For JA2 veterans

[ManjuShri]

How do the difficulty settings work? Is it simply you're less accurate and receive more damage whereas the opposite is true for the AI? Does the enemy intelligence increase? The AI is quite 'simple' in Novice mode.

 

[General Maxson]

How do the difficulty settings work? Is it simply you're less accurate and receive more damage whereas the opposite is true for the AI? Does the enemy intelligence increase? The AI is quite 'simple' in Novice mode.

Yes, they seem more intelligent and capable, and also you get better troops to fight. As I said experienced is the way to go, but it isn't frustrating.

 

[ManjuShri]

Thanks, shame to exit now as I had a nice little run but the AI was getting on my nerves.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Stumbled on that goddamn hostile Tony bug. Weird since it didn't occur the first time i played UC and i had already killed that Claudia bitch. I hope he didn't sell any unique items that i may miss in this game.

 

[Telengard]

Not being able to remember how 1.13 changed stat increases bothered me, so I looked it up

21) General Gameplay Changes


Training & Stats

• Zero stats are trainable (configurable) and stats can be trained up to 100.
• Stats progress slightly differently than in the original JA2:
  • More dex. and wis. for healing
  • Wisdom is awarded for training militia, training other Mercs, practicing skills, detecting land mines, making combos and special attachments and attaching detonators, and picking locks. Most of the increases depend on the difficulty of the task.
  • Mercs training other Mercs gain leadership
  • Mercs that orders militia in tactical gain leadership
  • In hand-to-hand attacks stats increase in proportion to their use. Punching and knifing: 3*dex + 1*agi + 1*str, stealing: 1*dex + 1*agi + 3*str.
  • Grenade throwing gives str., dex. and mrk.
  • Exertion (spending energy through moving and other activities) adds some health and strength.

Difficulty level also changes the number of moves the queen can make in a day, starting wealth, and I believe also the ratio of mercs who die on assignment and the number of total troops the queen can have on the map.

 

[laclongquan]

The fuck? I mean, stab your comrade with a knife for a bleeding wound, let him walk around abit. he could stand and bleed, of course. Let him bleed until one or two HP left then bandage him. Do it again. Two round should gain you one or two Health Point. This behaviour is persistent with pre113 and the old 113 I played. If there's deviation, it mean the modders have messed with it.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I thought UC couldn't mess with any of this as they were not able to change the source code at that time yet. I'm not speaking about UC 1.13 hybrid here.
And as i said, i did that and instead of gaining HP he actually lost two. From 85 to 83. :shrugs:
Btw, you can't ''stab your comrade'' without him getting hostile, no?

 

[villain of the story]

Sneaking doesn't really work in this game. Not to the extent in which you can crawl up to someone and kinfe/pummel him at least. If you want to be silent assassin, take night ops perk and attack towns after dark.

This is like saying marksmanship doesn't work because you can't nail everyone on the head with every shot even with marksmanship at 80.

 

[villain of the story]

I liked UC a lot up until half-way around. And I wanted to love it as it deserves it but that it is based on the very same map layout just kills it for me after a while. Too much familiarity and repeating patterns despite change of scenery.

Yeah, I know this is a hardcoded limitation.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Sneaking doesn't really work in this game. Not to the extent in which you can crawl up to someone and kinfe/pummel him at least. If you want to be silent assassin, take night ops perk and attack towns after dark.

This is like saying marksmanship doesn't work because you can't nail everyone on the head with every shot even with marksmanship at 80.

So what uses do you have for stealth perk?

 

[villain of the story]

Stealth perk = less noise, means you can actually creep up on people and breath in their neck.

 

[laclongquan]

You are talking about other expansions than 113 , correct? I know shit all about anything other than 113. And my 113 is two years in the past.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I'm talking about total conversion mod Urban Chaos. Said that in the OP. Though i don't think it matters as the gameplay is the same as in vanilla JA2, only with different maps and quests/items.

Stealth perk = less noise, means you can actually creep up on people and breath in their neck.

You can do that without perk just as well, because as long as they turn around and face you, they spot you anyway. Sneaking any closer than effective range of your boomstick is suicidal.

 

[villain of the story]

No, it's not. I've killed a lot that way. You are probably doing something wrong.

 

[laclongquan]

Sneak close. Stand up. Hit on target by bare hand s (spanking) or crowbar (neato!) 4 times. Target out of stamina and fall down. Next turn hit him once to keep him on the ground then move to correct location. Third turn Ctrl left click on him, you will run upto him and rob him of his weapon on hands. If he's not at dying stage you can rob him successfully. If he dont have anything in hand (knife, guns) you cant not rob him. hit him once more to keep him on the ground or shoot him. I generally keep beating him like a redheaded stepchild. More fun than hitting cows. And stealth robbery like this make the game more fun.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Yeah, i know all that. It's not like i haven't played the game for years, ok. The point i was making is that unless you like to reload a lot, sneaking up close is too much of a risk, because you can never know at what point the enemy will turn around and load a whole clip into your face. Only time when i sneak up close and knife/melee is indoors, when you can manage to render the enemy unconscious/dead all in one turn.

 

[villain of the story]

Savescumming scum. You gotta have a cover for your stealth rapist for those deep-in-the-shit moments, man. Also, if you are sneaking in real-time, you can force start combat when you see them turning. That or high enough Agi to ensure you will almost always get the first turn and can kill or run to cover before the enemy.

And if he still gets shot, that's life.

 

[SCO]

Oh those surprise machete moments in Tika prison with scully.

 

[villain of the story]

The game needed much bigger building complexes.

By the way, How Melee Combat Works In 1.13

 

[Gnidrologist]

Savescumming scum.

Yeah, i would say someone who abuses stealth is most probably a savescummer. There is never any guarantee that enemy wont turn around or there isn't another one of his companions near by who is actually looking at your direction while you think you're not being seen by sneaking up to otherl

Also, if you are sneaking in real-time, you can force start combat when you see them turning.

Really? That must be another one of those late features in 1.13. In vanilla turn based mode starts automatically whenever an enemy is in at least one of your merc's sight.

 

[villain of the story]

Yeah, it's optional. If you turn it on, you can sneak in real-time with enemy in your LOS. Real-time until you start combat or an enemy spots you. It actually speeds up gameplay immensely. All it's missing now is RTwP outside combat.

 

[potatojohn]

But if they spot you in real time then it's always their turn isn't it?

 

[ManjuShri]

Does getting better weapons past the initial handguns change the way firefights play out? In order to get in range when the enemies refuse to budge from their positions is to be very aggressive by running out in the open hiding behind poor cover like trees. Or should I man up and use my bullets in a long range 90% miss rate exchange? I can't seem to lure the enemies to me very well.

Also how do I view and select my traits/perks?

Edit - Oh that's only for 1.13

 

[circ]

Generally JA2 offers more than one exit/entrance. There's no reason to send all your guys towards the enemy from the same direction. Feel free to send out two man scouts in various directions and then converging on a spot when someone hears something, encircling and boxing in the enemy.

Also, savescumming in a sneak-scenario is completely pointless if you took the time to set up your guys like you're supposed to. Have spotters and a sniper covering locations, and a target so that if the target becomes aware, they're popped before they get a single action in. In the worst case, they'll lose AP's.

 

[villain of the story]

But if they spot you in real time then it's always their turn isn't it?

Usually and I might be remembering wrong but high enough stats sometimes give you the initiative.