe set helmet to soldier generator, but there are some obstacles. Mainly it is space for the bytecode manipulation, where I won't be able to check for installed DLC packages (Soldier's Pack hemlets, Slingshot helmets, both), while I need to know exact numbers for helmets start and end positions in hair index. The best would be to provide specific version of XComStrategyGame.upk for installation for every case.

 

What DLC do you have installed? How many helmets do you have? Also what is target version of the game (if restricted to Slingshot or not).

 

I'll try to manage helmet customization for starters.

 

Thanks for the offer :thumbsup:

As far as I understand it heads and such can be modded through XComcontent.ini ?

I was thinking of replacing every non-helmet package with a helmet one. That would allow to have only helmets without having to suppress any entry.

Regarding the civilian problem, I see bCanUseOnCivilian=true on some packages so maybe we can use that. Ex :

HairPackageInfo=(Id=3,ArchetypeName="Hair_FemHair_C.ARC_Hair_FemHair_C", Gender=eGender_Female, bCanUseOnCivilian=true)

I doubt that would work with skintones though, and I don't know if texmodding would create the same problem. It does look like these are shared with civilians...

 

I'm also pondering making all operatives male, which is relatively easy.

 

To answer your question, I have Slingshot myself so I was planning to go Slingshot-only at first simply because it's easier. Hopefully I'll work on non-DLC compatibility later.

Edited December 17, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[PepprmintButler]

Talking about DLC, I have a nice Alternate DLC story arc re: Zhang and Annette

 

Zhang appears to be the sole human capable of fighting aliens, supposedly because of some random genetic mutation. It is assumed that other such humans exist elsewhere ( Annette...). You could then have a human-cybernetic joint force including some of those “X-Men”. The player could actually choose to have either a mutant or a machine as the Volunteer (provided one of them survived up to that point), with unforetold consequences on the fate of the Earth either way.

…I can already see the sequel! :P

 

Main problem with this plan is I’m not sure it’s possible to keep Zhang as a human and not a robot. I want him to get mind controlled, or panic and start shooting the cyborgs ^^ He’d need to be buffed because he’ll be relatively weak compared to cyborgs, especially considering he needs his own medikit for healing. To be tested !

 

Aside from that, I'm toying with naming of Operatives and Corporations right now. I have a few good ones. I'll implement that later as it's just cosmetic (should be fun though).

 

I'm still struggling with SHIV repair for some reason, I'm pretty sure I had it working with soldiers at some point so I must be doing something wrong.

As expected eAbility_RepairSHIV is not useable because of the lack of the associated Arc Thrower. eAbility_Repair on the other hand should be working, but it is not...

[Drakous79]

As far as I understand it heads and such can be modded through XComcontent.ini ?

I was thinking of replacing every non-helmet package with a helmet one. That would allow to have only helmets without having to suppress any entry.

Regarding the civilian problem, I see bCanUseOnCivilian=true on some packages so maybe we can use that.

I think so. That file is updated from DefaultContent and XComContent from DLC.

 

I see most hair can be used on civilians. You could try to comment them all to see, if civilians would be bald :)

 

Ok, Slingshot it is, the same as I have. Do you have Elite Soldier Pack DLC too?

[PepprmintButler]

I'm sorry everyone for the huge wall of text :/ I'm putting pretty much everything I write here so that people interested can comment and contribute. I'm aware it's a lot and will try to put a TL;DR in the top post (although that kind of defeats the purpose)

Regarding SHIVs:

-I'm renaming them Tachikomas at the moment, because I love those things. (because

and

and this). However it's a long name and not appealing to people who don't know the Ghost in the Shell universe, so maybe not the best choice.

- Their main role besides healing should be that of mobile cover. They should be using Suppression a lot. I'd like to give them high HP and low dmg/crit. No ideas on actual values yet

- I have not tested ShotOverload on them yet but I really want them to have the ability to self-destruct as a last ditch effort.

- It's impossible ATM, but an interesting mechanic change would be to limit ammo (1-2 chargers per unit) and use Tachikomas as ammo mules – give units the ability to replenish ammo (weapon+ extra charger) by reloading in a limited radius around it. An equippable Extended Mag item would be nice too.

- Also not possible, but some Improve Tachikomas I-II foundry projects could be nice for some progression in late game.

Maybe someday...

 

EDIT : yes, I have the Elite Soldier Pack too.

 

EDIT2 - a treat for the Tachikoma amateurs :

(unfortunately without subtitles for the best part) or even better,

(with Portugese subs for some reason). Edited December 18, 2012 by PepprmintButler