SS2 Enhanced Combo Mod

[673fa94a0efd5miracle.flame]

Hi all. Firstly I apologize for posting in this thread but I've yet to found "new thread" icon around, only found new poll which is not what I want. You may separate this into new topic..with the name uuuh... SS2  Enhanced Combo Mod for example I think.

Besides that I much like your combined mod Pop but I'd want it without difficulty altering as well.

Here's the idea.
I've been trying to combine all the good ideas from various mods here simply by combining files themselves but there are those gamesys mods which cannot be combined that way because of the conflicting shock2.gam file and sometimes even mis files too. So that would need to be done with ShockEd I presume. I've laid my eyes on tutorial for a while and it seemed to be mostly about creating maps which is not exactly what I'm looking for.

I'd like to have an original gameplay based on Straylight ADaoB enhanced by some other great ideas of separate mods all-in-one just like Pop did in his Difficulty and Enhancement Mod but without changing overall difficulty at all. In other words I'd like Easy game to be easy and not just an insane difficulty on whichever setting if you know what I mean. 

Tha main idea is to have a mod with all the enhancments that modding community came with but with balanced difficulty and original maps and gameplay in the terms of placements,enemies etc. just something like a remake.. and fully optional other bits without need of compromises and conflicts.


This is the layout:

- Straylight ADaoB is the basis

- Ejecting brass mod has the gamesys compatibile with above so consider this one a starting point

- flatliner's idea about hackable bots and cameras that trigger alarm when destroyed is brilliant and makes the atmosphere even more real. Additionally the cameras shouldn't make any ridiculous bleeps when they spot possible threat and in hacked condition they should remain 'neutral' and not 'friendly' such as in SecMod which makes enemies anxious to destroy the hacked camera..that's greatly unnatural and unreal I think. This additional modification would be more fun, realistic and will keep you alert and non-hasty at all times. Also would make that OS upgrade +2 hack for security stations more meaningful. But of course you may always destroy the cameras as usual if you don't wish to bother with hacking but then you have to shut the triggered alarm off at the nearest security station.

- some additional changes from Anisotropic mod (mainly Psionic) would be really nice for more fun and realism

- Most changes from SecMod, too many to be listed here but without that annoying protocol rush when damaged..that's just way too unnatural for simple droid which is glad it's even able to move the way it moves at all.

- Some ideas gathered by Populism such as smaller pistols and psi-amp inventory sizes from Arcaniac; 3. Most NPCs now have a secondary mode of fire; 5.  Added ejected casings to most weapons' fire; 9.  All objects can be recycled/transmuted (not quest items); 16. Lowered requirements for most uses of tech skills while increasing the difficulty; 17. Many effects added or altered such as: bullet holes, explosions/weapons light up the area, colored projectiles/particles; 18. Corrected or added responses to interaction with certain objects in the game world; 19. Instant death effects for NPCs: vaporization, blown apart, smouldering corpses,..
I know some are taken from other mods...that's the goal.

- Maybe I'll think of alternative add-on mod with removed all French-Epstein and Auto-Repair units to rebalance Repair and Modify with other tech skills... or more likely just make them very very scarce in main mod..two or three in the whole game..maybe difficulty dependant

- Hi-Torque medsci1 level but stripped of those piles of CMs, nanites and guns&ammo...just like in original.

- Now comes the big part and the most important. Spawn mode selectable or hardwired nospawn. But I'm for the right to choose. This would demand altering ADaoB maps. I know many hardcore players consider this lame but on the other hand when I've swept and cleaned the whole deck then finding another enemy "spawned" from nowhere spoils the whole atmospheric feeling..that's just too unnatural and annoying. I'm for the atmosphere of realism. There are difficulty settings for those seeking more fun and challenge. But as I said I'd like to keep the right to choose based on Zygoptera's mod and if possible the selection would be made already in earth.mis so it would apply also for using next modification

- Zombe's Level selector in earth.mis. Yeah, it's kinda cheesy but not that much cheat because you can't go back. I find it mostly useful and amusing for experimentations but it needs some tuning like chemical storerooms for each level booth, OS upgrade units and some more bugfixes. I'll discuss this with Zombe if possible. This one would be available as add-on mod (with spawn choice of course) 'cause someone could find the opportunity obtrusive.



Most ideal would be Pop's DE without difficulty altering or SecMod modified with all the above (lol) and shipped in two versions...
1, Original maps without any new things/enemies/placements
2, Enhanced SecMod with All the new awesome thingies TF was able to think up
But once again..that's just the most ideal scenario



Well, I don't expect someone would do all that for myself but some help, resources, advise and whatever would be much appreciated. I'm quite new to this and some fast pointers would be nice. Where should I look? What to concentrate on? Is there any way to fast-merge two gamesys'? Or any comparation or other tools? How to quickly dispose of non-plot spawn points if I wouldn't be able to make the selection in earth.mis myself? ...ICQ possible

[673fa94a0f219Nameless Voice]

All gamesys modifications must be made via ShockEd.
There is a tool for importing .xml-format data into a gamesys, but the exporting functionality was never implemented, so you need to write the .xml file by hand - not exactly useful for merging two gamesystems.

Some of the effects in SecMod need custom script, and the script module needs to be loaded into every .mis file individually, so you can't use SecMod with the original maps, at least not without modification.
In any case, SecMod is still in development, so anything you base on it will be obsolete soon enough.

[673fa94a0f3c3Kolya]

I highly recommend to start with your own genuine idea. Try to surprise us with something that didn't exist before, something that no one had ever thought of. It will be more rewarding for you when you finish it, even if it's just something small to start with, and people will be more willing to help you too. Because it's more interesting to help with a new idea than recreating the original ideas of someone else.

[673fa94a0f707miracle.flame]

Well umm, yeah, I get your point Kolya but consider that I am completely new to ShockEd or DromEd and any idea (know that right now there are none other than I posted here or at Zombe Level Selector mod) is just an idea which I have no idea how to achieve. In fact I did some research by comparing parameters in various mods and I've understood some things.

Now I was able to make cameras hackable and sounding an alarm when damaged but I was merely improvising changes in Flatliner's mod. Unfortunately trying to make the camera 'neutral' instead of 'friendly' when hacked has turned to no avail. It's because the cameras are not really neutral in security shutdown mode, the player is just invisible for them in that time. But I believe it can be accomplished in some much more sophisticated manner. Sadly if you are able to get down the camera with one shot it won't sound the alarm 'cause the script response is set to damage only. Can this be solved somehow?

Also while trying to make the cameras silent I've discovered TF made it by adding script module in .mis files as Nameless Voice said and that's what I'd like to avoid. For now I've set the yellow to red condition to 1.5 seconds so it doesn't sound silly like "quickly shoot me". Even if you do, you'll have to deal with alarm which (not to spoil the fun) cannot be turned off so easily at security station but only by hacking it. That remote electron dampering would have some use now. But this is Pop's idea I think.

To make one thing straight. I think most people use Straylight's ADaoB as a 'default' mod along with SHTUP and Rebirth I guess. The only thing I want is to have such default mod enhanced by those separate mods as much as it goes so no one would have to make compromises. Even that could be available in more combinations for those people who do not know how to tamper things in ShockEd. And everything will still be as much optional as possible. Or why just don't add that all in next version of ADaoB? Yeah I understand they are ideas of individuals but why not unify them?

My intention isn't to impress. I just want it done. All credits will be made and it won't have to bear my nick at all. I have backtracked Pop's progress in modding and I see what all is possible in single shock2.gam. I think that with his help I could make it. He learned from you, now it's fair to pass the knowledge forward. I understand some questions from starters may be quite annoying for skilled users of Dromed, even more if the answer may not be so easily uderstandable.

ok, off to bed with me for now.

[673fa94a0f8ceKolya]

I can answer a few general questions but nothing about how to implement features in shocked. I never used shocked much, but devoted my time to this site instead. Okay, so why aren't changes unified and added to ADaoB? For one thing not all authors would be interested in this. And then that's not the purpose of ADaoB either. As it's name suggests, it is meant to fix bugs and balance stuff that was unbalanced before. It is a very conservative mod, as it doesn't try to make changes that weren't intended by the developers. That is also why ADaoB is so successful.
Of course it doesn't keep you from using it as a base for your own ideas.
Another sidenote: There are maybe 5(!) active shockedders who know their stuff. Some come here but generally you will get more answers on specific questions in the TTLG editing forums. (Editor's Guild and SS2 Mission design).

[673fa94a0fa17Salk]

miracle.freak,

no word about how this project of yours is developing?

[673fa94a0fb39miracle.flame]

It's somewhere in the middle of developing and does not proceed anymore because I lost feeling that it's important and worth the effort.

EDIT:
Now that I've read through this thread it's completely out of date and not about what I was going to make lol. No you can see that most things were done already via separated mods. My project is about creating various combination of gamesys files so you can "pick a set" of features from all available mods that suits you the best. There was supposed to be something like 9 combinations of the best features. Hard to do and not really worth the effort.

[673fa94a0fc41DaemonXR]

Very sad. I would want to combine mods for shure if i have that oportunitie.