[Obsolete] SS2 Community Patch (SCP) Beta 4

[673fd50a18439ZylonBane]

You seem to have critically failed to understand what "inconsistent texturing in the dispenser chute" means.

[673fd50a1863avoodoo47]

iirc, the reps were made consistent with other reps on a particular level, that's all.

[673fd50a18838Erik]

Hey all! Longtime SS2 fan, new to modding. I'm playing the Mac Steam version, which runs through Wine, so I removed the package from my steamapps folder and run it elsewhere. I updated it with SS2Tool and added a bunch of mods, which mostly work (the game runs and looks really good!)

But I'm having trouble with a ton of sound glitches -- most notably, the Pelito e-mails aren't triggering, even though the "incoming message" log appears at the top of the screen, and sometimes logs from corpses aren't playing when I bring them up, either. Also, there will be sound glitches with scripted events (the woman's screams not playing when she runs from the hybrid in that first window) and objects (silent cameras), and a few detection errors (I entered one room and then was unable to leave through the automatic door). Because SCP is the only Gamesys mod I have (all my others are texture mods, specifically SHTUP, Four Hundred, and a bunch of Vurt's), I'm assuming this issue is linked to it. Anyone have any experience with this or any idea how I could fix it?

[673fd50a18950voodoo47]

make sure the voice/ambient balance slider under the sound options is right in the middle.

changing the hardware acceleration (sound driver) may also help.

[673fd50a18d35sarge945]

I also get issues with missing sounds at times, like the woman's scream at the start when climbing through the vents.

The usual fix is to enable and/or disable EAX. It's a very tempermental setting, and you might need to either flip it, or turn it off completely to make it work. Sometimes it works instantly. Sometimes it works only after a restart.

[673fd50a18e51ZylonBane]

I've updated the Google Drive links in the first post. Apparently Google changed something and the old ones weren't working anymore.

[673fd50a18fa5JDoran]

Thanks, ZB.

[673fd50a190c9Icksde]

Does it work with every language? I had a translation mod after installing ss2tool. I have it below the graphic mods.
Can i put the patch on the lowest priority?

[673fd50a19211ZylonBane]

By default, no, it does not work with other languages. SCP modifies almost every text file in the game, so if you install a translation mod at a higher priority than SCP, it will revert those changes, causing various texts to be wrong or missing. To use a translation mod with SCP, the mod would have to translate the SCP text files.

[673fd50a19307Icksde]

As i get 20 CMs anyway with the upgrade im glad i checked the readme before. Would just be nice to know which psi Abilitys were changed summarized at the top or smth.

[673fd50a1941cvoodoo47]

yes, you will get the fixes and changes, the translated texts will however say whatever they say. also quest notes/objectives will be broken/missing unless the translation has been made SCP compatible. as always, SCP needs to have the lowest priority, and the translation the highest, that should minimize possible issues.

contact the maintainer of your translation to confirm/improve SCP compatibility.

[673fd50a1955fDaedalus]

Is there a standalone mod that offers the bug fixes and minor QOL improvements of SCP without some of the more major changes? I prefer to play vanilla but obviously bugfixes are ideal improvements, and things like not having to unload every shotgun from a hybrid make things run more smoothly.

Or am I mixing SCP up with another mod that has more major changes? I seem to recall there being two here - one keeping in line with vanilla and another that was more ambitious - but I can't seem to find the other.

[673fd50a199c8Chandlermaki]

Or am I mixing SCP up with another mod that has more major changes? I seem to recall there being two here - one keeping in line with vanilla and another that was more ambitious - but I can't seem to find the other.

SCP is basically vanilla, but better in every conceivable way. A lot of base game jank is completely gone and it's a much smoother experience. In general, you want it.

You're probably thinking of SECMOD.

[673fd50a19d72sarge945]

Is there a standalone mod that offers the bug fixes and minor QOL improvements of SCP without some of the more major changes? I prefer to play vanilla but obviously bugfixes are ideal improvements, and things like not having to unload every shotgun from a hybrid make things run more smoothly.

Or am I mixing SCP up with another mod that has more major changes? I seem to recall there being two here - one keeping in line with vanilla and another that was more ambitious - but I can't seem to find the other.

SCP definitely makes some...questionable design changes.

You can revert the controversial grenade and pyrokenesis changes using this mod

Beware though, even with SCP, the game is still an unbalanced mess. I would highly recommend playing with a vanilla friendly balance mod instead, like RSD

[673fd50a1a23cDaedalus]

ChandlermakiNever touched SECMOD; it was SCP I was thinking of. I don't like the added room on Command 3 for Korenchkin. It's not the room itself, it's just that it feels out of place attached where it is. Especially with the keycard still being exposed. I don't like the death trap in that pool in BOTM either, and subbing in that shotgun hybrid feels out of place. Generally I'd say it's an improvement but I do think some of the room changes, especially the lighting used, changes the mood of certain rooms/places.

Anyway, I also encountered some glitches. On my first visit, both Ops D and Rec A didn't play their music. I also didn't get the Xerxes message that usually plays when the Ops D music starts, or the new message from Shodan that plays before you leave Ops. Quitting the game seemed to fix it, though I'm not sure of the cause. I was basically only playing with the recommended mods, cosmetic and the soundtrack mod, patched with SS2Tool, SCP + SHTUP-ND on a new game.

I also received quite the surprise on a trip up to Command; while waiting in the elevator and deciding what items to take with me, the door opened up and a spider came in. Can't say I agree with whatever changes allow that.

[673fd50a1a3c5voodoo47]

music is kinda random and sometimes wonky, and you'll need beta5 for that extra message when exiting ops.

anyway, if you think SCP is too much, then go with the tool+SHTUP.

[673fd50a1a4e5sarge945]

the extra message?

[673fd50a1a5f7voodoo47]

yes, an extra Shodan mail exists that was supposed to play once the player completes all Ops quests and heads to the main elevator, but it never played because of an improperly set flag on the tripwire object. the tool fixes it on vanilla maps, but not on the SCP b4 maps.

[673fd50a1a9fdZylonBane]

I don't like the added room on Command 3 for Korenchkin. It's not the room itself, it's just that it feels out of place attached where it is.

Explain how Korenchkin having his office on the bridge of his own ship feels out of place.

We didn't even "attach" that room there. It was always there, albeit in unfinished form. Irrational carved out a space for that room on the bridge back in 1999. They just didn't finish it.

[673fd50a1b1aeDaedalus]

music is kinda random and sometimes wonky, and you'll need beta5 for that extra message when exiting ops.

anyway, if you think SCP is too much, then go with the tool+SHTUP.

Are you sure you need Beta 5? Because I've done 2 non-SCP runs patched with SS2Tool within the last week-ish and it played on my way out. Music cued properly too, now that I think of it. I tend to play SS2 multiple times in a row under different playstyles, so I've actually done 3 in the last week or so. One "vanilla" run with my usual cosmetic/soundtrack mod setup (the ones recommended in the newbie modding guide), one with only the soundtrack mod, and this last one with SCP + SHTUP-ND added. Re-patched with SS2Tool before each run, of course. I'm not sure how often the master build is updated but I figured it didn't hurt.

Anyway, my main reason for trying SCP was I thought it provided additional fixes/improvements over the SS2Tool patched version. Shotgun hybrid's 1 slug being unloaded for example. On my "vanilla" runs I manually unload them for the whole game...

Explain how Korenchkin having his office on the bridge of his own ship feels out of place.

We didn't even "attach" that room there. It was always there, albeit in unfinished form. Irrational carved out a space for that room on the bridge back in 1999. They just didn't finish it.

You misunderstand. My complaint wasn't that it exists, but instead about the spot that it's attached. What makes you think it feels like it belongs there anyway? The layout doesn't make sense. In place of the small wall, with a keycard inset into it near the window, is an entire entryway and hall. You go up a set of elevators to a control room and there's an entryway to a short hallway, a reception area, and an office, doubled back on the route, around a very small corner of the wall. It's almost like why even have the wall there. It would actually make more sense for the upper level to be more open, cut the hall and reception room, and to have Korenchkin's office doorway set into the wall back near the elevator or something. The wall makes sense in base game because there's nothing there otherwise, so of course there would be a wall. The wall doesn't make sense with the rooms added because the layout doesn't flow in a functional way. There's also the meeting room(?) to the right of the elevators, where the cyborg assassin usually sits. That's actually a good example of how you would expect the layout to be, and shows the design doesn't match. I would expect an office to be set on the same wall as that room, or through/beyond it, or maybe mirrored on the wall opposite that room. Something like that. I would not expect it to be wedged down an entryway and hallway near the terminals and the window, inset into a wall that otherwise wouldn't need to be there.

Regardless, it still doesn't make sense for the keycard to be kept outside of the added rooms. The base game location has it on the empty wall opposite the terminals; makes sense. It's about as secure as you can get, given the area, and functionally it's right across from the terminals in case someone needs it. There's even the rocket turret there. With the added rooms, it's moved into the hall outside the locked doors. From a security standpoint it would be more fitting for it to be in the locked room, or from an accessibility standpoint you'd expect it to be somewhere else near the terminals. I realize there's no other place to actually put it since the rooms are added (and usage of the card itself would be near zero during normal ship operation anyway...), but since changes were made, and I'm now told to justify my view, there you go. That's my take.

Also, you say they didn't finish it, but do we know the reason? Lack of time or they felt their time was better spent elsewhere? Or could it have been a level design choice to cover it up for the final? It wouldn't be the first time such a thing was done; add a wall and it's completely covered. And look! It even gives us the perfect spot for our keycard, right next to our window, across from our terminals, around the bend, past the turret, etc. Perfect placement.

[673fd50a1b32dvoodoo47]

yes, very sure that ops exit message will not play with beta4, as the fix was added after its release, and beta5 is not out yet. SCP does provide a few extra fixes and improvements (see the readme).

the layout doesn't make sense pretty much anywhere, the levels were not designed as parts of a ship, but as levels of a game.

[673fd50a1ba4cZylonBane]

My complaint wasn't that it exists, but instead about the spot that it's attached. What makes you think it feels like it belongs there anyway? The layout doesn't make sense.

Ah, there it is. You don't like it because it's not laid out like the idealized floor plan that exists in your head. Despite the fact that the entire game is full of chaotic, non-optimal layouts. Also I'm guessing you haven't spent much time in real office buildings in your life, because this sort of twisty weirdness is actually pretty common.

As for who decided the entrance belongs where it does, Irrational did. This is that area from the original game, as it appears in DromEd:

As you can see, there's the short entrance hall right behind the keycard. They just walled it off.

[673fd50a1c27bDaedalus]

yes, very sure that ops exit message will not play with beta4, as the fix was added after its release, and beta5 is not out yet. SCP does provide a few extra fixes and improvements (see the readme).

Okay well I got it somehow. So...I don't what to tell you.

the layout doesn't make sense pretty much anywhere, the levels were not designed as parts of a ship, but as levels of a game.

Yeah, so? I can dislike the change for any reason. For me the wall just works better. Simple as. Also I did talk about keycard placement so it's not simply the layout. Regardless, I can prefer the wall over the rooms. Nothing wrong with that, just like people can prefer the rooms being there instead.

Ah, there it is. You don't like it because it's not laid out like the idealized floor plan that exists in your head.

LOL "Ah, there it is." I expressed a personal view that was different from yours, therefore it's a problem huh? It was obvious since you chose to start off with "Explain" rather than something less aggressive, like "Why do you think that?" or "What makes you think so?" Doesn't help you misstated my point to be me hating the room being on the bridge at all.

Despite the fact that the entire game is full of chaotic, non-optimal layouts.

The game also has shotguns glued to the shotgun hybrid model, which you can then drop, but an entire mod was created to deal with that. Not sure why autism is fine there yet I can't say that I think the layout doesn't work with the change. And again, I did talk about keycard placement as well. So you're kind of pulling the same thing again, making it all about some layout I've "imagined" rather than the points I actually said. And you're still missing the point that it's a change, so whether it's about layout or placement or whatever, I can still prefer the wall from the final. It's my personal preference. Not sure why you have a problem with that.

Also I'm guessing you haven't spent much time in real office buildings in your life, because this sort of twisty weirdness is actually pretty common.

Uh, no. They definitely don't. Maybe wherever you're from, but not where I am. Things are very spacious, open, and with direct access to offices; not tucked around a wall corner like that. Maybe a janitor's closet but definitely not the big boss' office.

As for who decided the entrance belongs where it does, Irrational did.

Yeah, you ignored that whole part in my reply, just like you misunderstood my original point. I acknowledged that they placed it there after you stated so. But the mod opens it back up. That was a change. I simply expressed the view that I prefer it without that change. I don't see why that's a problem, or why you're so aggressive/defensive about it.

I also asked you if you knew why they walled it off. You declined to answer. I even asked what makes you think it belongs there (also no answer), so I guess you're weighing everything on Irrational having modeled it out despite walling it up in the final. You also declined to comment on my rationale for the keycard placement. I'll just assume you don't have a rebuttal to that either.

Anyway, I can see that my posts here are apparently problematic or otherwise undesired so I'll just get back to playing vanilla instead. Have a good one.

[673fd50a1c3d4voodoo47]

well yes, not using mods if you don't like what they offer is perfectly ok too.