Jump to content

Aegis Battle Armor


skaianDestiny

Recommended Posts

So no one had yet to take advantage of the new "PsionicDefense" parameter in X:CE (until Kabill released his mod, try it, like all his stuff it's high-quality), so I decided to try my hand at it. The main thing that influenced this decision was Jsleezy's unused armor sprite. I have him and Kabill to thank for their gracious cooperation in regards to the armor image and ground sprites respectively. Now without further ado, here's the mod. Please note this is a WIP and I'd like some feedback before I move it into Completed Mods. Advice on the name would also be appreciated.

Aegis Battle Armor

Seer.png

Seer Battle Armour

The "Aegis" Battle Armour was developed in response to the psychic attacks our soldiers are facing on the field. While at first these attacks were limited to simple morale disruptors, it is clear the Caesans, particularly the higher-ranked ones, possess enough power to outright wrest control of our soldiers' bodies from the owner. After studying the brain patterns of the live Caesan subject as well as the helmets of the alien officers and leaders, I have been able to assemble a countermeasure to prevent unfortunate incidents such as the one with Lt. Tucker from occurring.

The helmet of the Caesan officers and leaders works to amplify the already potent psychic abilities of the wearer. It achieves this through a complex (though not incomprehensible) system of electrical impulses. It is child's play to reverse this function to not only shield the wearer from foreign mental incursions but to boost their resistances to the stress and mental trauma that no doubt plague the battlefields we face.

The neuro-electrical shield (that the engineers have annoying termed "mind shield") functions in two layers. The first layer is a passive defense, akin to the moat of a castle. This works to counteract any minute changes from the wearer's "normal" brain activity by applying minor electrical impulses to the appropriate sectors of the brain. The second layer takes a more active role. Should a sufficiently large change in brain activity occur, for example from a psychic attack, the helmet forcibly applies a larger impulse to combat the change. Testers have described it as a buzzing sensation followed by a zen-like state.

As for the armour itself, I have taken the techniques used to create our newly-developed Predator to enhance the effectiveness of the proven Wolf Battle Armour. The regular alien alloy armour plating has been hardened to increase its level of protection. In addition to improvements with the undersuit, I have included a smaller, more lightweight version of the exoskeleton used by the Predator. While it doesn't offer the same level of performance as its larger brother, it is nevertheless powerful enough to boost the agility and strength of its user. The power required is likewise smaller, allowing for a simple alenium-powered battery installed in the back armour. The helmet is supplied by a seperate smaller battery pack. Unfortunately due to the power requirements of the second layer, the helmet can defend against roughly three psychic attacks, although it can supply the first layer indefinitely.

Stats:Weight:			0Strength Boost:		15AP Boost:		10Bravery Boost:		40Armor:55 Kinetic55 Energy55 IncendiaryPsionic Defense:	200Points: 		3Degradation:		1Manufacturing Time:	70Cost:$50,0005x Alien AlloysResearch:PredatorCaesan VivisectionCaesan Leader OR Caesan Officer

My reasoning behind the Aegis's stats is that I want it to be used along side the Predator and Sentinel. To this end, I added the strength and AP boosts, as just a slightly better Wolf with psychic defenses just doesn't seem that good compared to the Sentinel and Predator. I'd also like feedback on the research requirements. I want it to unlock somewhere between the Predator and Sentinel, however since it's been a while since I played the late game I'm not entirely sure if this is the right way to do things.

Credits:

Jsleezy: The original artwork and his superbly excellent armor mod.

Tim McLafferty: The idea of the Wolf armor with the Jackal's chest plate.

Kabill: The generous recoloring of the Wolf's ground sprites as well as some armor code.

Community Coders: For creating X:CE and its multiple modding functions, without which this mod wouldn't exist.

Download:

Forum Downloader

Direct Link

Installation:

This is for X:CE only. Install using the mod loader. If you want a more vanilla-styled armor image, drag the folders in "ALTERNATE" to the mod folder.

Edited by skaianDestiny
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good and I think this will work well. Having another end-game armour as an alternative to Predator and Sentinel seems to me like a really good idea, and it comes in just when this armour will be most useful. Enjoyed the xenopedia entry too; much better than mine!

For the prerequisites, I notice that while the Xenopedia text makes reference to bother officers and leaders, you can only use a leader for the research. Don't know if that is intentional or not, but I thought I'd point it out. In any case, what I'd suggest is requiring a Caesan Officer or Leader capture (not not the corpse). That way, there's a bit more flexibility in terms of what alien you have to bag to get it (and if you want to risk a Caesan Officer capture early on you can set yourself up for this armour in advance), but it's in some ways more challenging since you have to bag a live alien.

A few other small notes:

- With the strength boost this armour gives you, it can actually be better than Predator as Predator sets strength to 100 while a very strong soldier in this armour can have up to 115. Don't know if that matters much, but worth pointing out. (Really, Predator needs a buff if anything. It might actually make the Particle Cannon viable!).

- You've indicated that the armour's weight is 0. Is that a mistake or is it actually 0?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good and I think this will work well. Having another end-game armour as an alternative to Predator and Sentinel seems to me like a really good idea, and it comes in just when this armour will be most useful. Enjoyed the xenopedia entry too; much better than mine!

Heh, thanks. I took some inspiration from yours, particularly the electric impulse stuff.

For the prerequisites, I notice that while the Xenopedia text makes reference to bother officers and leaders, you can only use a leader for the research. Don't know if that is intentional or not, but I thought I'd point it out. In any case, what I'd suggest is requiring a Caesan Officer or Leader capture (not not the corpse). That way, there's a bit more flexibility in terms of what alien you have to bag to get it (and if you want to risk a Caesan Officer capture early on you can set yourself up for this armour in advance), but it's in some ways more challenging since you have to bag a live alien.

Seems like a good idea. Maybe require capturing both?

A few other small notes:

- With the strength boost this armour gives you, it can actually be better than Predator as Predator sets strength to 100 while a very strong soldier in this armour can have up to 115. Don't know if that matters much, but worth pointing out. (Really, Predator needs a buff if anything. It might actually make the Particle Cannon viable!).

- You've indicated that the armour's weight is 0. Is that a mistake or is it actually 0?

- Really? I didn't know that, in the code the strength boost is set to 100. Might bundle that fix (if I can find out how to) along with this mod if that's the case

- It is set to zero. Reason for this is the Predator doesn't have any weight as well, and having the strength boost along with weight seems like over-complicating it a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like a good idea. Maybe require capturing both?

I think both might be too much. If you wanted to make sure that a leader was required, you could require a leader corpse but a capture of either. It depends on whether you want there to be any possibility of getting the armour before meeting Caesan leaders.

- Really? I didn't know that, in the code the strength boost is set to 100. Might bundle that fix (if I can find out how to) along with this mod if that's the case

There's different values in different places (one boost and one set), but the set seems to take precedence (and this is what was in vanilla).

- It is set to zero. Reason for this is the Predator doesn't have any weight as well, and having the strength boost along with weight seems like over-complicating it a bit.

Ah yes, you're right. I've always missed that somehow. Apologies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Personally, Seer doesn't seem to be the right name for it. Seer suggests augury, fortelling the future, looking ahead. Sutible perhaps for reconassiance. You're looking for defence. Titles like: Paladin, Warden, Aegis, Bastion (this one seems very apt given the xenopedia description), Bulwark or Citadel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think both might be too much. If you wanted to make sure that a leader was required, you could require a leader corpse but a capture of either. It depends on whether you want there to be any possibility of getting the armour before meeting Caesan leaders.

I'll just go with your earlier suggestion of either officer or leader.

There's different values in different places (one boost and one set), but the set seems to take precedence (and this is what was in vanilla).

Okay, I'll remove the set value and include the boosted number in the mod.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Personally, Seer doesn't seem to be the right name for it. Seer suggests augury, fortelling the future, looking ahead. Sutible perhaps for reconassiance. You're looking for defence. Titles like: Paladin, Warden, Aegis, Bastion (this one seems very apt given the xenopedia description), Bulwark or Citadel.

I like the sound of Aegis. Sounds exotic. Thanks for the help Max!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think the name change is good.

I'm going to add another comment which I almost wrote before. It's not especially helpful, so sorry for that, but you might be able to do something more with it than me.

I'm not especially keen on the TU and STR buffs. They kind of feel like they're there for their own sake rather than because they should be there. You've come up with a perfectly good justification for them in the lore, but to me they still feel a bit bolted on. But, I honestly can't think of something else to replace them with which 1) doesn't feel the same; 2) doesn't intrude on other things (I'm thinking especially of Max's Prophet armour mod, as the two mods should go really well together); and 3) make sense in terms of lore.

So, er, there it is. For what it's worth, I do think it's important that the armour has something else because that way it avoids being a one-trick pony you only wheel out for late-game Caesan missions. And there's nothing wrong with the bonuses you've given it in terms of gameplay. It's just a slight feeling of - well, I can't describe it. A feeling like it's fine as it is, but somewhere there's a better solution, if only it could be found.

(Hmm, a thought: I'd been forgetting the armour is weightless. Could that be a good enough benefit by itself? Obviously Predator is better for carry capacity, but has the penalty of only being able to use specific weapon types. Sentinel isn't massively heavy, but 10kg is still quite a lot of stuff. So with 0 weight, this armour would be far more flexible than the alternative in terms of loadout which might make it useful.)

(Also, if Predator armour gave more of a bonus - say 150 or 200 STR, which if I'm honest feels more fitting for it - you could set this armour to give a soldier 100 STR and leave it at that. This would actually be really good, if for no other reason then grenade throwing which has accuracy based on STR.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have removed the code that sets the strength of soldiers wearing Predator armor to 100 and so now all soldiers receive the +100 strength boost. If you want I can remove the TU buff and simply include the strength boost.

Yeah, I was thinking of Max's Prophet armor when I was making this, doesn't hurt to have some complementary mods between modders right? :P

Edited by skaianDestiny
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a pity that armour can't grant buffs or debuffs like weapons can, or that'd be your niche right there.

What kind of (de)buffs?

EDIT: @skaianDestiny: I wouldn't change anything on my account unless you are convinced yourself about it. With all strength buffs adding to rather than setting strength, actually it feels a bit better now. Don't know why. Maybe it's a consistency thing.

Edited by kabill
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not thinking user debuffs, I'm thinking aura buffs/debuffs and LOF direct/indirect buffs/debuffs (like a grenade or a weapon can cause on an opponent or a friendly if he gets in the way!).

What kind of (de)buffs? Erm, gosh, I'm on the spot.... I'm guessing things like little boosts to commonly used stats, or an aura that extends psionic defence to non-Aegis equipped troopers? anything that can buff/debuff the users, I guess. Perhaps not a smorgasboard of (de)buffs, but ya know, a few of the more common stats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What kind of (de)buffs? Erm, gosh, I'm on the spot.... I'm guessing things like little boosts to commonly used stats, or an aura that extends psionic defence to non-Aegis equipped troopers? anything that can buff/debuff the users, I guess. Perhaps not a smorgasboard of (de)buffs, but ya know, a few of the more common stats.

Ah, it seems you meant something completely different to what you actually meant (I thought you were referring to (de)buffs already in game for weapons at the moment, and was confused).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, I think I'll remove the TU bonus and increase the strength bonus to 20. The weightlessness is already a good enough to compensate. If there's not any other glaring issues I'll call this complete and release it alongside Max's Prophet armor.

One last thing: all the armors have a unique "descriptor", ie: Wolf is battle armor, Jackal is combat armor, Buzzard is jumpsuit, Predator is assault armor, Sentinel is battlesuit. Even Max's Prophet is tactical reconnaissance armor. I tried coming up with one, but I keep drawing a blank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's going to be ages before I can do a full release. Release it now, young padawan!

How about.. I dunno... "Aegis Defence System?" no... not that... that describes the defence, not the armour... how about.... "Aegis Counterintrusion Armour" or "Aegis Intervention Armour". You could add the phrase "Psychic" if you wanted, to that to form "Aegis Psychic Intervention Armour" or "Aegis Psychic Counterintrusion Armour". "Aegis Active Defence Armour", perhaps. "Aegis Escort Armour"?

Here. Here's some military terms. Try sifting through that and seeing if something stands out. (Be warned. There are a LOT of military terms.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No less wordy than S-23 "Prophet" Tactical Reconnassance Armour. And tut tut! The military thrives on long wordy titles (especially if you can make cool acronyms out of them!). If I wanted to go the whole hog, I'd say something like "S-20 'Aegis' Transetherial Counterintrusion Armour." Orr.,, hey, my imagination is finally starting to lift off (it must be the insomina). "S-25 'Aegis' Antipsychogenic Support Armour". But if you're after just one word, then "support", "counterintrusion", "intervention" or perhaps "disruption" might do.

EDIT: Or you might try the "anti" prefix somewhere. I love words. There's so much you can do with them.

Edited by Max_Caine
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm, S-## "Aegis" Counterpsionic Support Armor sounds pretty good. When does your Prophet armor trigger, would it be before or after this one?

EDIT: Tested it, the full name is too damn long for the research and manufacture screen so I've shortened it to Aegis Support Armor. The xenopedia contains the entire name in all its glory however.

Edited by skaianDestiny
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...