Archimedean Dynasty Augmented Mod (1.2 released!)

[spekkio]

Tested mission 0704 as well.

Again, I was able to complete it without any problems whatsoever (except my shitty performance against one scout and one turret - I forgot how to Schleichfahrt). Again - the Saboteur has enough HP I think:

No torpedoes, no turret software, no buzzers.

 

[trais]

^
Just finished this mission without any problems. You have to destroy the ANR-Bomber before it inflitrates the freighter (you have 30 seconds to do this).

My advice: don't use so strong torpedoes, since the bomber is very close to the freighter.

I've done some further testing and it went like this:
1 - I loaded earlier save, went straight to that mission: works ok.
2 - I loaded my previous save that was failing: still failing.
3 - I loaded same earlier save as in (1), talked to Yalla Rangun (got option to dock into Bengalia), took this mission again: it's failing....

I don't know what's going on anymore. o_O

 

[spekkio]

^
Dialogue choices should not affect the missions in any way.
But who knows - maybe you're just unlucky.

:tinfoilhat:

Send me your saves #1 and #2 - I'll check them on my version.

And keep up the testing, BRO!

 

[trais]

I agree 100%, it shouldn't affect missions. So I don't know why it does.

Saves are text files, so I uploaded them to pastebin, working one, you need to pick the missions first:
http://pastebin.com/L9gC2p5L
this one fails, sometimes you have to wait a bit, but it will eventually fail, even if all enemies are dead and you have autopilot available:
http://pastebin.com/tPxT2Hb9

 

[spekkio]

Mang, both saves work fine for me.
My bet is that you're too slow wnen dealing with the bomber (the only unit that can infiltrate the freighter, which leads to mission failure).

Anyway, I've prepared a fix for this mission, changing it slightly:

- 1*"CLA-Freighter": changed identification trigger, so the Anarchos won't attack the Freighter any more, increased infiltration time from 30 to 40 seconds,

Grab it here:

obsolete

If you're still getting "mission failure", check the COM. If you got:

[cla-freighter] No! Stop! Leave me...
[anarcho] You are next...

Then you were too slow and the bomber was able to infiltrate the freighter (both those COM messages are triggered by the freighter being infiltrated).

BUT!
If you're getting "mission failure" without those 2 COM messages, something is clearly wrong...

 

[trais]

So apparently my copy of AD needs exorcism. I'm gonna grab another version from the internets an try testing from the beginning.
I don't think I am too slow, because I deliberately took my time on working save and it went fine.

And I don't get that coms, I get the (quoting from memory):
"stay out of it mercenary" when killing bomber, and after killing all pirates something about torpedoes being more wanted recently.

Edit:
Also, freighter armor is fine as it is - it survives direct hit with Big Bang 2 - so that's definitely not the problem.

 

[trais]

Ok, I need you to try one last thing.

I've been playing around with this mission because I wanted to record the video of it, and I discovered what fails the mission for me:

Touching Nav point B.

Basically, Sally says "navigation point reached" and "mission target missed" at the same time, as soon as you touch that nav B. Even if you killed everything and have the autopilot option available.

 

[spekkio]

Touching Nav point B.

Tested it and indeed - it fails the mission for me as well.



For a reason - NAV B uses "wccond1 = 5" trigger (present in original file, it wasn't introduced by me).

- fixed broken trigger concerning NAV B: originally, reaching it was failing the mission,

Unfortunately, to find this error I would have to go through all the objects' scripts in the mission file (which I did for the last 2 hubs, btw).



Grab a final (?) fix for this mission here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?lvec9j5mwunfum6

Great testing job - keep it up.

 

[trais]

Good, so I'm not going crazy and my hard disk is not possessed my Chaos.
And next time I have problem with a mission I'm gonna look for broken triggers inside of it, rather than assuming impossible happened and looking for things outside of it (like I did with that Yalla Rangun dialog).

Fixed mission works like a charm - I'm gonna start from the very beginning and see if there are any other broken nav points like that.

 

[spekkio]

^
Don't bother, better idea would be to continue with the campaign.
Faster way of checking the NAVs would be by analyzing the .des files in /Scenario directory.

NAV points entries look like this:

[Movable20##]
typ = 2061
id = 20##
px = xx
py = yy
pz = zz
bccond1 = 0
bcdep1 = 0
bcref1 = -1
bcop = 0
bccond2 = 0
bcdep2 = 0
bcref2 = -1
bcdel = 5
wccond0 = 0
wccond1 = 0
wccond2 = 0
wccond3 = 0
wccond4 = 0
wccond5 = 0
wccond6 = 0
wccond7 = 0
wccond8 = 0
wccond9 = 0
wccond10 = 0
wccond11 = 0
wccond12 = 0
wccond13 = 0
wccond14 = 0
wccond15 = 0
dtyp = 0

It is a first navpoint (typ = 2061) in mission, aka NAV A (dtyp = 0) which appears 5 seconds after mission's start (all bccond triggers set to 0, bcdel = 5).
As you can see, all "winning condition" triggers (wccond## = x) are clear (= 0), so this navpoint doesn't affect winning/loosing conditions in any way (and does shit in mission, generally speaking).

The navpoint in the 0903 mission was using wccond1 = 5, which (in case of the navpoints) means: fail the mission when reached.

So, if you REALLY want to check navpoints, go through all .des files, look for "typ = 2061" string and check if any navpoint uses wccond## = 5).

 

[trais]

All right, I'll continue with campaign and will do some file checking when I'm in work. They pay me just for sitting on my ass for most of the time so I might as well do some menial stuff in the meantime.

Btw, which files have the prices of weapons etc. in shops? Because I have an idea of making AD a bit harder and thus more fun - by making everything except buzzers and torpedoes cost 10x more.

 

[spekkio]

^
Go to /Dat/World/

and look for "Weapcost.des" file - basis prices are set in it.

or

look for St####.des files - these are settings for locations (stations). You can set prices of items there (% of the basis price).

But watch out, or you end up spending 1/2 a year modding the damn game...

 

[trais]

Nah, I just wanna mess a bit with prices, I'm not gonna go any deeper than that

Spoiler

I probably will

Normally torpedoes are kinda useless because after few missions you sit on top of a mountain of cash and you can afford everything you can mount on your ship. And with Max. Impacts on both gun and turret you deal so much damage that using Thresher Sharks or Maneaters is actually counter-productive. Increasing prices of modules will force player to use crappier gear for longer, and thus making torpedoes more appealing for anti-bomber or anti-turret needs. It should also make fighting enemy Scouts more fun, because they won't be melting in 0.385 sec after appearing in your crosshairs.
It's gonna be bitch to balance, but no harm in trying, right?

 

[spekkio]

It's gonna be bitch to balance

This for sure.

If you concentrate on the basis file (Weapcost.des), your changes will be easy to implement. But fooling around with the stations files is not a good idea.

There are 2 problems with torpedoes: they can miss (while guns can't) and they can be destroyed/interrupted before they reach the target (again - guns own them here).
So: guns >>> torpedoes.

 

[trais]

Yeah, as soon as I'm done testing I'm gonna multiply the global weapon costs by 10 and see on which mission I will start pulling out my hair and yelling obscenities at the monitor. If too early in the story, then I'll cut the prices in half and try again.

 

[trais]

I'm stuck at m01201 (attack on Bellingshousen).
I'm killing everything near the chemical tanks, then killing everything near the freighter (freighter's captain thanks Flint for saving his life), go back to Bellingshousen to help turrets deal with the rest of the scouts and even tho' everything dead mission doesn't ends. No autopilot. I tried clearing the debris in the base, I tried going in circles around the base and freighter looking for enemies I might have missed - nothing helped.

 

[spekkio]

I'm p. sure I know what is wrong with the mission - you probably destroyed the command bomber right away (after squadron A), so the squadron D (two scouts) did not appear at all, making the mission impossible to complete.
All I have to do to fix this mission is to change 2 triggers for 2 scouts from squadron D (either wccond triggers - "this object must be destroyed" or "appear" triggers: from "appear only when anr-command is still alive" to "appear always"). Current combination can break the mission, thank you for finding this.
I could've uploaded the fix right away, but let's cross out other possible reasons for your problem first...

Try doing it the way I described in the readme:

This mission will now play in following way (ALL enemies must be destroyed, both tanks must survive, freighter can't be infiltrated):
1) defend chemical tanks against ANR Squadron A; only scouts A1 & A2 will target the tanks, A3 will attack Flint, other scouts will simply patrol the area (fire at will),
2) destroy ANR Squadron C (turrets should do most of the work),
3) after 120 seconds, two more scouts (D1 & D2) will appear and attack the tanks (as longs as ANR-Command is still alive),
3) destroy ANR Squadron B and ANR-Command,
4) go to NAV B and destroy all enemies there (Squadron E), preventing them from infiltrating the freighter,

So: try destroying all enemies from waves A & C first, then WAIT for 2 more scouts to appear near the chemical tanks (squadron D) (two minutes from the beginning of the mission), destroy them and only then continue with the mission (destroying squadron B + the bomber and continuing to the freighter. If you still can't complete the mission, there's something more to do...

I’m gonna fix the issue described above, but wait for the outcome of your test, before I upload the fix - it’s possible that something else is wrong as well...

 

[spekkio]

Oh, BTW - this error was implemented by me, for a change...

 

[trais]

Yup, waiting for the second wave of scouts to attack chemical tanks makes the missions beatable again.

Btw, how much work would it be to add another radio message from Bellingshausen telling Flint to go back, to deal with the rest of the attack, after saving the freighter? It's kinda obvious so it's not really necessary, but IMHO it would be nice if it was there something to tell you what to do to finish the mission.

 

[spekkio]

^
Perfect solution would be hard to implement. It has to be something like: "play this message when all units from squadron E got destroyed, freighter is alive and at least one unit from squadrons A-D is alive". Way too complex.

But I went with something much more simple...
When you destroy the ANR-Command, you will get:

[atl-freighter] If somebody can receive this, we are being attacked by anarchos!
[atl-freighter] They wiped out our escort and are trying to board us now...
[atl-freighter] our coordinates are being transmitted now <Nav B>. Somebody, help!!!
[Bellingshausen] Flint, if all units attacking the station have been destroyed,
[Bellingshausen] You can go and help the freighter. We could really use its cargo...

I think that should be enough. And you don't have to go to the freighter right after receiving the COM - both the freighter and its attackers appear on positions only when Flint reaches a certain area...

Anyway - grab a fix for this mission here:

obsolete

With this file you can finish this mission even if Squadron D won't appear at all (the way you were playing originally).

Huge thanks once again.

 

[trais]

I don't know if I like that "if all attacking units are destroyed" thingy. I think it's better to leave saving the freighter as something urgent, even if it's only an illusion. I was thinking more about something very simple, like:

[atl-freighter] Thanks! You saved our lives.
[Bellingshausen]Good job, Flint. Now, get back to the station!

I player took his time and destroyed all units it can be interpreted as "good job, now dock in and cash your credits!"
and if he went directly to freighter after dealing with the bomber as "good job with the freighter, now go back and clean the rest of the pirates".

 

[spekkio]

^
Good idea.
I will implement this, instead of the previous COM.

Should work fine:
1) if you destroyed all units at the station, you'll get: "Good job, Flint. Now, get back to the station." + "Autopilot available".



2) if you did not destroyed all enemies at the station, it will mean "go back and finish your job".



Now would you kindly check if everything works fine?

http://www.mediafire.com/?gocc444s77oz249

 

[Karmapowered]

WTF, how did this game ever slip through my radar ?

Having a closer look at your mod, once I finish downloadan (since it seems I can't buy it anywhere) acquiring the game.

Many a thanks were offered by the clueless crowd, including me.



Is AquaNox 1/2 equally worth playing ?

 

[spekkio]

Is AquaNox 1/2 equally worth playing?

Not really. Both sequels are inferior to the original game (uninspired plot, shitty writing, imbalanced gameplay, etc).
But AD is one of the best Wing Commander - inspired games ever made.

 

[trais]

Everything works great now!
Also, nice touch with debris appearing around the freighter after dealing with the pirates.

Now that I replayed this mission 30 times or something I can see two optional areas for improvements. Minor things, I can live without them.
1) make the second wave that attack the chemo tanks appear faster - now you kinda need to avoid killing the bomber on purpose to give them chance to spawn. Reducing the timer from 120 sec to 90 or 80 sec should be quick enough, while still serving the purpose of punishing player who takes too long to deal with the bomber.
2) make the pirates near the freighter appear quicker - as it is, the whole group pops into existence on the edge of player's vision (around 150m from nav B). Making them spawn around 300m from nav B, would give the player some time to prepare. The infiltration timers are long enough, so this change shouldn't really affect anything difficulty wise.