[Mod] JK_Variants 1.8.0.0 - 175+ 'Mechs and 125+ Vees, Rarity Tables, and more

[GenTask]

Thanks for that heads up! Cleaning those up - alerting @GenTask here as well, as he will need to fix them in his main GT Variants mod.

I hadn't really noticed them, as I was only using them in Skirmish mode and not for the campaign.

Send along your MW Callsign and info when you have a chance for the pilots mod

Thanks, I'll take a look. Strange though, since all of it loaded fine for me.

 

[GenTask]

There are 2 other 'Mechs I had wanted to add from the fluff:

• Urbanmech R50 - which is the armless version and predecessor of the R60. I want to play around and have the model appear without the arms.
• Hunchback HBK-2 - which is the inpiration (?) for the Hunchback II. Not enough details on what it was. Some people postulate it has the dual AC/20s, but executes it poorly. Others that it had a completely different config (like dual AC/10s)

R50 - Might require unpacking the Urban model asset bundle, deleting the arms on the model or pushing them into the side torsos.

HBK-2 - I've tried to make this one a few times in Skunkwerks and the only thing that makes sense is that the engine would have to be downgraded to a 150 on the 'two cannons' assumption, but the fluff doesn't really support this. Fun to build though for the heck of it. It can either mount 2 AC 10's, a Small Laser, and 2 Medium Lasers and two tons of ammo if the Heatsinks are reduced to 10 and the armor is reduced to 6 tons. For two AC 20's, it would need 4 tons of armor, minus the medium lasers. Something like this would be visually better by modifying the model as well, or importing a Hunchback IIC and slapping IS stuff on it.

From Technical Readout: 3058 with some keywords

"The Hunchback IIC is a reworking of the venerable Star League-era HBK-2, a basic design that has remained largely unchanged since its inception. Initial hardware assessments of this new version observed among the Clan forces suggest that Clan technicians incorporated into this machine more compact and technologically sophisticated components, allowing the installation of two rapid-fire autocannons rather than a single AC-20. The higher tech also allows room for the installation of jump jets, which great enhance the Hunchback's effectiveness as an urban and wood-land fighter.

From that info:

Designation definitely HBK-2
Only one AC/20.
Assumption - Probably a primitive chassis prototype with the same loadout as a HBK-4G. If they ever make another Technical Readout Primitives, that's probably would they will do.

This info was then removed in Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade, however the 'upgrades' while being reprints are not meant to replace the original editions, so the mention of HBK-2 is still canon.

For a primitive one, I built that in Skunk Werks as well (Primitive Structure, Primitive Engine, Primitive Armor) and I was able to make this work with the HBK-4G loadout but with 8 tons of armor, 1 ton of ammo, and 10 HS.

 

[Justin Kase]

@GenTask - thanks man. Could well just be a primitive, and I am fine leaving it off the list - too many Hunchbacks as it is anyway

You need to drop everything and make this happen RIGHT NOW!

Honestly, I was hoping they would release a patch with the "Legendary" Pilots, so I can see what other options we have for the overall mod. But, this is the Mod that is burning a hole in my desk waiting to be touched

But, I had already posted some teasers a while ago - things like the emblems for Local Disadants, Radical Uprising and House Decimis (from within the Aurigan Coalition)

 

[Dizzy_XC]

You trying to win a popularity contest? Ya got my vote.

Ok, options I chose upon start:

Lyran Commonwealth
You struck out on your own
Inner Sphere Merc
Callsign: Arachne
First name: Natalie
Last name: Ocasek
Pronoun: She

Looks customization:
Main face: 4th Column 5th Row Down
Makeup 3
Tattoo 1
Scar 1
Hairstyle 13
Eyebrows 11
Facial Hair 1
Expression 9
Complexion 5
Hair roots: Dark brown, 5th choice from left
Hair tips: Light tan, 15th choice from the left
Eyes: Blue, 1st choice
Skin: Peach, 2nd choice
Lips: Rose, 3rd choice
Makeup: Purple, 8th choice
Clothing: High Collared Blue Jacket
Lighting: 2nd choice
Camera: 2nd to last position

Favorite mech: Black Knight BL-6-KNT

Edit: Bio: Here ya go! If it's too long I can edit it down.

Born and raised on Coventry, Natalie Ocasek had been fascinated by mechs at an early age. Her father, a rich Steiner merchant with dealings in outer system diamond mining was personal friends with Simon Grantrel, CEO of Coventry Metal Works. Often visiting during her father's business dealings, Natalie would sneak away from her tutors and had the run of the mech production facility. Cute and charming, she had the factory workers wrapped around her finger enjoying a privilege not afforded to most. Towering gods of war were assembled before her widened eyes and her ears were privy to mechanical tips most Mechtechs aren't even aware of at academies. Despite this knowledge, she showed no affinity for technical maintenance. Rather, her true passion was not in building mechs, she was going to pilot them.

Many a starry night, Natalie would stroll down by the loading docks, climb into the cockpit of a finished model before they were loaded and shipped out and write a letter to the future mechwarrior, some kind of special note detailing an intimate personality quirk about the machine no one would otherwise know. As she grew older, these notes turned into pictures of herself in the cockpit of the mech as she blessed it with a good luck charm she left hanging from a knob or dial. Word soon got around about this and one day, Natalie found herself being interviewed by a popular news station that had tracked down the 'Girl with the good luck charms'. The show featured a famous mechwarrior gladiator on Solaris that swore up and down that his life was saved by her 'charms' and personally wanted to thank her on live HV. The broadcast received such high ratings because of Natalie's charming nature that they wanted her to come to Solaris and join the pregame shows.

Realizing the chance to fulfill her dreams, Natalie quit her advanced college tutoring on Coventry and took a one way paid ticket to Solaris leaving her family and fortune behind and joined the pregame gladiator shows as some sort of novelty attraction where she became quite popular being featured in all manner of ways. Exploiting them as much as they did her, she found herself endeared to many a Fighting Stable and one day she was sponsored by one. Accepted into an internship program, she rapidly moved through her mechwarrior training and pledged herself to four years as a gladiator to her Stablemaster. She had initially thought she had achieved all her dreams when climbing into that first mech as a pilot, but it was not so. If she learned anything from gladitorial combat it was the unhealthy rush of killing her opponent.

These days, Natalie finds herself a free mechwarrior for hire going by the callsign Arachne. Her reputation precedes her in that she's somewhat of a spider in battle where her adversaries, once tangled in her web, are hers for the kill. She is as impressive in person as she is in combat and whether she puts you in her sights on or off the battlefield, few fail to get caught in her web. "I'll catch you in my web too, like everyone I come across. And then you're mine to do with as I please," she has been known to say. If you happen to find her, she'll likely be hunting around the periphery for rumors of the whereabouts of her favorite ride, the BL-6-KNT Black Knight. She has an affinity for guns that need never reload.

 

[Justin Kase]

LOL - yeah

Do me a favor though - cut and paste that into a Private message to me and I'll copy it over You may have just created the template for me

 

[Dizzy_XC]

ok, done and I also updated the bio. Hope you like!

Edit: Oops, I put my favorite mech in my bio. What I PMed you isnt up to date. I'll amend last line before bio and add favorite mech for bonus purposes.

 

[Justin Kase]

Thanks! and...

Version 1.04 is out ​

PLEASE NOTE : There are now 2 versions of the Mod you can download - 1 classic style and the other made for ModTek/BTML - more details below.

*** Warning : to use things in Campaign Mode, you will need to edit/replace the MetadataDatabase.db file - we don't know what sort of lasting effect this might have. If you choose to do a full uninstall of this mod at a future date, and you want to continue with your campaign, you should first sell all 'Mechs, 'Mech Salvage, Weapons, upgrades and Ammo from this mod prior to the uninstall. ***

*** Additional Note : The 1.04 version of the Mod is dependent on having BATTLETECH Patch 1.04, to keep with versioning. The VersionManifest.csv and MetadataDatabase.db files I provide within the Mod are based off those files. You can still manually add the lines to both using the information provided within the Mod should you so wish. ***


This latest version of the JK_Variants mod finally sees implementation of a ModTek download version - if anyone sees any errors with it, please let me know so I can work to address those issues. While the files are still the same ones in the core mod, they are organized slightly differently.



In the files section you will see 2 options:

1. JK_Variants - This version follows the same method as all previous builds. Includes line items for people that wish to append into other MetadataDatabase.db and VersionManifest.csv files.
2. JK_Variants-BTML_ModMek - This version is simply dropped into your ModMek folder, and it should automatically trigger. See notes below for some tips.

Some notes on what is new:

Vehicles are now working in Campaign mode and some variant APCs have been added - these give those poor drivers some more options, though they still have their same old armor values. If these work out, the Vargyr and Sleipner are sure to follow. PLEASE NOTE : The vehicles use their standard models, so the new weapons do not appear on the model, though it will fire/act based on its weapons. Thought it may need some tweaking for the inevitable 1.04a

Added the Urbanmech R60X - this is another take (that is probably more correct than my last one - thanks @GenTask!) with the MG added to the Left Torso instead of swapped out on the arm. I chose to also leave in the R60C, as I imagine there would be a number of Urbies out there that swapped out the SL for a MG out of necessity.

A few more tweaks to Unit Tags to improve how the AI uses the variants.

Fixed a number of issues in the GT_VariantSkirmish sub-folder that caused ModTek to have fits (sorry I hadn't noticed sooner, I just hadn't really tried them out in the Campaigns, just Skirmish).

Fixed other minor errors across all the files (removing extra commas, fixed a ammo location, etc)

Please continue to report issues and suggested 'Mechs to add in - thank you all!!!

 

[Dizzy_XC]

Question, does the modtek version require any text editing or does it just work by dragging and dropping of files now?

 

[Justin Kase]

ModTek works by taking the 2 folders in the Zip and placing them into your ModTek Mods folder with all the other ones.

In the basic tests performed, it seems to load everything and work as intended - with a lot less WORK on the end user's part.

In order to make it a bit easier for me to deliver what I wanted in the Campaign v. what I wanted in Skirmish, the Mod file (JK_Variants-BTML_ModMek - in the files section) has 2 sub folders that should be placed into your ModTek Mods folder.

These folders are:

• JK_VariantsCampaign - which includes all the files from the Variants, WeaponAmmo and CommandConsole folders in the Original formula.
• JK_VariantsSkirmish - which includes all the files from the VariantsSkirmish and StarLeague folders.

Both folders have a mod.json file that allow ModTek to correctly identify what goes where. Both are toggled as "Enabled": true - which means they will be active when BTML / ModTek is run. Additionally, the JK_VariantsCampaign folder has an extra file called "break.my.game" - this will automatically append the campaign folder info into the MetadataDatabase.db. The JK_VariantsSkirmish folder does not have this file - but you could copy the file from one folder to another if you want Skirmish available in the Campaign. Likewise, if you remove the file, then the Campaign folder will only appear in Skirmish mode.

For those that still wish to swap out the MetadataDatabase.db file themselves, I have included the 'Everything' copy of the MDD. By swapping this out with your current MDD.db file (follow the PDF instructions in the Original mod), you will add all the Campaign stuff into the game. But PLEASE make sure to delete the break.my.game file if you choose to use the pre-created MDD file.

 

[don Zappo]

As an addendum, I'm pretty sure that the "break.my.game" file in your "mods" folder where you have the .dlls for the BTML and ModTek.

 

[TimeDiver0]

These folders are:

• JK_VariantsCampaign - which includes all the files from the Variants, WeaponAmmo and CommandConsole folders in the Original formula.
• JK_VariantsSkirmish - which includes all the files from the VariantsSkirmish and StarLeague folders.

Copy-pasting from my submitted bug report on your NexusMods page for this:

Title: v1.0.4: ModTek edition of JK_VariantsSkirmish borked due to .json error

Report:

More specifically, in \mech\mechdef_atlas_AS7-WGS_Samsonov.json, there is a duplicate "unit_ready" tag; this can and will foul up the auto-import into MetadataDatabase.db.

Got this by moving the 'break.my.game. file from the 'JK_Variants' folder into the parent 'Mods' folder (per @don Zappo's advice, enabling the auto-import, but for every sub-folder in 'Mods').

 

[raok]

What is the main difference between these and Lynx variants? (Tetsuhara Heavy Industries)

I know Lynx has not modified mdd but if we speak only about variants?

 

[Justin Kase]

Hey there @raok - to quote @Lynx7725 about what the differences are:

If we both do our jobs correctly, 100% to spec? No difference. The key really is our individual interpretation of the game systems and small touches we put into the data files. Yes, to a large degree it's duplicated work for mechs that already have models in game, but working on MechDef and ChassisDef is really fundamental to understanding how the HBS systems work.

The variants I have put up is those officially found in the 3039 records, so while not all of them are on the exact timeline, they are mostly around the period. A few have lostech on them, but that's "official", so isn't much of an issue.

But, from a quick overview, one of the main differences is that Lynx added in a large number of other 'Mechs (like the Archer and Lancelot) using the existing chassis and I added in Vehicle variants.

Both could be used with each other to fill any gaps. Or, pick and choose like a buffet

 

[Justin Kase]

Copy-pasting from my submitted bug report on your NexusMods page for this:

Here is the fixed file!

Thanks for alerting me. PM me with your MW callsign and name for the pilots mod please!

 

[raok]

Hey there @raok - to quote @Lynx7725 about what the differences are:

But, from a quick overview, one of the main differences is that Lynx added in a large number of other 'Mechs (like the Archer and Lancelot) using the existing chassis and I added in Vehicle variants.

Both could be used with each other to fill any gaps. Or, pick and choose like a buffet

Yeah.. I was just thinking that as you both do similar stuff that can you actually benefit from each others work? Not do the same twice?
I don't know anything from variants and lore and stuff so cannot really say. But maybe.

 

[Justin Kase]

Most likely we could

I believe that Lynx was originally trying to do some different things - like adding in "blank" Heat Sinks that would account for crit spaces to make the 'Mech builds look more like the TRO Record Sheets. I mainly focused on what chassis we currently have, and making every era appropriate variant for those 'Mechs (and Vehicles).

Same basic ideas, just slightly different approaches. I know I've also learned from his work (& @GenTask 's as well) - so it certainly doesn't hurt to come at things from multiple directions.

 

[Lyrch75]

You need to drop everything and make this happen RIGHT NOW!

Lol, no he needs to stop everything and do my 12 page long game expansion plan! j/k (sorta)


On a serious note, should I return my game to stock before trying the MODTEK, or can I do it overtop of the modded files?

 

[Justin Kase]

If you are going the modtek route, you can still have the edited files as well. If I understand correctly, ModTek overlays on top of whatever exists in the base game (even if that is modded).

BUT - do not load the same mod via both methods - especially for campaign mode!

 

[Justin Kase]

As a FYI - I loaded a set of PDF instructions for installing BTML, ModTek and JK_Variants-ModTek - hopefully this makes it easier on anyone else who is trying to get it installed correctly.

I also attached it here

Thanks all!

 

[don Zappo]

As a FYI - I loaded a set of PDF instructions for installing BTML, ModTek and JK_Variants-ModTek - hopefully this makes it easier on anyone else who is trying to get it installed correctly.

I also attached it here

Thanks all!

Now all you have to do is follow your own directions to get BTML and ModTek to work on your computer!