Game too easy? Know how to use a notepad? All your DIY mod needs here!

[Derek Pullem]

I like the changes, I'll have to try them next campaign. One thing that I really dislike is that the to-hit percentages are just insanely good compared to TT. I get that it shortens the battles, things are more deadly, but it means that ammo is barely even a concern. In TT, an LRM with only 12 shots is frequenly going to run out of ammo well before the match is done if they're taking bad shots.

That works both ways - as i found out when I didn't take out the LRM turrets in one of the scenarios!

 

[Killuelihie]

You beat the game and want to fool around with those nasty SLDF Mechs, you only get to see in this special Mission?
Same here, so i juggled around the json files to mod those Beauties into the game.
(Though i kept them as rare to get, as possible.)

Guide to enable Star League Defense Force Mechs in Shops:

Go to the Json Files and open in Tabs the folders "Mech" "Chassis" Shops" and "Starsystem"
(As a safetymeassure i opened the mechlabincludes too)

You will find 4 SLDF Mechs currently in the Game:

Folder Chassis:

chassisdef_atlas_AS7-D-HT
chassisdef_blackknight_BL-6b-KNT
chassisdef_griffin_GRF-4N
chassisdef_highlander_HGN-732b

If you open those files and compare them with the normal Mechs, there are 2 Differences:

"Purchasable": false,
Change this tag to "true"

and

"BLACKLISTED" (You'll find it mostly at the top.)
Change this tag to ""unit_release"

That's... kinda one half of the first third of steps you need to do.

Second half:

Folder Mech

mechdef_atlas_AS7-D-HT
mechdef_blackknight_BL-6b-KNT
mechdef_griffin_GRF-4N
mechdef_highlander_HGN-732b

To do here:
"Purchasable": false,
Change this tag to "true"

1/3 CHECK.

Next step:

Go to the Shops Folder and open the following jsonfiles:
shopdef_Mech_all
shopdef_Mech_starleague

To do in those:

Add the following text:
{
"ID" : "mechdef_atlas_AS7-D-HT",
"Type" : "MechPart",
"DiscountModifier" : 1.0,
"Count" : 2,
"Weight" : 2
},
{
"ID" : "mechdef_griffin_GRF-4N",
"Type" : "MechPart",
"DiscountModifier" : 1.0,
"Count" : 2,
"Weight" : 2
},
{
"ID" : "mechdef_blackknight_BL-6b-KNT",
"Type" : "MechPart",
"DiscountModifier" : 1.0,
"Count" : 2,
"Weight" : 2
},
{
"ID" : "mechdef_highlander_HGN-732b",
"Type" : "MechPart",
"DiscountModifier" : 1.0,
"Count" : 2,
"Weight" : 2
},
(Make sure the brackets fit and don't miss the , after closing it, if another Mech comes after it!)

2/3 done.

Now for the last part.

open the Folder mechlabincludes and in there the json for singleplayer.
Add the text from the Shops too, so those Mechs are included into your Mechbay. I'm not too sure atm if this is necessary, but better safe than sorry, isn't it? =)

If you want to test if it works, open the folder Starsystem, open a json from a Starleague planet (I did it with Illushin in the Taurian system, for it offers the shortest traveltime to reset shop) and change the rare items in Shop parameter:

"ShopMaxSpecials": 55, (<-- i set it to 55, and only got 1 (ONE!!) Blackknight 6b Salvagepart. So it still ist pretty rare)

The SLDF Mechs come with a rarity of 5, which makes them, more or less, ghosts for the shops, you added them.
To keep it realistic i don't recommend changing this. Furthermore you should keep it to Shops from Planets with Starleague Traces.

Have fun with them =)

 

[crkessel]

Yes but wasn't there something like Restocking in the field in TT? It's a while for me since i last played it, but some old, rusty Braincells keep telling me, you could restock Ammo in the field.
Correct me if i'm wrong =)

Not that I'm aware of. Oh, there might be something in the couple thousand of pages of rules across all the rule books, but nothing as part of the standard mech battle. There is a provision for dumping ammo, which might be good in theory to avoid an explosion if you're running thin on armor.

The meta that exists so far on LRM boating gets nerfed a bit if to-hit percentages go down. And lasers increase again in value since they don't have any ammo. Well, large lasers will still suck, but they sort of sucked in TT as well

 

[SQW]

Agreed, but what if its for rescaling it, so it feels more authentic?
Can you point out for me in which files all the Money is regulated? =)
As stated above, i want to rescale all the finances, so we come in the numbers, the old Mercenaries in the 90s suggested. An Atlas being worth sold as Chassis 1mil CB is awfully laughable.
But for it to work and not destroying the gamebalance i need to reconfigure all finances.
Loans for the Leopard being around 7kk CB per Month, Missions CB outcomes etc.

In the simgameconstant. Right at the top.


"Finances" : {
"QuarterLength" : 30,
"MonthLength" : 30,
"BurndownDayLength" : 30,
"MechCostPerQuarter" : 12000,
"MechTechCostPerQuarter" : 9000,
"MedTechCostPerQuarter" : 3000,
"SpartanCostModifier" : 0.6,
"RestrictedCostModifier" : 0.8,
"GenerousCostModifier" : 1.4,
"ExtravagantCostModifier" : 1.8,
"JumpShipCost" : 30000,
"MechWarriorBaseCostPerPoint" : 2000.0,
"MechWarriorBonusCostPerPoint" : 1000.0,
"MechWarriorHiringCostPerPoint" : 3000.0,
"DefaultShopRefreshRate" : 14,
"DefaultShopMaxInventory" : 50,
"DefaultShopMaxSpecials" : 2,
"ContractPricePerDifficulty" : 180000,
"ContractTypeMod_AmbushConvoy" : 0.8,
"ContractTypeMod_Assassinate" : 0.8,
"ContractTypeMod_CaptureBase" : 1.0,
"ContractTypeMod_CaptureEscort" : 1.2,
"ContractTypeMod_DefendBase" : 1.2,
"ContractTypeMod_DestroyBase" : 0.8,
"ContractTypeMod_Rescue" : 0.4,
"ContractTypeMod_SimpleBattle" : 1.0,
"ContractPriceVariance" : 0.15,
"ContractFloorSalaryMultiplier" : 0.1,
"ContractFloorSalvageBonus" : 2,
"ContractNegotiatedReputationPerDifficulty" : 2,
"ContractNegotiatedReputationDifficultyMod" : 5,
"ContractNegotiatedReputationVariance" : 0.0,
"MaxReputationChangeOnAContract" : 20.0,
"GoodFaithModifier" : 0.3,
"NoFaithModifier" : 0,
"TechHiringCostPerPoint" : 8000,
"ShopSellModifier": 0.32,
"ShopSellDamagedModifier": 0.08,
"ShopWarnBeforeSellingPriceMinimum": 100000,
"MechScrapModifier": 0.08,
"MechLabRefundModifier": 0.9,
"RecoveredChassisShopModifier" : 0.9,
"LeopardBaseMaintenanceCost" : 70000,
"ArgoBaseMaintenanceCost" : 80000,
"QuartersYouCanAffordWithoutTriggeringWarning" : 2

},

 

[SQW]

Not that I'm aware of. Oh, there might be something in the couple thousand of pages of rules across all the rule books, but nothing as part of the standard mech battle. There is a provision for dumping ammo, which might be good in theory to avoid an explosion if you're running thin on armor.

The meta that exists so far on LRM boating gets nerfed a bit if to-hit percentages go down. And lasers increase again in value since they don't have any ammo. Well, large lasers will still suck, but they sort of sucked in TT as well

The meta exists because HBS made everything so accurate. When you can get 95% accuracy from the edge of weapon range behind a hill, of course players will abuse it. Add cheap call shot cost to the mix and you have this knock down meta happening.

People would use LLs more and less MLs when the former becomes the more accurate option of dealing pin point damage to one section at range.

Or we could change the stability dmg of all 36 LRMs in the game. =/

 

[crkessel]

View distance
"BaseSpotterDistance": 600.0, (default is 300. The more AI can see you, the more bullets can come at you)
"ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier": 0.5, (I think this for sensor range. Vanilla is at 100% which is too much for the new value above)

I'm pretty sure that 2nd one should be BaseSensorDistance.

I'm not sure what ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier does.

 

[Drasius]

Yes but wasn't there something like Restocking in the field in TT? It's a while for me since i last played it, but some old, rusty Braincells keep telling me, you could restock Ammo in the field.
Correct me if i'm wrong =)

Not that I'm aware of. Oh, there might be something in the couple thousand of pages of rules across all the rule books, but nothing as part of the standard mech battle.

Fairly sure there was, but IIRC it was a low/medium (10/15'ish?) skill tech roll (with no failure consequence other than not loading the ammo) and a ~15 minute time requirement per attempt. Any interuption caused it to autofail, though it could be attempted again immediately. Obviously you also need to have the equipment and techs there with you in the field too.

I wanna say it's in Field Ops, but that's barely more than guessing without going and digging my books out.

 

[SQW]

I'm pretty sure that 2nd one should be BaseSensorDistance.

I'm not sure what ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier does.

Looks like it's just a multiplier for the base sensor range of 400. So what we see in game is actually 800. I changed the multiplier back to 1.0. Default sensor works fine with 450 view distance.

 

[crkessel]

Fairly sure there was, but IIRC it was a low/medium (10/15'ish?) skill tech roll (with no failure consequence other than not loading the ammo) and a ~15 minute time requirement per attempt. Any interuption caused it to autofail, though it could be attempted again immediately. Obviously you also need to have the equipment and techs there with you in the field too.

I wanna say it's in Field Ops, but that's barely more than guessing without going and digging my books out.

15 minutes would be FOREVER in battlefield terms, so that'd have to be at a higher scale. I've got ATOW, TW, Campaign Ops, and Strategic Ops. I scanned the index and didn't see it. I don't have Tactical Ops though, maybe its in there. Regardless, it's not at a time scale that'd be relevant to a mech battle where each turn is 10 seconds.

 

[SQW]

I don't think they reload in the middle of battle like Matrix 3 - probably just pop back to rear base to re-arm and re-fit. A fight may take only minutes but a battle can take hours.

 

[Drasius]

15 minutes would be FOREVER in battlefield terms, so that'd have to be at a higher scale. I've got ATOW, TW, Campaign Ops, and Strategic Ops. I scanned the index and didn't see it. I don't have Tactical Ops though, maybe its in there. Regardless, it's not at a time scale that'd be relevant to a mech battle where each turn is 10 seconds.

Oh, no, definately not. There's no such thing as mid-battle ammo resupply, the closest thing you get there is having a coolant truck hose down your energy boat. The above was for the guys who're dragging a J-27 ammo hauler around after them so they can re-arm between waves. There's no MW3 style mobile repair bay to give you an instant refit mid-firefight.

 

[crkessel]

Oh yea, this is going to be interesting now. The very first mission, the mining one where you get betrayed, the LRM turrets are a threat right off since they can sensor lock you from much farther out and start throwing LRMs your way...

Yay

 

[SQW]

Oh yea, this is going to be interesting now. The very first mission, the mining one where you get betrayed, the LRM turrets are a threat right off since they can sensor lock you from much farther out and start throwing LRMs your way...

Yay

A taste of our own medicine. On the other hand, with the new to-hit modifier, your Spider can probably dance rings around those turrets without getting hit.

I'm still looking for a "Do_tutorial: True" code so I don't have to suffer through 1hr of tedium on the next game.

 

[crkessel]

Two missions in, I like the changes. Sensor contacts much farther out means you have a lot more room to maneuver getting into position. Sensor lock becomes valuable not just as an LRM target, but for early identification. It's nice to actually sensor things so far off they're out of LRM range!

Battles take longer and ammo becomes a concern, which I appreciate. Blowing LRM shots at long range on speedy lights is a waste of ammo. That PPC on your starting Vindicator becomes a lot more valuable since it's long range and doesn't burn ammo, so taking long shots at lower percentage is fine. Maneuvering for position feels more important. Definitely brings back some of the TT feel of the Locust running so damn fast it's hard to hit.

I'm not saying it's a better game, that depends on what you like, but for _me_ it feels very promising.

 

[SQW]

Two missions in, I like the changes. Sensor contacts much farther out means you have a lot more room to maneuver getting into position. Sensor lock becomes valuable not just as an LRM target, but for early identification. It's nice to actually sensor things so far off they're out of LRM range!

Battles take longer and ammo becomes a concern, which I appreciate. Blowing LRM shots at long range on speedy lights is a waste of ammo. That PPC on your starting Vindicator becomes a lot more valuable since it's long range and doesn't burn ammo, so taking long shots at lower percentage is fine. Maneuvering for position feels more important. Definitely brings back some of the TT feel of the Locust running so damn fast it's hard to hit.

I'm not saying it's a better game, that depends on what you like, but for _me_ it feels very promising.

Glad you are enjoying the changes. I'm complaining less about AI now that I'm starting to take losses.

I will tweak the finances side of things after I finished the campaign so the sandbox is less of a loot pinata. Since you've just started a new game, you can tweak the numbers below if you want a more 'authentic' merc feel.


"ContractPricePerDifficulty" : 180000, (I'd halve that number and tweak from there)

"ContractFloorSalvageBonus" : 2, (default priority salvage. set at 0 so you'll actually have to sacrifice money for priority loot in negotiation)
"DefaultSalvagePotential" : 8, (these two are the total salvage numbers. I'd drop them way lower if you feel you never had to buy anything that isn't +++ in store)
"MaxSalvagePotential" : 32,

Since that's your only source of income, tweaking the contract reward basically affect everything else like salary, upkeep, repair, travel, time etc so instead of fiddling with a dozen numbers, you can do it all with just one or two here.

 

[olin011]

Interesting topic. As for to-hit-chance modifiers (especially for lights) I'm wondering if the story missions are still beatable with those changes. There are quite a few missions with timers and some of them require you to get rid of lots of light mechs. These missions were balanced around high to-hit rate. Or convoy missions where you need to shoot those vehichles pretty quickly or they run away. To anyone using the changes what is your experience with those type of missions?

 

[Hasler]

Looks like it's just a multiplier for the base sensor range of 400. So what we see in game is actually 800. I changed the multiplier back to 1.0. Default sensor works fine with 450 view distance.

You defiantly do not get 800 in the game. I played around extensively with the view ranges. Right now I settled at 700 spotting and 500 sensor to conform with lore (the lore stated 1000 and 700 exposed too much of the map).
My sensor range is indeed shorter than my spotting in game. Targets at my extreme range will vanish if I lose LOS. Also to put this into perspective 800 would be 33 hexes. 33 hexes is well off screen and not the behavior we see from the vanilla game. You will not detect an enemy that far away.

A multiplier of 1.0 is multiplying by 1. Why this is a code line I don't know but the math is (base sensor distance)x 1.0, so if your base is 400 you will have 400. If you set it to .5 you will have 200.

 

[Maxzero]

Honestly if you wanted to buff the AI the easiest way would be the change the stock configs. Mass LRMs with Gauss/AC CT targetting.

 

[SQW]

Interesting topic. As for to-hit-chance modifiers (especially for lights) I'm wondering if the story missions are still beatable with those changes. There are quite a few missions with timers and some of them require you to get rid of lots of light mechs. These missions were balanced around high to-hit rate. Or convoy missions where you need to shoot those vehichles pretty quickly or they run away. To anyone using the changes what is your experience with those type of missions?

I kept the modifier for the vees lower than mechs so it's not a big deal for convoy missions. As for campaign missions, I've just finished the Castle Outpost A/B missions and haven't had any issues with lights. You can't target them for a easy kill at will like in vanilla but the AI still tend to move in too close for melee or just move minimally.

You adapt by prioritize bigger targets and take care of the lights when the opportunity comes which to me seem more realistic.

 

[SQW]

You defiantly do not get 800 in the game. I played around extensively with the view ranges. Right now I settled at 700 spotting and 500 sensor to conform with lore (the lore stated 1000 and 700 exposed too much of the map).
My sensor range is indeed shorter than my spotting in game. Targets at my extreme range will vanish if I lose LOS. Also to put this into perspective 800 would be 33 hexes. 33 hexes is well off screen and not the behavior we see from the vanilla game. You will not detect an enemy that far away.

A multiplier of 1.0 is multiplying by 1. Why this is a code line I don't know but the math is (base sensor distance)x 1.0, so if your base is 400 you will have 400. If you set it to .5 you will have 200.

hmm, I have the following setting and the sensor range is definitely more than the visual range.

"BaseSpotterDistance": 450.0,
"BaseSensorDistance": 400.0,
"ExtendedSensorDistanceMultiplier": 1.0,

The LRM max range is 630 and I've taken fire from lrms from beyond visual BUT within sensor. Also, visual multiplier is 0.0 so it can't be simply multiplying that number with base value.