What do you think about making GLA units such as Quad Cannon AutoAcquireEnemiesWhenIdle only when visible (by removing the STEALTHED condition)?
This does nothing. I want to escape into stealth so that enemies stop attacking the unit before it gets destroyed and the unit is blocking this by not stopping to attack everything in range due to a lack of "Hold Fire" action due to the game's issues and limitations.
2 possible solutions:
1) use SWITCH_WEAPON CommandButton to Flash-bang-like toggle between PRIMARY (ground attack), SECONDARY (anti air) and TERTIARY (hold fire):
-downside: a unit can be set either to only anti air or anti ground but not both, meaning any unexpected attacker would be ignored until the weapon state is toggled
-upside: units could be set to focus on certain targets; this would stop anti air units that can also attack ground units from leaving their positions just because some other ground units (tanks) start attacking defenses and thus allow aircraft to advance because defensive AA positions have been abandoned
2) use anything that toggles the WeaponSet:
I tried an upgrade that did this and provided the unit with an upgrade ("Hold Fire") and un-upgrade (regular attack) "Upgrade" but that caused 3 issues:
-1) annoying "upgrade complete" sound + radar notification
-2) CommandSet not properly upgrading (needed to be triggered twice)
-3) C&C Generals upgrade limit becoming an issue if that'd be used on multiple units
=> I'll try Crop Duster RIDER logic next and see how that works or fails
Ultimately a WeaponSet toggle would be ideal but if that can't be done I'd rather use a single attack setting opposed to leaving things as they are.
AI: Contra009Beta2 AI issues I noticed:
-GLA forgets to build defenses or stays passive: Stealth General is completely passive; Assault General sometimes forgets to build any defenses (except rocks)
-> of all GLA Generals only Chemical General's AI and Explosives General's AI work
-no single GLA faction ever builds anything to detect stealthed air units, allowing scouting and attacking with such units wherever and whenever
-AIs that can definately crash the game with a "serious error": any China AI, USA Airforce General, USA Laser General (100% sure); not sure: USA Super Weapons General, GLA Explosives General
=> China crash seems to be related to some AI reaction when attacking the Command Center or being near it (including Super Weapons General attacking it with Tomahawk Missiles)
-USA Laser General and China Tank General cause some serious lag spike when they suddenly try to send a whole bunch of tanks to somewhere because of pathfinding making the game lag
-the "StealthUpdate" module's setting "OrderIdleEnemiesToAttackMeUponReveal" seems not to relate to units in weapon range / vision range but all over the map, causing a huge lag spike if there are many idle units and due to pathfinding
-all USA Generals AI's still use the Fuel Bomb even though not all should have access to it; on top of that the AI uses this without any Command Center or Strategy Center requirement and in such a way that it comes out of screen to the target with the shortest possible distance (if building near the map borders a defense vs this bomb drop isn't possible)
-USA Super Weapons General: the AI ignores invalid consruction area issues when spawning turrets by using the general's power and thus these turrets are constantly spawned inside structures by the AI while that shouldn't be possible and at least for a human player it isn't
-USA Super Weapon AI in general seems to ignore invalid construction areas and always builds structures inside other structures, so that structures are overlapping another
Other stuff:
-USA Drones assisting structures can't be rebuilt / replaced after being destroyed as the UI only allows their construction a single time per structure opposed to always anew once an assisting drone was destroyed as it's the case for mobile units; security / defense drones aren't affected by this
-music tracks still get canceled before completing, I guess it's related to the game's speed / frame rate
MAY BE IMPORTANT:
WeaponSet conditions can have multiple conditions, like...
Conditions = Hero PLAYER_UPGRADE
Initially I falsely assumed that these conditions were treated as AND conditions, meaning every single condition must be true to activate the WeaponSet. Testing revealed that they're treated as OR conditions.
UPDATE:
Another thing I found out during testing is that WeaponSets really use their "Conditions" entries as OR conditions but the most matching setting is prefered. That means if I have a unit, using a sole WeaponSet with a "Conditions = VETERAN CRATEUPGRADE_ONE PLAYER_UPGRADE" entry it will use that WeaponSet under ANY of these conditions, meaning it'll become active if the unit either becomes veteran (1/3 experience level reached) or uses a salvage crate (assuming it can interact with the crate) or receives the upgrade mentioned in it's "WeaponSetUpgrade" module BUT...
if I add seperate WeaponSets with Conditions, like...
WeaponSet
Conditions = VETERAN
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryVeteran
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = CRATEUPGRADE_ONE
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryCrateOne
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = PLAYER_UPGRADE ;requires the "WeaponSetUpgrade" module to define which upgrade triggers this
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryUpgradeResearched
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = VETERAN CRATEUPGRADE_ONE
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryCrateOneVeteran
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = VETERAN PLAYER_UPGRADE ;requires the "WeaponSetUpgrade" module to define which upgrade triggers this
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryVeteranUpgradeResearched
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = CRATEUPGRADE_ONE PLAYER_UPGRADE ;requires the "WeaponSetUpgrade" module to define which upgrade triggers this
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryCrateOneUpgradeResearched
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = VETERAN CRATEUPGRADE_ONE PLAYER_UPGRADE ;requires the "WeaponSetUpgrade" module to define which upgrade triggers this
Weapon = PRIMARY PrimaryCrateOneVeteranUpgradeResearched
End
...then the WeaponSet matching the listed conditions the most is used.
I found some interesting thread ( http://forum.fallout...ticlesystemini/ ) that claims a "cleaned up" ParticleSystem.ini speeds up the game's performance and shows how.
I found a so far unused setting for WeaponSets:
"ShareWeaponReloadTime = [Yes / No]"
I've yet to test what it does. I hope it's the a setting that stops units which received an upgrade for their weapon due to experience gain from starting to reload all over again at full reload time unless the weapon was already reloaded but instead makes the new weapon use the remaining reload time.
As the Stealth General is supposed to be the master of stealth I was kicking the thought around of granting him "deep stealth", a stealth that can't be revealed by regular stealth detectors. I found the KindOf "Shrubbery". Maybe that could be added to units as "deep stealth" KindOf so that they're excluded from regular detectors if that doesn't cause any issues ? Also in terms of playstyle I think it's best if this general receives a hand full of more or less specialized and effective but expensive units that also take some time to build so that instead of a whole "stealth" army single units can effectively make a difference but need to be used correctly. Generic units may also be available as cannon fodder, to lure the enemy somewhere or to distract. Because he's the weakest of all GLA generals in direct combat he needs to excel in tunnels, stealth and mobility.
Airforce General:
The general is too easy to lock down by sniping Dozers as his HQ is the only structure capable of creating new Dozers. This means that in early game focussing on 1 structure, the HQ, can be a huge issue for that general and in late game it means huge travel distances (even if using Chinooks) as no front line units of this type can be produced elsewhere. The rank 1 science to repair units & structures in an area could eventually also allow Dozer production inside War Factories to get around this vulnerability and to make this choice more attractive as it lacks any upgrade later on.
StealthGeneral\Units\Warrior ("Object Slth_GLAInfantryRebel"):
-I thought about granting him an updated CommandSet once "Camouflage" has been researched at the Black Market, allowing a weapon toggle to use a knife to kill enemy infantry silently and unseen; so that this upgrade is of some use to this unit instead of being of use for all early game infantry except this one
-eventually there should be a generic infantry upgrade later on, increasing infantry mobility by a bit (even while wounded so that units don't fall too far behind)
-I'm also kicking around the though that all organic units in the game receive an always active passive selfheal that kicks in some seconds after not having taken any damage and that is very minor as it's possible to stack multiple "AutoHealBehavior" modules without any issues:
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_Organic
HealingAmount = 1 ; absolute value: hit points, amount healed per "tick"
HealingDelay = 1000 ; 1000ms = 1s, delay between "ticks"
StartHealingDelay = 20000 ; after this many ms of having taken no damage start the effect
StartsActive = Yes
End
AirforceGeneral\Structures\Barracks ("Object AirF_AmericaBarracks"):
-I'd add +2 Pilots for training there: +2 and +3 experience Pilots that cost 2x and 3x as much time and credits to be created to reduce Pilot micro-management as currently up to 3 Pilots are required per jet
-> 1st row (upper row) could be: Ranger, Missile Defender, Col. Burton
-> 2nd row (lower row) could be: Pilot , Pilot , Pilot of experience rank 1,2,3 with according cost and build time multiplier (using a copy & paste unit-type of the original Pilot with just these values changed)
AirforceGeneral\Units\Aircraft\Comanche ("Object AirF_AmericaVehicleComanche"):
-Comanche AA missiles constantly cause friendly fire issues with own Comanches destroying another because the range is so low in AA combat that this happens
-> "RadiusDamageAffects = ALLIES ENEMIES NEUTRALS" to "RadiusDamageAffects = ENEMIES NEUTRALS" would get rid of this issue without buffing / nerfing the unit otherwise
-removing "ComancheLaunchDroneWeapon" from the Comanche's turret seems to fix the issue that the Comanche launches it's drone wherever it's pointing at instead of at the player-selected location (previously couldn't be launched where the player clicked once the Comanche decided to face an enemy)
-"ComancheLaunchDroneWeapon" damage from 1 to 0.0001, eventually additionally
AirforceGeneral\Structures\Colossus ("Object AirF_AmericaFireBase"):
-After a test in a "How long can I survive ?" scenario with multiple unit combinations these were this unit's results:
-it misses fast units
-Jarmen Kell's "Kill Driver" attack can rarely be stopped by this defense as it simply takes to long to take him out with that; he most often reaches any vehicle he came for before dying without additional units attacking him
-very vulnerable vs Infantry General's long range siege infantry (forgot name) and incapable of countering Infantry General's always stealthed snipers that are good vs any ground unit & structures
-> it can't detect anything (but the Sparrowhawk's beam will keep the single enemy it targets visible so it can't enter stealth while under the beam's effect)
-it can't stop explosive truck spams because the Sparrowhawk dies after a single suicide truck explosion and thus the area is clear for the others
-the Sparrowhawk's guard range is too low to deal with artillery units unless they needlessly come too close
-vs Chemical General the "Clogged Engines" upgrade in combination with Sparrowhawk defense just constantly creates a wall of death for aircraft and spams the player with "Unit lost." audio notifications
-China Overlords with upgraded engines have it all: speed, armor, firepower -> this defense can't stop them and neither can it hurt them enough
-it needs high terrain from which it can't be directly attacked to survive or other defenses covering it (health too low, can't take much of a beating)
-starts dealing area damage to own units, structures and allies once enemies come too close to them, aiding in the destruction of my base and units (especially Dozers)
-has no upgrade to address any of it's weaknesses or receive any meaningfull improvements
-> In short: Redesign or replacement required. The defense is overprized for it's performance. What the Airforce General needs is either some tanky defense that draws the enemy's attention and potentially slows attackers down while not causing Chemical General's AA units to spray the whole area with the "Clogged Engines" effect. I'd use a bunker-like structure that can take some infantry inside (2-4), has some tanky hitpoint-pool and every x seconds sends out a 360° ground-based EMP stun on a medium to large range, affecting all enemy ground vehicles and structures so that they are disabled for 1-2s every x seconds and need to destroy this structure to push on - or bring siege units.
AirforceGeneral\Units\Aircraft\Pavelow ("Object AirF_AmericaVehiclePaveLow"):
-currently uses the wrong armor once upgrading "Countermeasures": uses "CountermeasuresComancheArmor", should use "CountermeasuresChinookArmor" (before upgrade: "ChinookArmor")
-> makes the unit more vulnerable than before to some types of damage
-range suggestion: extend missiles' minimum range to the maximum range of the Grenade Launcher so that it's somewhat possible to control what weapon is used when by chosing an attack range opposed to the unit senselessly slamming missiles into garrisoned structures; this also forces the use of this unit as long range artillery unit as it can no longer attack vehicles close by due to being within minimum range
-"PaveLocomotor": "Braking" from 20 to 95 makes the unit less annoying to handle: it will stop where ordered opposed to flying far beyond where ordered, turning this unit into clunky micro-management annoyance that often gets shot due to not being where ordered
-changing Pave Low's missile targeting from "PreferredAgainst = PRIMARY VEHICLE STRUCTURE" to "PreferredAgainst = PRIMARY IMMUNE_TO_CAPTURE STRUCTURE VEHICLE" makes the unit more likely to target defense structures, regular structures and then only other units opposed to initially trying to take out units while not being made for that
AirforceGeneral\Units\Vehicles\Bobcat ("Object AirF_AmericaVehicleStrykerEng"):
-mine destruction rate 500 -> 250 because currently it's possible that this unit drives onto one of Demo General's AV mines despite being an anti mine unit due to bad anti mine field timing frequency (changing it should affect all anti mine vehicles as all use the same weapon for their anti mine field -> "MineDetonationFieldWeapon")
-at least for the Airforce General the anti-contamination spray should receive extended range (2x) and no line of sight restriction because airfields are large and build space is limited so the Airforce General can't always space out structures everywhere or position them in a way to make sure this unit can reach all places; often puddles are also left onto the airfields and with line of sight restriction this causes issues
-the turret turns too slow while the unit is mobile and aquiring new puddles takes too long so that this unit is somewhat ineffective
-destroying Demo General's mines with anti mine units always causes them to explode, making it impossible to safely get rid of them whenever the AI spawns them inside structures and thus using anti mine units results in the same as blindly allowing them to explode or in other words: anti mine units are useless in that situation as they safe nothing but also cause the mines / traps to explode
SuperweaponsGeneral\Units\Aircraft\Chimera ("Object AirF_AmericaBomberB52"):
-slow, vulnerable, far too long reload, useless against mobile targets, missiles shot down by missile defense systems or redirected by ECMs, no stealth or engine upgrade
=> pointless, considering all the other bomber options: either the cheap F16s deal with stationary defenses & structures or the Pave Lows do, additionally their range can be extended by the laser target designator's aura; for groups of units there are the F18 (after the Frog Missile upgrade) / JFSs; for either groups of enemies or single ones Auroras exist along with the Wyvern super unit; Chimeras are just underperforming while being just more of the same
-they'd would be better suited as Fuel Bomb / MOAB kind of bomber that is that slow and vulnerable as currently but drops a fuel bomb, with a rank 5 upgrade the unit could receive another 3D model with more speed, more HP and a MOAB bomb; eventually even stealth, accessible only after that model-changing upgrade (instead of a single part of the unit being replaced after the upgrade a 2nd model is used -> old bomber design is being replaced by the new one)
-there could also be a weapon toggle between the fuel / moab bomb and multiple bombs in a row / carpet bombs if a Crop Duster-like RIDER design would be possible for the unit
-damage type of the area damage the fuel / moab bomb does could either be NOT_SIMILAR or NOT_AIRBORNE
=> new role would be: still vulnerable, slow and slow reloading BUT carrying a huge bad bomb whereever no or decimated air defenses exist
SuperweaponsGenerals\Units\Vehicles\Valanx ("Object SupW_AmericaVehicleHumvee"):
The unit is worthless as a transport as a Chinook is faster, can carry more units, can only be attacked by AA capable units and even then the Chinook can take around equal to more punishment.
This unit needs a role. I suggest enabling infantry to attack from inside the transport it while leaving it as vulnerable as it is along with the micro-management of getting the units inside to have a vulnerable hit & run unit that can also act as emergency support unit:
-> set: "PassengersAllowedToFire = No" to "PassengersAllowedToFire = Yes"
-> add: "ForbidInsideKindOf = STEALTH_GARRISON" -> no snipers allowed inside; and btw. despite Super Weapon's snipers having this KindOf they aren't invisible to the enemy (at least to AI) while inside civilian structures
-> change: "Slots = 3" to "Slots = 2" (so that Valanx' don't become too powerful in ground vs ground combat)
SuperweaponsGeneral\Units\Aircraft\StealthJet ("Object SupW_AmericaJetStealthFighter"):
This unit is supposed to be good against enemy defensive structures but it isn't because it's attack range is so low that it gets hit by multiple enemies all the time and because it loses stealth while attacking. The range needs to be increased, the damage to be buffed or stealth needs to be kept up while bombing. Anything of this or anything mixed in a way that it makes sense but otherwise this unit is a pointless waste, except for the Bunker Busters upgrade.
Refernce values:
Airforce General's F16:
ClipReloadTime = 9000; ALL clips are reloaded after this much time, doesn't mean per clip
AttackRange = 550
PrimaryDamage = 180
SecondaryDamage = 10
SecondaryDamageRadius = 10
Bombs: 2
Super Weapon General's Stealth Jets:
ClipReloadTime = 8000 ; ALL clips are reloaded after this much time, doesn't mean per clip
AttackRange = 250
PrimaryDamage = 200
SecondaryDamage = 50
SecondaryDamageRadius = 30
Bombs: 1
=> the Super Weapon's Stealth Jet has a longer reload time per bomb, seems to be moving slower, has less than half the attack range and a bit more than half the damage of a F16; all that while supposed to be an anti defense specialized unit
-much like Airforce General's jets the Stealth Jets should also have a sell option, eventually even the Auroras because currently I've got to use my own units to kill my own unit to make room on the airfield and that's kind of silly overall
All of USA faction bombers but especially Auroras:
-add an "AutoChooseSources = PRIMARY NONE" to these units so that they stop destroying their own Airfields and possibly other things and units around whenever GLA decides to tunnel in or spawn some infantry inside the base; it's really bad unit behaviour if these units blow up everything around, worse than the enemy ever could, including their own Airfield
-maybe Airforce General's Pilots could receive a "suicide" weapon usable to "shoot" at flying units that makes the Pilots suicide and causes the "hit" helicopters to fire a reactive weapon that increases their rank as currently the issue with Pave Lows and Pilots is that they're being transported instead of increasing the Pave Low's rank and Comanches can't even benefit from Pilots unless landing for repairs near an Airfield while trying to defend, especially since it's an automated reaction the player didn't order and that never works out well
-eventually GLA Black Markets should have a heal & repair aura around them as it somehow fits what they offer: any kind of helpful goods
-eventually all GLA factions should also start with a 3 to 5% bounty science for free as faction identity, upgradeable later on a general science (where maybe picking the last rank allows the research of a final upgrade after that at rank 5)
Edit:
SuperweaponsGeneral\Units\Vehicles\Saturn ("Object SupW_AmericaVehicleSaturn" & "Object SupW_AmericaVehicleSaturn_GC"):
-the price should be reduced 7000 to 5500; the high price just isn't justified by the ability to shoot down super weapons alone or being tanky because repairing the unit is a really bad and clunky issue
-issue: upgrading "Composite Armor" doesn't upgrade the unit's autorepair to keep the total repair time the same
-issue: very slow unit -> expecting the player to use War Factories to repair these is unreasonable because of their low speed; meanwhile their autorepair time is huge: around 11min without "Composite Armor", around 14min with the upgrade
-> solution: staged repair speeds
phase#1 repair: 0.2% maxHP/s, always active -> 4600 / 5750 HP without / with "Composite Armor" -> 9 HP/s without / 12 HP/s with the upgrade
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_AutoRep01
HealingAmount = 9
HealingDelay = 1000
StartsActive = Yes
End
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_AutoRep01Upgraded
TriggeredBy = Upgrade_AmericaCompositeArmor
HealingAmount = 3
HealingDelay = 1000
StartsActive = No
End
phase#2 repair: 1.0% maxHP/s, active after 20s of having taken no damage (adding +0.8% to the already active 0.2% to have a 1.0% hp reg going):
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_AutoRep02
HealingAmount = 37
HealingDelay = 1000
StartHealingDelay = 20000
StartsActive = Yes
End
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_AutoRep02Upgraded
TriggeredBy = Upgrade_AmericaCompositeArmor
HealingAmount = 9
HealingDelay = 1000
StartHealingDelay = 20000
StartsActive = No
End
phase#3 repair: 3.0% maxHP/s, active after 60s of having taken no damage (adding +2% to the already active 1.0% to have a 3.0% hp reg going):
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_AutoRep03
HealingAmount = 92
HealingDelay = 1000
StartHealingDelay = 60000
StartsActive = Yes
End
Behavior = AutoHealBehavior ModuleTag_AutoRep03Upgraded
TriggeredBy = Upgrade_AmericaCompositeArmor
HealingAmount = 23
HealingDelay = 1000
StartHealingDelay = 60000
StartsActive = No
End
-"Solar Panels" for the Super Weapon General clearly aren't enough to keep the base properly defended or to expand; this unit should have it's own reactor inside it and add some energy to the general's economy: "EnergyProduction = 6"; eventually I'd even add a per Ion Power Plant purchaseable "Solar Panels" upgrade to install such panels on top of the structure, granting it +1 power for 300$, available after the main "Solar Panels" upgrade has been researched at the Strategy center
-income is also a huge issue for the Super Weapon General: defenses cost a lot; Saturns should have a Black Market-like money generating ability, increased by the "Supply Lines" upgrade but of minor effect compared to a Black Market; they should be capable of using Chinese Hackers' "Hack Internet" ability that makes them unable to defend the the base or construct but allows them to generate a bit more money than a Supply Drop Zone would, also benefiting from "Supply Lines" there
-> that way Saturns wouldn't just drain the economy by their high price while adding nothing but actually be of use other than as missile defense and tanky but badly repairable unit with moderate AA capabilities
-special ability-wise I'd grant the Saturn the option to capture structures the unit is really close to by using a Black Lotus-like ability so that this unit can't just guard things but also take them
-as the unit is helpless against anything that stays stealthed I'd grant it passive stealth detection at half it's sight range; that's a reasonable area; exception should be mines and demo traps
-"Energy Capacitors" is available for research at the Strategy Center, even if the Centurion Tanks it is for haven't been selected as general power; I'd rather put this upgrade to use for the Saturn than removing it: increase the Saturn's move- and turn speed by somewhat between 20 to 40% and it's anti vehicle weapon damage by flatout +20% as it's currently laughable how long it takes the "super unit" to take out a single unupgraded, not propaganda tower buffed Overlord tank -> anti vehicle really needs more damage; anti structure and anti air damage is fine; perhaps it's time for a designated anti vehicle TERTIARY weapon for the Saturn that has more of a punch to it while the explosive damage type anti air weapon may also be used against structures so that the anti structure damage remains the same but just vehicles take more damage than currently from the unit
-the structure repair of the Saturn should also be buffed: It should definately be better at structure repairs than a Heavy Dozer and be the next step in structure repairs: 3% repair
=> this is much I'd modify but I view this as necessary; this unit hardly qualifies as super unit because despite being bulky repairing it is an issue so it's only strength is being able to shoot down general power projectiles, super weapons and missiles; that makes it more of a defense turret than anything else; a badly repairable one that, despite being a super unit, doesn't add much of value the base wouldn't have without it
Edited by UsernameUsername, 24 August 2017 - 06:52 AM.
long live Zero Hour bitches
). Huge viewing range and the same detection. I understand that according to the idea, China suffers from a lack of intelligence for some time, but then gets the opportunity to control half a map. It's another matter that in the beginning the Chinese are completely blind, which makes it possible for the enemy to go all-in and hoping for luck to surprise the enemy, and if this is the US with their excellent intelligence? In other words, no matter how strange it may sound, it makes sense to level the factions a bit in the possibilities of early intelligence. This is not at all about full equality, but at least in the ability to see the perimeter of its base by building 2x3 scouts, as implemented by GLA. In general, the very idea of ​​the unit, which stealth itself and at the same time sees other stealth at a great distance is not bad, but in my opinion, the existence of such a unit should be after reaching Rank 3, but better and completely after the construction of the CPU. In return, you can give the possibility to build a truck with an average radius of view and speed as a VHF technique, or expand the review, but at the same time reduce the speed and maneuverability of this unit. HP to put on a minimum (more attention 
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