Deus Ex GMDX: Deus Ex Advancement Mod v9 Released!

[Anomander Rake]

Okay thanks. Would have added into the installer it as an option and added your opinion on the info together with the dev one

 

[Ash]

NSIS installer limit is 2GB. Would also not want to bloat up the size further even if there was no limit. I also would not want it to be official in that sense, since it's music from another mod, even though I have permission to use it. It's fine being an add-on on moddb.

 

[Anomander Rake]

Understood your reasoning. Thanks for being so kind.

 

[RoSoDude]

Thanks for all the great work. Ash
I've been following the project for a while even before I came on this site back in v8, and you really didn't let up or disappoint with v9.
What's next for the project, if it will even continue since it's essentially perfect by now?

RoSoDude Is making an add-on that is basically continuing my work, fixing up some remaining bugs, addressing some things discussed during the beta which I never got around to, and adding his own (good) ideas. I'm considering making it official because I trust his design judgement for the most part and he is a bro. e.g see: Link to post for an idea of his design sense in relation to the type of game Deus Ex is. He's not doing or intending to do a great deal from what I understand, it would be comparable to a sub-version increment e.g v9.0.2 to v9.0.3. But it'd be enough to achieve a state the perfectionist in me is happy with.

His work will need testing when the time comes, if people want in on that.

Other than that nothing is going on.

Appreciate the encouraging words. To clarify, I'm kinda doing two projects at once -- one addon/fork which is a bit more experimental and has some changes to skills/augs and some game systems that I think are worth exploring, and a more conservative update which addresses a few bugs/exploits/quality of life issues in GMDX (and maybe a bit of balance adjustment, we'll see). The latter will, with Ash 's permission, become a 9.0.4 patch, while the former will include the whole mixed bag.

The project is in the beginning stages, as I'm still learning the codebase, but I'm making good progress and should have a beta build for testing pretty soon if it continues at the current pace.

Here's something I did a few days ago:

-Added a "Info" button to the skills menu so you can see the level descriptions again without clicking on a new skill.
-When clicking on a new skill, the menu will remember if you were looking at info or perks and stay on that menu for the new skill

 

[Sjukob]

I honestly can't think of what can you add to gmdx besides graphics, plot branches (stay with unatco, for example) and melee combat (something like Matrix). It's pretty much perfect.

 

[RoSoDude]

I honestly can't think of what can you add to gmdx besides graphics, plot branches (stay with unatco, for example) and melee combat (something like Matrix). It's pretty much perfect.

I'll be sure to shatter your expectations with my questionable bloat and general mediocrity

But actually, it's mostly minor stuff. For example, this is the first thing I dipped my toe in:

-Removed deranged gravity simulation from hitscan weapons, replaced with linear damage falloff beyond a weapon's accurate range to make range modification more meaningful

-Capped at 35% falloff
-Only affects player's shots; AI have full damage at all ranges​

-Removed hidden influence of weapon maximum range on accuracy -- every hitscan weapon will behave like the pistol did with respect to how your reticule communicates accuracy

-AI retain the old formula (tweaked for new ranges, see below) so they can still hit the broadside of a barn with an assault gun​

-Range mods now increase weapon max range (was just accurate range before)

-DONE: need to update inventory UI so it shows these changes​

-Hitscan weapon ranges reduced across the board

-Assault Rifle range reduced by 50% (300-600ft to 150-300ft)
-Pistols/shotguns range reduced by roughly 25-35%

-Pistol (125-250ft to 93.75-187.5ft)
-Stealth pistol (150-300ft to 112.5-225ft)
-Sawed-off shotgun (150-300ft to 93.75-187.5ft)
-Assault shotgun (87.5-175ft to 62.5-125ft)
-Sniper Rifle only nerfed by 20% (312.5-625ft to 250-500ft) to preserve its long-range dominance​

-Projectile weapons only adjusted to look consistent, should be unaffected​

-AI GetWeaponRanges() function adjusted so they still attack at the original ranges (Assault Shotgun users will move a tad bit closer now before they start firing though)

For reference, the vanilla code (currently in GMDX) works like this:

• If your original (straight) shot would have hit but the enemy is between your accurate and max range, the shot drops quadratically with extra distance
• This means that if you would have hit the head, you might now hit the body, or the foot, or nothing at all
• However, you can't adjust for this, because if you adjusted your aim above the head, your original shot WOULDN'T have hit, so this drop formula is never used

Anyone else seeing why this is AIDS now? It's dropoff due to gravity that you can't adjust for, meaning you're likely to never even understand what's happening (not helped by the fact that hitscan ranges were too long for most gameplay scenarios). Linear damage falloff with a cap has a more sensible gameplay impact and is more readable as a player

 

[Average Manatee]

That's hilariously broken. Couldn't have been intended.

Your change sounds good (assuming that realistic, working bullet drop isn't easy to implement). I agree that most weapons are probably already deserving of a range decrease, with this accuracy change moreso.

 

[RoSoDude]

That's hilariously broken. Couldn't have been intended.

Your change sounds good (assuming that realistic, working bullet drop isn't easy to implement). I agree that most weapons are probably already deserving of a range decrease, with this accuracy change moreso.

Nah, it's pretty much intended. Abridging the vanilla code a bit:

Other = Pawn(Owner).TraceShot(HitLocation,HitNormal,EndTrace,StartTrace);

// check our range
dist = Abs(VSize(HitLocation - Owner.Location));

if (dist <= AccurateRange) // we hit just fine

ProcessTraceHit(Other, HitLocation, HitNormal, vector(AdjustedAim),Y,Z);​

else if (dist <= MaxRange)
{

// simulate gravity by lowering the bullet's hit point
// based on the owner's distance from the ground
alpha = (dist - AccurateRange) / (MaxRange - AccurateRange);
degrade = 0.5 * Square(alpha);
HitLocation.Z += degrade * (Owner.Location.Z - Owner.CollisionHeight);
ProcessTraceHit(Other, HitLocation, HitNormal, vector(AdjustedAim),Y,Z);​

}
// otherwise we don't hit the target at all

Notice that it chooses who "Other" is based on the original shot with no dropoff. So if you're aiming above someone, it'll be the wall off in the distance. I think the intention was to reduce your weapon damage (eventually to zero, if the shot drops far enough) beyond accurate range with a form of simulation rather than a gamey thing like damage falloff, but it ends up very clunky and poorly communicated (did anyone here know that Deus Ex had bullet drop before? I sure didn't).

With my changes to the damage falloff and range nerf for hitscan weapons, range modification should now be something you consider for more than just your mini-crossbow and plasma rifle.

Also, it's only hinted at in the changes I posted, but weapon max range used to affect accuracy too. The game just straight up adds a vector pointing the direction of your aim with the length of the max range to a randomized vector in a larger cone, so sniper rifles were nearly pinpoint accurate at Untrained due to their obscene max range. GMDX patched this up already to a degree, but I changed the formula so max range no longer affects accuracy at all (and as such, the reticule communicates a consistent level of accuracy for your weapons). AI retain the old formula because that's how their weapon accuracies were balanced. I don't know what's more spaghetti, my code or the vanilla code I'm trying to improve.

But what delicious, hearty spaghetti it is.

EDIT: This sort of messiness in the codebase should give you a taste for what Ash had put up with in making this mod. The fact that it plays as well as it does with such a great degree of balance and polish is a testament to his design sense and perserverance. Some of this stuff has to be seen to be believed...

 

[Ash]

RoSo is a good man for the job. He's a physics major, does physics simulations and works with heavy math on the regular. Not only is there meaningful things he can contribute, but also some specific things that would undoubtedly be above me. That stuff aside, GMDX still isn't quite 100% perfect and Deus Ex is such a broad game so there's always something. Trust me, his work will be incline, and I'm with him discussing his implementations anyhow. Then there's the second stage of quality control which will be public testing.

This sort of messiness in the codebase should give you a taste for what @Ash had put up with in making this mod.

My code is no better and I pity the fellow that has to work with vanilla codebase + GMDX additions

 

[RoSoDude]

Incline of the day -- I've finally nerfed the laser mod. Several of you in recent memory (Doktor Best Tygrende ) thought it was far too OP and worth cutting down to size, like I did. Well, here's my solution:

-LASER MOD NERFED
-Now randomly wavers based on current accuracy. Similar to Shifter, except the laser dot has a 1st-order proportional decay back to the center so it doesn't feel awful
-Laser dot reinitializes in a random spot in your accuracy cone (er... box) when you turn on the laser or fire a shot. No more pinpoint accurate Assault Rifle bursts on Untrained Rifles

You can see how it works here. I'm Untrained in both Pistols and Rifles with no accuracy mods applied. Notice how the laser simulates recoil and compensation, and how the waver and kick decreases as your accuracy increases over time.
https://my.mixtape.moe/mbiexi.webm

Here's a combat scenario with the laser :
https://my.mixtape.moe/oopzmu.webm

Forgive the mediocre gameplay, I don't have my keybinds right in my testing setup for aug manipulation. I was explicitly trying to test the accuracy of the assault rifle on Untrained with the standing accuracy bonus, which is why you see me standing in place in the middle of a an EMP and Gas Grenade. Think it was on a lower difficulty just for demonstration/testing purposes.

 

[Ash]

RoSoDude fixed the binocular FOV, something I repeatedly ignored (I was overloaded). As a bonus, he also added a range finder

 

[RoSoDude]

RoSoDude fixed the binocular FOV, something I repeatedly ignored (I was overloaded). As a bonus, he also added a range finder

Also, you can now equip the binoculars as a secondary item! This will be especially useful in allowing you to quickly check the range of your enemies, given how much more meaningful range is now for all firearms.

Speaking of which, you can also equip Tech Goggles and Medkits/Biocells as secondary items now, with the latter requiring the Combat Medic's Bag perk. Activation occurs immediately on the secondary button press. This puts Tech Goggles on par with the ease of use with the Vision aug, and also makes Medkit/Biocell spam a bit more convenient (but requires some investment and a filled secondary item slot).

 

[Daedalos]

Doesnt this mod feature graphics improvements? Lot of you say this is what its missing, but I thought it included some of that.

 

[RoSoDude]

Doesnt this mod feature graphics improvements? Lot of you say this is what its missing, but I thought it included some of that.

It does; ignore the fact that all of my footage/screenshots so far have been on vanilla maps with vanilla textures. I was too lazy to load the new maps in properly (I'll start doing this soon).

GMDX features plenty of visual improvements. See also these screenshots I took of GMDX with DX10's new lighting feature.

 

[Ash]

Doesnt this mod feature graphics improvements? Lot of you say this is what its missing, but I thought it included some of that.

If you've heard that, it's either outdated information or spoken by someone that's not played GMDX.

I urge you to check out the first link RosoDude posted above.

 

[RoSoDude]

Okay, have an update on my progress with expanding and refining GMDX, with continued guidance from Ash . As I've said before, I'm working on a 9.0.4 patch as well as a more experimental addon which will contain all of the fixes and features of 9.0.4, plus some new features like rebalanced skills/augs and a few overhauled systems. Some highlights:

Confirmed Changes for 9.0.4 (highlights):

• No more hidden influence of weapon max range on accuracy -- your reticule will communicate a consistent level of accuracy for all weapons
• Rework to the wearables system for convenience and to fix an exploit. Using, recharging, and discarding a wearable will always operate on the top one in the stack. When you pick up a new Ballistic Armor/Hazmat Suit/Thermoptic Camo/Tech Goggles/Rebreather, its charge is added to the top item, and any overflow over 100% is given to a new wearable on top, up to the 1/2/3/4 wearables as governed by the Evironmental Training skill. Activating a body armor will automatically deactivate any currently active armors, with no more annoying messages telling you to do it yourself. Also, biocell recharge rates for wearables have been updated (rebreather recharge nerfed to 10% per biocell) and now properly display on the inventory screen
• Added an Info button on the Skills/Perks screen as shown before. Will probably switch it to one button that dynamically swaps between Perks/Info in the future
  
• Rangefinder added to the binoculars as shown before
• Rework of secondary items to feature Tech Goggles, Binoculars, and (if you have the Combat Medic's Bag perk) medkits and biocells
• Miscellaneous fixes to weapon and AI behavior
• "Halve Ammo Capacity" menu option (unlocked after beating the game once) fixed

RoSoDude's GMDX Addon Changes (highlights):

• Full overhaul of hitscan range mechanics to make range modification meaningful as discussed before
• New laser mod behavior with simulated aim waver and recoil to make continued skill/mod investment worthwhile while still offering a clear and logical benefit to its use
• The Athletics skill now improves the player's reach when mantling
• The Stealth skill now makes the player hide 0/15/30/45% better in darkness when sneaking, in addition to sneaking and slow-walking faster (I will be moving its perk-like benefits to actual perks later)
• The Demolitions skill now allows you to carry 5/7/10/15 grenades of any particular type
• Minor skill rebalancing, including cost adjustments, changing Medicine scaling from 30/60/75/90 to 30/45/65/90, and adjusting the Lockpicking and Electronics skills' scaling on different difficulties (vanilla 10/25/40/75% on Easy; 10/15/25/50% on Realistic, Medium, and Hard; 5/10/20/45% on Hardcore)
  
• New Trained Lockpicking perk "Sleight of Hand" allows an agent to pick locks and commit acts of theft without arousing suspicion from onlookers
• Run Silent now offers half of Speed Enhancement's groundspeed bonus (5/10/15/20%), not while jumping. Should be more competitive with its complementary aug as well as with crouchwalking with the Stealth skill
  
• The Passive Ballistic Protection augmentation no longer drains energy when taking damage, but instead offers up to 20/25/30/35% protection proportional to the user's current bioenergy level
• New Ammo Capacity augmentation to replace Energy Transference. Buffs all maximum ammo capacities by 20/30/40/50%. Weapon skills now also buff ammo capacities by 0/10/25/50%. To compensate, all base ammo capacities have been roughly halved.
• Tranquilizer darts now break on contact on Hardcore mode to prevent farming via AI abuse
• The crossbow now loads one dart at a time, while the Assault Shotgun loads a clip at a time

Here's the new Ammo Capacity augmentation:

There's plenty more under the hood beyond these highlights, and this is only about two months of (occasional) work. I have plenty of things in the pipeline for both of my projects, so stay tuned! Feedback is very welcome, and I'm happy to discuss my reasoning for any and all of my design decisions.

 

[Zer0wing]

Uh-h, where is v9.0? All moddb download links only show v8.0.

 

[Nael]

 

[RoSoDude]

Should be back up again now.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/gmdx/downloads

 

[MediantSamuel]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Deusex/comments/844726/why_do_people_think_that_gmdx_is_gameplay_wise/

Classic leddit bait?

 

[Parabalus]

O

• New Ammo Capacity augmentation to replace Energy Transference. Buffs all maximum ammo capacities by 20/30/40/50%. Weapon skills now also buff ammo capacities by 0/10/25/50%. To compensate, all base ammo capacities have been roughly halved.

Why was Energy Transference removed? Was it too OP/UP?

Played with it and found it pretty fun.

 

[Ash]

It was (very minor) degenerate gameplay design and not something the original team would have approved.

 

[Average Manatee]

Shame. Too OP in combo with the Dragon Tooth?

Ammo cap aug doesn't feel like it fits in, and normally the only ammo types you are hitting cap on is for weapons you don't use. Is it possible to have it give more inventory squares or something?

 

[Ash]

Shame. Too OP in combo with the Dragon Tooth?

No. It interferes with natural gameplay/choices of engagement with NPCs by putting a reward on hostile NPC's heads (small amount of bioenergy). It's like the "skills for kills" problem that shoehorns how you play, but on a very, very, minor level. Instead of naturally weighing your options with each hostile, you may be encouraged to melee/stealth kill for the bioenergy restoration. It isn't that degenerate, it's barely a problem at all really as Bioenergy isn't hugely valuable in the same way something like xp is, but still is a problem nonetheless and so should be scrapped. The ammo aug is plain better.

 

[RoSoDude]

O

• New Ammo Capacity augmentation to replace Energy Transference. Buffs all maximum ammo capacities by 20/30/40/50%. Weapon skills now also buff ammo capacities by 0/10/25/50%. To compensate, all base ammo capacities have been roughly halved.

Why was Energy Transference removed? Was it too OP/UP?

Played with it and found it pretty fun.

Yes, for my addon/fork only. Reasoning:

1. Non-organic incentivization of player action. It leads to scenarios where the player engages enemies just to "farm" bioenergy, not because it furthers their goals -- especially irksome to me is that it grants more energy for stealth KOs (it's nowhere near the micro-reward BS of the Nu-DX games, but consider in those games how it's optimal to try to do as many cheesy stealth double takedowns as possible to maximize XP gain. Same principle, but on a much smaller scale and with a much less stupid reward). The gameplay incentives to kill/KO enemies are currently balanced around the threat they pose in the level and loot they hold -- adding bioenergy to this makes every enemy look like a tasty bag of energy and tips the balance in favor of juicing as many of them as possible. Not suited to DX design, if only in a minor way.
2. Bioenergy is an extremely valuable resource. Being able to farm it messes up the resource economy around biocells and repair bots, in my opinion. I'd rather players feel on edge about their bioenergy level and biocell count whenever they turn on Cloak.
3. It puts the number of melee-focused arm augmentations to three, which I find rather boring from a build diversity standpoint

Shame. Too OP in combo with the Dragon Tooth?

Ammo cap aug doesn't feel like it fits in, and normally the only ammo types you are hitting cap on is for weapons you don't use. Is it possible to have it give more inventory squares or something?

As for the Ammo Capacity aug, here's my reasoning. Currently, you hold all of your ammo in hammerspace. There is no inventory management associated with it, and you can hoard ammo for any weapon without any repercussions. I didn't intend to fully overhaul the ammo system, but I wanted to make it so there's a bit of choice and investment. If you want to carry boatloads of different ammo types for a bunch of weapons, this aug is your friend. If you're relying more on melee or only using a few ammo types (and thus are rarely full on those few types), Combat Strength is the better choice. You can also increase your ammo capacity by an equivalent amount by mastering a weapon skill, giving you multiple ways to avoid the ammo limit (fitting with DX's overlapping skill/aug/equipment design), and cutting down on scenarios where you hoard GEP/plasma ammo with no investment and then go to town in the endgame.

Furthermore, the aug leads to much more interesting combinations of arm aug choices. Combat Speed is potentially useful for both melee and gunslinger builds (and also makes secondary weapons that much better), as is Microfibral Muscle. Combat Strength, on the other hand, is clearly for melee builds, while Ammo Capacity is clearly for gunslinger builds. The four combinations are pretty interesting:

• Microfibral Muscle + Combat Strength = Lift shit, throw shit, and hit hard. Perfect for a mixed berserker style, also opens paths to exploration by moving crates as well as smashing doors with the DTS
• Microfibral Muscle + Ammo Capacity = Carry shitloads of ammo for a bunch of different weapons, and complement that with yet another combat tool. Minor exploration aid also potentially allows you to find a bit more ammo. Also, MM helps you move faster with Heavy weapons (but I'm kinda iffy on keeping that)
• Combat Speed + Combat Strength = Optimized melee build, striking obscenely fast and doing tons of damage. Fewer options in combat and exploration, but no slouch in destroying doors.
• Combat Speed + Ammo Capacity = Perfect for carrying a large arsenal of weapons and swapping between them in combat. Mix and match pistols, rifles, heavy weapons, melee weapons, and grenades, with extra utility from super fast secondary weapon usage.

EDIT: Also, ain't no way I'm putting in an aug to add more inventory spaces. Would be absolutely broken -- people would go for that every time, even if it's only one square per upgrade. Also, much much harder to code (and ammo capacity shenanigans was already a lot more troublesome than you might think).