Harder Volunteer Requirement

[Amineri]

Here's a small little modlet I cooked up.

 

It changes the requirement for having volunteer capable of using the Gollop Chamber.

 

Instead of just needing a rank 3 psionic soldier in Psi armor, the soldier must have mind-controlled an ethereal :biggrin:

 

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To implement this, I hooked into the spot where the "mind control an ethereal" achievement was activated, and replaced it with giving the soldier Perk (111) -- this is a bogus perk, ePerk_MAX.

 

However, this is now the requirement for volunteering and activating the Gollup Chamber. If you want to know how to activate it, you're going to have to rip it from an Ethereal's brain psionically.

 

Two small hex changes:

 

1) XComGame.upk >> XGAbility_Targeted.RollForHit

 

 

before:

XComOnlineEventMgr(GameEngine(class'Engine'.static.GetEngine()).OnlineEventManager).UnlockAchievement(2); (62 file) (94 virtual)

19 2E AB 3E 00 00 19 2E 45 FE FF FF 12 20 4F FE FF FF 0A 00 D7 F9 FF FF 00 1C F5 FB FF FF 16 09 00 D1 F9 FF FF 00 01 D1 F9 FF FF 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 1B A0 6D 00 00 00 00 00 00 24 02 16

after:

m_kUnit.m_kCharacter.GivePerk(111); (62 file, 94 virtual)

19 19 01 E6 7B 00 00 09 00 0A 31 00 00 00 01 0A 31 00 00 0C 00 EA A2 00 00 00 1B B7 35 00 00 00 00 00 00 2C 6F 16 01 E6 7B 00 00 01 E6 7B 00 00 01 E6 7B 00 00 01 E6 7B 00 00 0B 0B 0B 0B

 

 

2) XComStrategyGame.upk >> XGFacility_GollopChamber.CanVolunteer

 

 

original hex:

 

return kSoldier.GetInventory().iArmor == 63;

AE 2A 00 00 AB 1F 00 00 00 00 00 00 AC 2A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 AE 2A 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 00 00 00 57 02 00 00 42 00 00 00 2E 00 00 00 04 9A 35 8C FB FF FF 77 FA FF FF 01 00 19 00 AE 2A 00 00 0A 00 9A 45 00 00 00 1B 60 0F 00 00 00 00 00 00 16 2C 3F 16 04 3A AD 2A 00 00 53

new hex: (virtual 0x3A)

return kSoldier.HasPerk(111); -- this is the ePerk_MAX value

AE 2A 00 00 AB 1F 00 00 00 00 00 00 AC 2A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 AE 2A 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 00 00 00 57 02 00 00 3A 00 00 00 2E 00 00 00 04 19 00 AE 2A 00 00 0C 00 97 45 00 00 00 1B 1B 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 2C 6F 16 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 0B 04 3A AD 2A 00 00 53

 

I've tested that this doesn't crash on startup, and that attempting to access the Gollop Chamber without having mind-controlled an Ethereal fails.

 

I haven't been able to test this by actually completing a mission where I've mind-controlled an Ethereal to verify that this opens up the Gollop Chamber.

 

I'm taking shameless advantage of the previous discovery that perks granted in the tactical game are replicated back to the strategy game to make this work.

 

Enjoy!

[anUser]

I see this opening an entire new game level by making psi abilitis a major factor.

 

If i recall correctly it is impossible to mind controll an ehereal unless you cheat... but if a soldier could gain will when using psi abilities you could end having to train a soldier in will so you can mind controll an ehtereal.

 

Extra requirements, first autopsiing it, then capturing it and interrogating it, that would enable mind controlling it...

 

Its already hard to kill them, trying to capture them and all the failed attempts... btw, what about reducing mind control range? Could it be limited only for xcom soldiers? I guess they all use the sameability

[Yzaxtol]

It's not impossible to Mind Control an Ethereal, you just need Psi Armour and Mind-shield and a colonel and get lucky,

[Amineri]

It's not impossible to mind control an Ethereal ... just very difficult!

 

Ethereals have very high Will, and Mind Control has a built-in penalty of -30 Will to the check that you have to overcome. I did it by using a soldier that I'd leveled up with the OTS upgrade "Iron Will" (and gotten good results), and then equipped both a Mind Shield and Psi Armor. I think he had around 140ish Will when it was all done. Even then the odds weren't good.

 

You can also improve the unit's will by using Combat Drugs (for +20 temporary Will boost as long as you are in the cloud).

 

I'm looking at the code, and both Armor and Mind Shield bonuses apply to the Mind Control ability. However, the BattleFatigue and FallenComrade penalties apply as well. Psi Inspiration and Combat Stims do not affect Psi abilities.

 

Unfortunately the final WillTestChance check is in the native code so I'm not sure exactly how it works. It appears to use the attacker's will, the defender's will, and has an optional parameter iEvenStatsChanceToFail. This value is 30 for panic tests. I'd guess it is 50% chance to fail by default. If the unit isn't specified, the default opposed Will seems to be 50.

 

To get an idea about how difficult the a Will Test is, though -- panic checks use exactly the same code. However, Psi Armor and Mind Shields do not apply to panic tests (Combat Drugs do, however). A panic test appears to be made as an opposed check against a Will of 50, but with only a 30% chance to fail with equal will. Psi Inspiration applies to panic tests (+40) but not to Psionic Tests.

 

The developer console (CheatManager) calls PerformPanicTest(200) as a way to guarantee a soldier fail a panic test.

 

Here's the breakdown of opposed Wills in Vanilla: they are listed as Default / Impossible, sorted by default value

 

Sectoid : 10 / 10

Floater : 10 / 10

Muton : 10 / 10

Thin Man : 15 / 15

Muton Elite : 20 / 20

Outsider : 20 / 20

Heavy Floater : 25 / 25

Soldier : 40 / 40 (default rookie will)

Panic Test : 50 / 50 (not entirely sure on this) (appears to be 30% chance to fail if even stats)

Muton Berserker : 80 / 80

Sectoid Commander : 90 / 125

Ethereal : 120 / 155

Chryssalid : 125 / 125

Zombie : 125 / 125

Uber Ethereal : 150 / 160

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Possible Modifiers:

Panic:

Combat Drugs : +20

Psi Inspiration : +40

Combat Stims : +40

Psi:

Combat Drugs : +20

Psi Armor : +20

Mind Shield : +30

Mind Control : -30

 

As you can see, Combat Drugs are actually quite versatile, since they are the only Will-altering ability that affects both panic tests and psi tests. I just wish they didn't replace regular Smoke Grenades.

 

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With the OTS "Iron Will" upgrade, each soldier gets two 2-6 rolls per level. At Colonel (rank 6) that is 6 such rolls, which will average +8 will per rank, for a +48 will total.

 

So an "average" Colonel ranked up entirely with OTS "Iron Will" and getting all possible psi buffs would have Will for mind controlling of :

 

40 + 48 + 20 + 20 + 30 -30 = 128 Will

 

This is enough for a low probability chance to mind control an Ethereal with 155 Will (default Impossible).

 

A lucky soldier that averages 10 Will / rank instead of 8 would have total of:

40 + 60 + 20 + 20 + 30 - 30 = 140 Will

 

Still probably less than a 50% chance. So, maybe it would be worth it to reduce the Will of Ethereals to 140 or 145, depending on how kind you want to be to the player.

 

 

 

[Yzaxtol]

Or like I did grant mind shield +45 Will and -30 Aim :biggrin:

Edited May 13, 2013 by Yzaxtol

[Amineri]

Or like I did grant mind shield +45 Will and -30 Aim :biggrin:

 

Yes, there are a variety of ways that this could be balanced. I just thought I'd toss out an option to make getting a volunteer that can activate the Gollop Chamber feel like a bit more of an accomplishment than "I equipped Psi armor".

[Yzaxtol]

It does make alot of sense and I've been looking to see if we could lengthen the Psi-War section of the game, make it one more obstacle the players have to overcome.