Silver's Bioshock mod Version 7.2 Alpha

[674f5945b3c56psikoticsilver]

This post is concerned with VERSION 7.2 ALPHA.
You will find information on Version 6.0 in the next post.

VERY IMPORTANT:  If you are experiencing crashes when hacking machines, please download the hacking.ini file attached to the bottom of this post. Put it in the folder:
***\BioShock\Content\System\


7.2 is not a "public release" version of my mod, as it is not completely tested and balanced to my liking.  There may still be bugs, or some balance issues. In spite of my reservations, I figured you all deserved something after all this time.  My apologies for no solid change log, I may post this in time (most probably with the next patch). There are four other ini files included in the zip, they are my personal change logs.  Where they probably will not be anything but gibberish to most, I figured I'd include them for anyone who is interested.  They include the majority of the changes made in this version.

I hope you all enjoy it, and you'll get a final update in the future.

Inside is the "System" folder, which should be placed in the \BioShock\Content folder (if you didn't already know).  For full instructions, see below.
The 4 other .ini files I included in the zip are simply personal change logs I've made.  These aren't "ready" for public viewing, (cleaned out, categorized, finalized and complete) but if you feel like digging through them for whatever reason, feel free .  Oh, and anything in those files with a ; in front of it is obsolete.

Installation:
    1) Go to your ..\Bioshock\Content\ directory.
    2) Rename ConfigINI.IBF to ConfigINI.IBF.bak
    3) Make a backup copy of your ..\Bioshock\Content\System\ folder incase this mod fails to work or causes errors.
    4) Move Localizedint.lbf from the content directory (..\Bioshock\Content\) into the System folder (..\Bioshock\Content\System\).  If you find yourself having problems with localized text, leave this file where you found it.
    5) Extract my mod into your directly to your ..\Bioshock\Content\ directory, and click overwrite everything.  This will copy some files into your ..\Bioshock\Content\System\ folder.  Be SURE not to create a folder named after the mod.
    6) Now would you kindly start a new game since it is required to make this mod work correctly.

For the Bioshock Remaster game version there is an updated version of this mod by Jerkame below.


Download links
  * ModDB
  * Rapidshare


So there it is, what I consider to be 7.2 Alpha.
Enjoy, let me know what you think and if you have any problems or questions email me:
psikoticsilver (at) hotmail (dot) com

[674f5945b55b8psikoticsilver]

Important disclaimers:
- If you continue to use beta Version 6, DO not purchase cigarettes from vending machines.  They will cause the game to crash.*
- Any health changes mentioned below do not work.


This is a balancing and difficulty mod by psikoticsilver.
Version 6.0 has been released.

I've compiled a list of changes accrued while working on this mod.  Most changes present in the game should be listed to some degree within this log. If you have any suggestions or complaints I am open to your comments, but please if you do I would appreciate criticism WITH examples and/or actual HELP with wading through the HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF INI FILES. I'm very open to help so let me know if you can or wish to.  REMEMBER that I'm VERY limited in what I can do when modding is concerned because the developers did NOT release an SDK and I am currently pushing the limits of what I can do with the INI files contained within the CONFIG.LBF file.

Installation:

   1) Go to your ..\Bioshock\Content\ directory.
   2) Rename ConfigINI.IBF to ConfigINI.IBF.bak
   3) Make a backup copy of your entire ..\Bioshock\Content\System\ folder incase this mod fails to work or causes errors.
   4) Move Localizedint.lbf from the content directory (..\Bioshock\Content\) into the System folder (..\Bioshock\Content\System\).
   5) Extract my mod into your directly to your ..\Bioshock\Content\ directory, and click overwrite everything.  This will copy some files into your ..\Bioshock\Content\System\ folder.  Be SURE not to create a folder named after the mod.
   6) Now would you kindly start a new game since it is required to make this mod work correctly.

Removal:

If for whatever reason you need to remove the mod
   1) Delete your System Folder in the ..\Bioshock\Content\ directory (..\Bioshock\Content\System\).
   2) Restore the backup you made of your Bioshock System folder.
   3) Rename ConfigINI.IBF.bak and Localizedint.lbf.bak to the their original file extensions (in other words, remove the .bak extension).


Here are some external links for the BETA 6.0 release:
  * Skydrive
  * Rapidshare
  * ModDB

Notes:

* Yes there is a difference between balance and difficulty.  You can have a game which is very easy yet extremely imbalanced, and the same is true for the reverse.  I have taken painstaking measures to ensure that my mod encompasses both of these aspects.  If you feel something is too easy or too hard, please let me know.  If you think something is completely imbalanced, mispriced, let me know.

* This mod is much harder than the standard Bioshock.  Be warned!  For truly challenging gameplay, disable Vita chambers as well as auto aim. 

* Loot, ammo and hypos are much harder to find.  This mod has become more of a survivalist mod. Scrounge what you can, and be careful. Waste not, want not.

* Plasmids are more expensive.  Tonics are more expensive.  Slots are more expensive.  As a result, you must spend your ADAM wisely and specialize.  You will not have enough ADAM to upgrade every category or use every type of tonic.

* Security can be your friend... DON'T piss it off.  Don't underestimate it either--it can also be your worst enemy.

* 2k has made certain aspects of early decks harder than some "middle of the run" decks--turrets and bots are a good example of this. Also, certain things seem to stall and not increase in difficulty for a few levels, then suddenly increase by a great deal. GENERALLY, I have implemented a progressive trend of difficulty "per deck", so overall "Per Deck" instances are changed in a manner which makes it harder as the player progresses in the game.


* Many times I will mention the word DECK when referring to the levels in Bioshock.  In the configuration files, this is how they are labeled.  There are 7 main decks in this game.  Deck 1 is Medical.  Deck 2 is Fisheries + Smuggler's Hideout.  Deck 3 is Arcadia + Farmer's Market.  Deck 4 is Fort Frolic.  Deck 5 is Haephestus + Ryan's Office.  Deck 6 is Apolo square + Hestia Chambers.  Deck 7 is Fontaine Futuristics.  Deck 7+ is the Prooving Grounds + Final Fight.

* There is some sort of rounding error in Bioshock that won't let me set certain plasmids and tonics to certain round costs.  As a result, some plasmids may cost 241 instead of my desired 240.  This can also occur with vending items. If you see something like this please let me know where you see it so I can attempt to fix it.

* If you find yourself having problems with ammo, try switching to your wrench for a little while, or use telekinesis.  Also try making a few piles of loot on every level instead of leaving things behind.

* Headshots are effective.  USE THEM!

* If you want any of my modding files or lists, please let me know.

Changes:

*Mechanics*
- Player takes 125% damage from all sources including state resistances such as burning, with the exception of bludgeoning from with the player takes 110% damage.
- Increased the minimum distance to re-spawn foes by 25%
- Increased the minimum time to re-spawn foes by 15 seconds.
- Disabled the Adaptive Difficulty system.  As a result of this you will not find as much loot in boxes.  This has removed one of the biggest culprits in Bioshock -- swimming in ammo. Often times when the player is low on ammo the adaptive difficulty system will spawn ammo in random boxes or corpses.  You won't find this happening in my mod, and the only pickups you will find in containers have been placed there by the developers.
- I have increased the amount of Adam received as well as Gather's Garden costs to create a larger rift between Harvesting and Rescuing litter sisters.  There are a total of 21 Little sisters throughout the game and in Bioshock 1.1, the player receives 3360 Adam for Harvesting the Litter Sisters and 3080 (1400 from gifts) Adam for rescuing them.  Couple this with the awesome plasmids, tonics and goodies you receive from the gift baskets and you will wonder why anyone harvests the little sisters (except to view the alternate ending).  Having raised the Adam costs and amount the player can receives I hope to have fixed this.  The player now receives Roughly 6300 to 7200 Adam for harvesting while a the player receives roughly 4500 to 5000 Adam for rescuing.  This raises the difference between the two game play styles from 280 to around 2000.  Of course the increased costs of plasmids offset this in my mod but overall the increase benefits harvesters.  As an example, in the original Bioshock mod a level three plasmid costs 150 which means the a harvester can afford an extra 1.86 level three plasmids.  In this mod a level three plasmid costs 400 which means a harvester can afford up to 5 extra level three plasmids than you could if you rescued.  Remember that not only have all tonic costs been increased at least 100% but also the bugged tonics and plasmids priced at 1 or 5 Adam have been fixed as well...  thus the player needs every bit of Adam they can get.  Rescuers get some nice juicy goods and interesting plasmids but harvesters get to splice much more.


*Loot*
- All drops have been reduced.  There are far too many changes to catalog here, so just expect less than half of the loot drops of Bioshock 1.1.  Remember, loot is only that which can be found on your foes.
- Optimized component drop rates--also screws and empty hypos reduced dramatically)
- Adjusted ammo drops.
- Just as Ceiling Crawlers drop health organs, Assassin splicers now drop eve hypos
- Removed auto hack drops.
- Increased Big Daddy cash drops to compensate for difficulty and increased store prices.


*Vending*
- All ammo, except film, removed from Circus of Value vending machines
- Film is dramatically more expensive.  A roll of 3 film costs 24 (18 hacked).
- Prices for Eve hypos and First Aid kits increased by 50%.
- Snack prices remain roughly the same and are now more viable to buy at times than Health Kits.
- Increase the cost of purchasing ammo from Bandito machines by 50-200%.


*Weapons*
- Wrench
-> Reduced wrench damage to 14, from 20 (increased from earlier betas).
- Barrels
-> Reduced explosive damage to 550, from 600.
-> Added burning effect.
- Pistol
-> Increased standard bullet damage to 50 from 40.
-> Increased armor piercing damage to 45, from 40.
-> Reduced anti personnel damage to 38, from 40.
- Machine Gun
-> Increased armor piercing damage to 32, from 30.
-> Increased anti personnel damage to 22, from 18.
- Shotgun
-> Increased chance for shock and shock in water for ionic buck to 1, from 0.1.
-> Increased shock duration to 0.15, from.
-> Increased shock in water duration from 0.1 to 0.4.
- Crossbow
-> Reduced trap bolt AI electrical damage to 650, from 700.
-> Increased trap bolt electrical damage vs player  to 300, from 175.
-> Increased superheated bolt burning chance to 1.0 from 0.01.
- Chemical Thrower
-> Reduced chemical thrower ionic gel shocking duration to 0.75, from 1.0 (25% decrease).
-> Added 15 cold damage per round to Liquid Nitrogen.
-> Reduced freeze duration on Liquid Nitrogen to 0.5 from 0.6.
- Proximity mines
-> Increased explosive damage to 100, was 0.
-> Reduced Piercing damage to 400, was 450.


*Cameras*
- Increased the amount of time the camera should pause when it sees something it wants to inspect to 0.5 seconds from 0.25.
- Lost target duration increased to 7 seconds.
- Camera's now come with a 40% brighter bulbs and a more vibrant red/green!
- Increased Health 100%.
- Lens shots now do 250% damage (unconfirmed).
- Increased heat and explosive resistance by 20%, cameras take too much damage from these sources.


*Security Bots*
- Explosion warning time increased to 0.3 seconds from 0.1 seconds.
- Bots spin slightly more when attacked.
- Bots now take 3 seconds to become fully activated after being hacked, previously 1.5 seconds (2 combined values).
- If frozen all bots suffer a 25% health loss as opposed to 50%.
- Security bot health now increases by 75 health every deck, with base health set at 300.  In Bioshock 1.1 security bot health changed strangely per deck, sometimes dropping below what it was the previous level and sometimes jumping up to 3 times as much as the previous level. 
- Adjusted damage vs AI on later levels to ensure that bots always do less damage to AI than player.  Deck five security bots now do 12 damage vs AI as opposed to 15.  Deck six and seven security bots now do 15 damage vs AI as opposed to 20. Lowered deck one bot damage vs player and AI by 1 each.
- Reduced minimum maintained distance to target to 200 from 400, attempt to try fixing target acquisition for bots.
- Bots now take 25% more damage from standard bullets.
- Bots check for new targets 50% more often in firefights.


*Turrets*
- "NewTargetAcquisitionDelay" decreased to 1.5 seconds from 3. Turrets should be more responsive.
- All turrets increase by 100 health increase "per-deck."
- Increased heat resistance by 20%.  This should reduce the damage done by throwing rockets back at turrets without really affecting other forms of damage vs turrets.

- Maximum Security Turrets (RPG)
-> Base health set at 600.  Deck 7 health is 1200.
-> A 3.1 second "lost-target" time has been added to the Maximum Security Turret (pick your cover wisely).
-> Reduced the "standby for telekinesis" effect to 100%, from 200%.  I felt as if it dumbed the game down.
-> Changed the damage for maximum security turrets.  There is now a more even progression of damage over the course of the game.  Overall heat damage is slightly up and genericpiercing damage is slight down.
--> Base AI genericpiercing damage is 120, and increases by 20 each deck.
--> Base AI heat damage is now 40, and increases by 10 each deck
--> Damage to player is now half of that of damage to the AI.  Previously, it was less than half at times.

- Medium Security Turrets (Flamer)
-> Base health increased to 450 from 400.  Deck 7 health is 1050.
-> Do not suffer from a health decrease due to freezing... because they spray f*cking FIRE.
-> "Lost-target" time increased to 2.6 seconds from 1.3. If you are pinned down, expect to stay pinned down or you might find yourself extra crispy.

- Minimum Security Turrets (Minigun)
-> Turrets base health increased to 400 from 300.  Deck 7 health is 1000.
-> "Burst-fire" time increased to 5 seconds, from 4
-> "Lost-target" time increased to 4.9 seconds from 1.3. If you are pinned down, expect to stay pinned down unless you get creative.
-> Slightly reduced damage to AI "per deck," particularly for later levels.


*Big Daddies*
- Reduced angle in degree's to target required for Bouncer charge to 43*, was 45*.  This should allow those quick on their feet to dodge a charging Bouncer.
- Increased damage resistance by 25% from all sources but bludgeoning (already very low and wrench damage has been decreased as it is).  This also excludes state resistances such as Burning or Enrage.  Expect more epic fights.
- Health for all Big Daddies increased by 50%
- Reduced shock times on Bouncers by 20%.
- Increased standard Big daddy damage vs AI to Human level
- Reduced all Big Daddy damage to AI by 10%.
-> Elite Rosie damage to AI reduced by 20%.
- Reduced distance required for big daddy charge to 225, from 250.
- Rosies will now dodge every 4 seconds instead of every 5


*Hybrids... er... Splicers*:
- Health changes have been instated.  I felt it was too hard to balance the weapons properly without giving the machine gun and pistol a slight buff, as they are less useful late game.  I had two choices.  First, I could nerf the more powerful weapons and reduce health on splicers later in the game, generally going for a low-health scheme.  Secondly, I could buff the weaker weapons, and raise health for splicers the earlier levels.  I went with the latter.  I felt that it would be both easier and lend to more interesting gameplay.  With higher health on some foes it puts more emphasis on headshots and intense firefights.  Rest assured, the mod hasn't reverted to the state where you require an entire clip to take down most foes.  Just some.
--> Predominately splicer health has increased 25-100% from medical through Arcadia.  There have been health increases on crawlers in Fort Frolic.
- Instituted better localized damage on splicers.
--> Global damage to head increased to 400%, removed individual damage to head from weapons.
--> Global damage to legs reduced to 75%
--> Global damage to arms reduced to 60%
- Doubled health of Residential Sander Cohen.
- Reduced extinguish in water time to 0.125 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
- Increased Cobb's health to 1500, from 1000.
- Increased Martin Finnegan's health to 1600, from 800


*Final Boss*
:
- Doubled health.
- Increased damage by 50%.
*Plumbing... I mean Hacking*
- The difficulty of hacking has been increased tremendously for every machine through tweaking off pipe speed. From Version 6, hacking is MUCH harder but still manageable with SlowFlo 2.
- Hacking gets harder on levels where you get a Speedy Hacker plasmid.
- Medical deck bot starter bot now harder to hack.
- Increased or decreased buyout costs for hacking in the game.  Normally should be between 40 and 100 credits per buyout.
- A certain hacking level is now required "per-deck". Levels are defined by the amount of engineering slots the player has unlocked. This forces a modicum of specialization as you progress through the game.  If you choose to use hacking then make sure to take advantage of it.
- Initial hacking flow has been reduced to 2.5 seconds for deck one, 2.25 seconds for deck two, 2.0 seconds for decks three-five, 1.75 seconds for deck six, and 1.25 second for decks seven+.  The reasoning behind this is that the lack of modding tools prevents me from editing the Hacking tonics and adjusting the initial flow times per-level allows me a little lee-way to account for my inability to edit these tonics while still increasing hacking difficulty.
- Increased the amount of accelerator (thin) tubes for decks 7 and above to compensate for SlowFlo 2.
- Engineering skill (number of slots) required to hack "per-deck," per-object, has been changed. Refer to the table below.  Engineering slots requirements have been relaxed as opposed to previous versions of my mod.  Health Stations and Vending Stations in particular have received some of the most generous reductions, to aid those who don't wish to specialize in hacking.

Code: [Select]

___________________________________________________________________________
| Engineering level req |Deck 1|Deck 2|Deck 3|Deck 4|Deck 5|Deck 6|Deck 7+|
|=======================|======|======|======|======|======|======|=======|
| Health Stations       |  2   |  2   |  2   |  2   |  3   |  3   |   3   |
| Turrets               |  2   |  2   |  3   |  3   |  4   |  4   |   5   |
| Security Bots         |  2   |  2   |  3   |  3   |  4   |  4   |   5   |
| Security Cameras      |  2   |  3   |  3   |  4   |  4   |  5   |   5   |
| Crafting Stations     |  -   |  -   |  2   |  3   |  3   |  4   |   4   |
| Vending Stations      |  2   |  2   |  2   |  2   |  3   |  3   |   3   |
| Keypads               |  2   |  3   |  3   |  4   |  4   |  5   |   5   |
| Security Crates       |  2   |  3   |  3   |  4   |  4   |  5   |   5   |
|_______________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|_______|

*Cyber Modules... otherwise known as ADAM*
- To give a little variety to gameplay, Gatherers no longer have a fixed amount of ADAM.  You will now receive between 280-360 Adam for Harvesting and half for Rescuing Little Sisters, scaling as you progress in the game. For example, little sisters found in the Medical deck grant 280-320 Adam, whereas little sisters found in Fontaine Futuristics grant 320-360 Adam.
- The cost of Plasmid slots have been raised 140% (should cost 240 on hard).
- The cost of Engineering tonic slots have been raised 200% (should cost 240 on hard).
- The cost of Weapon tonic slots have been raised 200% (should cost 240 on hard).
- The cost of Physical tonic slots have been raised 200% (should cost 240).
- The cost of Health and Eve upgrades have been has been raised 150% (should cost 240).
- 3 Heath and Eve upgrades are available at each Gatherer's Garden.


*Plasmids*
- Removed the pointless "(Downloaded)" text in front of the description for some plasmids/tonics.
- Some Plasmids are available a deck or two earlier than before.
- All plasmids are now Available in the final Gatherer's Garden (before the final fight).
- The player is no longer able to purchase any tonic or plasmid available in the world or through research.  These Tonics have been removed from all Gatherer's gardens.
- Added "Organic Pockets," a tonic that was not included in the final release.  Organic pockets doubles the size of your inventory.  I have only encountered one bug with this tonic.  The interface was not designed to handle double-digit numbers for Eve and Health hypos, thus if the player gets more than 9 hypos the second number will overlap the interface.  This does not affect gameplay in any way, other than being a visual nuisance.  This being said, just because I haven't had any bugs doesn't mean you won't.  Use at your own risk!
- Incinerate changes:
-> Increased level 1 plasmid increased heat damage to 24, from 12.
-> Increased level 2 plasmid increased heat damage to 36, from 18.
-> Increased level 3 plasmid increased heat damage to 48, from 24.
- Electro Bolt changes:
-> Increased level 1 plasmid shockedinwater duration to 1.5, from 1.
- Many Plasmids and Tonics have been quadrupled if not tripled in price.  Cost of all purchasable Plasmids + Tonics in charts below:

Code: [Select]

         ___________________________________________________________________________
|                              *PLASMIDS*                                  |
|__________________________________________________________________________|
|    Plasmid:    | Cost: |    Plasmid:    | Cost: |   Plasmid:     | Cost: |
| Winter Blast 1 |  200  | Electro Bolt 2 |  300  | Sonic Boom 1   |  140  |
| Winter Blast 2 |  300  | Electro Bolt 3 |  400  | Sonic Boom 2   |  200  |
| Winter Blast 3 |  400  | Incinerate 2   |  300  | Cyclone Trap 1 |  140  |
| Insect Swarm 1 |  200  | Incinerate 3   |  400  | Cyclone Trap 2 |  200  |
| Insect Swarm 2 |  300  | Enrage!        |  200  |                        |
| Insect Swarm 3 |  400  | Decoy          |  200  |                        |
|________________|_______|_________________________________________________|________
|                              *ENGINEERING TONICS*                                 |
|___________________________________________________________________________________|
|      Plasmid:     | Cost: |     Plasmid:      | Cost: |      Plasmid:     | Cost: |
| Vending Expert 1  |  200  | Focused Hacker 1  |  140  |  Alarm Expert 1   |  200  |
| Vending Expert 2  |  300  | Focused Hacker 2  |  200  |  Clever Inventor  |  300  |
| Hacking Expert 2  |  300  |  Speedy Hacker 2  |  400  |                   |       |
|___________________|_______|___________________|_______|___________________|_______|
|                               *PHYSICAL TONICS*                                   |
|___________________________________________________________________________________|
|   Plasmid:        | Cost: |      Plasmid:    | Cost: |      Plasmid:      | Cost: |
| Extra Nutrition 1 |  140  | Medical Expert 1 |  180  |  Organic Pockets   |  480  |
| Extra Nutrition 2 |  200  | Medical Expert 2 |  300  |  Eve Saver         |  300  |
| Extra Nutrition 3 |  300  | Medical Expert 3 |  420  |  EVE Link 1        |  300  |
|___________________|_______|__________________|_______|____________________|_______|
|                                 *WEAPON TONICS*                                   |
|___________________________________________________________________________________|
|    Plasmid:      | Cost: |     Plasmid:      | Cost: |     Plasmid:       | Cost: |
| Human Inferno 1  |  200  |  Armored Shell 1  |  200  |  Machine Buster 1  |  200  |
| Human Inferno 2  |  300  |  Wrench Lurker 2  |  300  |  Machine Buster 2  |  300  |
|__________________|_______|___________________|_______|____________________|_______|

[674f5945b57eeKolya]

You couldn't modify my post obviously. I put your post at the top now.
Modify your first post, then below the editor window click on "Additional Options". You can remove and add attachments there.

[674f5945b5bacpsikoticsilver]

You couldn't modify my post obviously. I put your post at the top now.
Modify your first post, then below the editor window click on "Additional Options". You can remove and add attachments there.

I figured because it was yours, but I didn't understand how to edit the files.  Thanks a lot Koyla!

[674f5945b5d29psikoticsilver]

Ok guys, I'll be on vacation for about a week so that means I'll be putting out another release while I'm on the road (14 hour drive from Knoxville TN to Erie PA).

The final release will be a COMPLETE remake of the mod from fresh INI files as to avoid any bugs I might have caused due to learning the file structures.

I will try to release my final mod as a single file to make it an easier procedure, and if possible I will try to fix it up with an install program to do all the work for you!

So would you kindly test my mod so I can see what work I need to do?

[674f5945b5e32miracle.freak from GF]

I am willing to kindly test this because I find original gameplay very unbalanced but I'm not going to do so in near future so sorry for not helping out. Thank you for your work I wanted to say.

[674f5945b5f33PieceOfMind]

Hey when you say Over right everything does that include the default Bioshock System Folder, when I started up the game I got a gray box and my PC can run Bioshock I've beatin' it twice.

[674f5945b605cMeocene]

Impressive stuff guys!  If only I'd known.
I've just started my 2nd run - currently in Fort Frolic.  Glad I let it be for so long.  I've forgotten so much that this 2nd play through is a real treat.
One my next play through in another year or so I'll run through using this.
Bioshock's one of the finest games ever made imho.

[674f5945b6157neoendedsmith]

I full-heartedly agree with "Meocene" IMHO.  Played it through 3 times and now I'll playing through with this MOD...thank you "PSiKoTiCSiLVeR"!!

[674f5945b6249neoendedsmith]

BTW, will this MOD still be active again anytime in the near future?  I'm very intrigued and appreciate for these MODs...

[674f5945b6322neoendedsmith]

Anyone, please...

[674f5945b642fKolya]

This mod will probably not be continued. Last time psikoticsilver was active was at the start of July, that's here as well as on TTLG.
As for Bioshock mods in general: There's only so much you can do without an editor.

[674f5945b6554psikoticsilver]

I gave up with this mod due to lack of community interest or testers in general.  I am considering giving it another whirl but if I do it will be a complete remake due to several bugs which I could not fix, notably plasmid bugs as well as the infinite electrocution bug.

[674f5945b664bpsikoticsilver]

Okey dokey, I've reinstalled edit pad lite specifically to look into this mod again!

News coming in the next couple weeks.

[674f5945b67d1psikoticsilver]

I underestimated exactly how much editing I had done!  Holy cow.   I've been going over what I've done and I've come to the conclusion that it would just be far too difficult to start from the beginning, so I will simply work through what I have and release beta 5 when possible--this release will primarily be a balancing release.

If all goes well it will be the FINAL beta version.

Ok, more news as I update. ^^


*more news*

I seem to have finished most of the balancing, however before I release anything I need to test the whole mod myself, which I've already begun to do.

The one thing I won't be able to fix until I've tested the entire game are the Adam costs--they're very particular and they are not entirely based on the configuration files.

[674f5945b6a20neoendedsmith]

Thank you for your time and the update.  I appreciate the work you are doing IMMENSELY!!  I love your name also by the way.  I'll test anything you put out if you would like me to...I've beaten the game all the way through 3 times and am working on my 4th with v.4.1 of your mod and my opinion is that it adds even MORE replayability to the best game I've ever played!!  I don't just throw that around lightly either...I stick to FSX and mainly other RPGs...Mafia: City of Lost Heaven used to be my best game, ever since 2002, in my opinion.  Other than that I've replayed System Shock 2, GTAIII, Max Payne, Far Cry, etc...so that's my lane of expertise with computer games but I've played thousands on various consoles and BioShock is still my new best of all time on ANY platform!!

Anyway, point I'm driving to is that I love this game and will use ANY excuse I can to play it again and again!!  Thank you for helping me do that!!

BTW...playing through for the 4th time, I just finally noticed something else new last night...when you're in the water-way tunnels, the amazing game engine even renders shadows of the fish swimming around outside, on the floors and walls...the coding team was just so amazing!!  Over the times I've replayed, I've noticed the one time things like the first time you come across a ventilation shaft and a Little Sister's eyes would peak at you in the Ball Room with the "New Year 1959" sign in it, but the fish is the latest thing I've noticed...hehe

You can tell I am passionate about BioShock and would do anything I could to help you test anything you'd work on.  Please maintain your passion too.

Talk later Brother.  Respectfully, Richard...

[674f5945b6b6bneoendedsmith]

Also...please don't worry about time-comsuming installers, "Hard and Impossible" versions or trying to make everything into one file.  Unless you want to...I'm only putting out my two-cents...cuz time is obviously against us all...and I dont think the cost/benefit ratio is even...

You mentioned driving from Knoxville...I go through there often visiting family...I live in Clarksville, Tennessee (not from there originally...born up North).

Yet again...later Bro...

[674f5945b6ccdpsikoticsilver]

Thanks for replies and greetings

I've been working on the mod some and I feel as if I've made headway towards balancing the first deck as good as it can be.   It helps to have a complete play through of my latest version.

I've just been making some decisions on balancing each particular role properly, to make sure each particular path the player picks will be challenging.  I'll be bringing a lot more tweaks than I thought.

Yes I travel between Philadelphia and Knoxville often, because I used to live in Knox.  So I know the roads well (so many hours behind the wheel).

[674f5945b6da9neoendedsmith]

So you don't need any help with the testing?

[674f5945b6ed3psikoticsilver]

I most definately will but not with version 4.1 which is rather dated and has quite a few things I've since fixed.  I will have version 5.0 BETA out soon, with the way I'm progressing I'd say within the next 10 days.  If I get enough done (deck5) AND I'm confident in my predictions for the remaining levels, I'll send out an early 4.5 BETA and and let anyone test it if they so wish.

[674f5945b6fa8neoendedsmith]

Spiffy...

[674f5945b710apsikoticsilver]

Good news!  I finished Deck 2 and I've finally figured the base costs that the game uses for plasmids at the Gatherer's Garden.  For some reason, it does not use the values specified in the Plasmids.ini file and that's why some of the plasmid costs differ from that what I listed in the changes.

So now I should have all plasmids properly priced and ready to go--it took me an hour of organizing and reloading and cataloging.  It was one of my biggest problems with my other beta's and with this out of the way (and the others I've already fixed) I will have beta 5 ready for all in the next few days

[674f5945b7208neoendedsmith]

That's great news PSiKoTiCSiLVeR...I'm very excited and I look forward to it.

[674f5945b75c1Marvin]

Thank you for your effort. It may not seem so, but your work is much appreciated, despite the lack of posts here (btw: did you make a thread on Cult of Rapture?).