[v1.09/X:CE v0.31] Unofficial Balance Minimod for X-DIVISION - DD v0.98.2 HF4

[Ajaxial]

Hey everyone,

Hopefully the title isn't all too confusing. If it is I apologize in advance.

This mod was built to work with X-Division - Destiny Denied V0.98.2 HF4 How it works with other variants I've no idea so I wouldn't recommend it.

The basic function of this mod is to offer some sort of balance to the early tech levels of the game. Early Kinetic and Laser tech. Which is as far as this mod touches. (Aside from a couple small tweaks to the hunter scout car listed in the detailed design document spoilered below containing ALL changes I've made in detail.)

I would progress further with balancing but I feel that touching upon aircraft weapons, their speeds etc would just lead me deeper and I'd end up making a fully fledged mega mod for X-Div. Something I'm not sure my skills would allow me to entirely see to completion right at this time.

Progressing up to the first set of laser tech I feel gives a healthy balance because it allows a further enough set to be able to allow the player to fight all 3 races of the game adequately.

As promised I've included my detailed document listing ALL changes I've made and showing what values the X-Div mod started with and what I have changed them to. To give you an idea of the sort of changes I made. I hope it makes sense.

Detailed "Design" Document

Starting Kinetics

Pistol:

Range from 6 to 8.

Suppression value from 20 to 18.

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="17" accuracy="25" />

<Set2 ap="23" accuracy="40" />

To

<Set1 ap="24" accuracy="30" />

<Set2 ap="35" accuracy="55" />

Projectile damaged reduced from 2500 to 1500.

Shotgun:

Ranged changed from 3 to 6.

ReloadAPCost changed from 40 to 30.

SuppressionValue changed from 30 to 40

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="27" accuracy="40" />

To

<Set1 ap="27" accuracy="35" />

<Set2 ap="40" accuracy="60" />

Damage changed from 4 to 17.

Rifle:

Range changed from 10 to 16.

Recoil changed from 30 to 14.

Reaction modifier changed from 1.2 to 1

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="22" accuracy="40" />

<Set2 ap="45" accuracy="65" />

To

<Set1 ap="25" accuracy="40" />

<Set2 ap="40" accuracy="72" />

<Set3 ap="60" accuracy="140" />

Burst fire cost changed from 36 to 55.

Burst fire accuracy changed from 40 to 50.

Burst fire SuppressionValue changed from 20 to 30.

Burst fire SuppressionRadius changed from 1 to 1.50

Damaged changed from 15 to 25

LMG:

Range changed from 12 to 15.

Burst fire cost changed from 45 to 65

Burst fire accuracy changed from 40 to 35

SuppressionValue changed from 120 to 90

SuppressionRadius changed from 1.5 to 2.5

Damage changed from 10 to 28

Mitigation changed from 4 to 5

Projectile speed changed from 2500 to 2250

Sniper:

Range changed from 20 to 35.

IsHeavy variable disabled.

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="40" accuracy="55" />

<Set2 ap="72" accuracy="100" />

To

<Set1 ap="40" accuracy="65" />

<Set2 ap="62" accuracy="90" />

<Set3 ap="80" accuracy="165" />

Damage changed from 62 to 50.

Projectile speed changed from 2000 to 2500

Rocket Launcher:

Changed SuppressionRadius from 3 to 4

Firemodes changed as follows

<Set1 ap="65" accuracy="40" />

<Set2 ap="90" accuracy="90" />

To

<Set1 ap="65" accuracy="75" />

<Set2 ap="90" accuracy="110" />

FragRocket:

Increased explosion radius from 2 to 3.5

Increased firechance from 5 to 10

Increased smokechance from 15 to 45

ADV Kinetics:

Pistol:

Range changed from 6 to 10.

Reload cost changed from 20 to 15

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="17" accuracy="25" />

<Set2 ap="23" accuracy="45" />

To

<Set1 ap="15" accuracy="27" />

<Set2 ap="20" accuracy="50" />

Projectile velocity increased from 1200 to 1500

Shotgun:

Range changed from 3 to 8

SuppressionValue changed from 40 to 50

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="32" accuracy="40" />

To

<Set1 ap="25" accuracy="40" />

<Set2 ap="36" accuracy="65" />

Damage changed from 7 to 22

apDamage changed from 4 to 8

Rifle:

Range changed from 10 to 20

Reload cost changed from 25 to 23

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="22" accuracy="42" />

<Set2 ap="45" accuracy="67" />

To

<Set1 ap="23" accuracy="44" />

<Set2 ap="45" accuracy="76" />

<Set3 ap="57" accuracy="150" />

Burstfire cost changed from 36 to 50.

Burst fire accuracy changed from 45 to 50

Burst fire SuppressionValue changed from 20 to 40

Burst fire SuppressionRadius changed from 1 to 20

Damage changed from 20 to 30.

Mitigation changed from 0 to 5

Projectile speed changed from 1200 to 1800

Sniper:

Range changed from 22 to 45

SuppressionValue changed from 25 to 35

SuppressionRadius changed from 1 to 1.50

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="38" accuracy="60" />

<Set2 ap="55" accuracy="95" />

<Set3 ap="75" accuracy="140" />

To

<Set1 ap="40" accuracy="70" />

<Set2 ap="58" accuracy="95" />

<Set3 ap="80" accuracy="170" />

Projectile speed changed from 1500 to 2750

LMG:

Range changed from 14 to 18

SuppressionRadius changed from 2 to 3

Damage changed from 18 to 35

Mitigation changed from 0 to 5

Hunter Scout Car Changes:

Armour and Hunter stats:

Front armour changed from 40 to 55

Side armour changed from 35 to 45

Rear armour changed from 25 to 35

Dual Mounted .30 Cal Machinegun:

Burst fire cost changed from 45 to 55.

Burst fire accuracy changed from 20 to 35

Burst fire shot count changed from 6 to 5

SuppressionRadius changed from 2 to 4

Damage changed from 25 to 30

Mitigation changed from 5 to 10

Armoured Seeker may need some slight armour buffs to keep it relevant in light of the hunter changes.

Laser Tech:

Pistol:

Range changed from 8 to 10

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="17" accuracy="30" />

<Set2 ap="23" accuracy="50" />

To

<Set1 ap="23" accuracy="40" />

<Set2 ap="38" accuracy="75" />

Damage changed from 20 to 33

Carbine:

Range changed from 3 to 8

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="24" accuracy="15" />

<Set2 ap="32" accuracy="45" />

To

<Set1 ap="22" accuracy="35" />

<Set2 ap="40" accuracy="65" />

Damage changed from 7 to 26

Mitigation changed from 1 to 3

Rifle:

Range changed from 12 to 23

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="22" accuracy="47" />

<Set2 ap="35" accuracy="70" />

To

<Set1 ap="25" accuracy="43" />

<Set2 ap="40" accuracy="75" />

<Set3 ap="60" accuracy="145" />

Burst fire cost changed from 36 to 60

Burst fire SuppressionRadius changed from 30 to 35

Damage changed from 20 to 35

Mitigation changed from 0 to 2

Precision Laser:

Range changed from 24 to 45

SuppressionRadius changed from 1 to 1.5

Firemodes changed as follows:

<Set1 ap="35" accuracy="70" />

<Set2 ap="55" accuracy="100" />

<Set3 ap="85" accuracy="160" />

To

<Set1 ap="37" accuracy="70" />

<Set2 ap="58" accuracy="100" />

<Set3 ap="82" accuracy="170" />

Mitigation changed from 0 to 7

ScatterLaser: Remains Unchanged

Simply overwrite existing files in the X-Division mod folder after following instructions to install and update your game to be running X-Division - Destiny Denied V0.98.2 HF4 via instructions from the main mod thread here - http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/12828-v1-09-X-CE-v0-31-X-DIVISION-Destiny-Denied-v0-98

Download!

(I apologize for the external link, but it wouldn't let me attach the .rar to the forum?)

Edited June 22, 2015 by Ajaxial

[Reflexial]

I'm going to start a game using this + XDivision. Thanks!

[Ajaxial]

I'm going to start a game using this + XDivision. Thanks!

You are certainly welcome!

Please provide any feedback you have or can that you feel useful in regards to the mod that could improve the mod or changes you feel the mod needs in regards to balance or similar. Happy Xeno hunting!

[drages]

I added this link to X-Division topic. I hope ppl will get it.. and i advise to add this to your signature.

[Ajaxial]

I added this link to X-Division topic. I hope ppl will get it.. and i advise to add this to your signature.

Ah that is excellent. Thank you Drages!

I'll throw a link into my Signature right now.

[Ajaxial]

Just a quick signature test.

[DNK]

I like what you've done. I've done a lot of similar stuff to my own mod copy since I found the early game just way too brutal to be enjoyable.

What I also did was severely reduce throwing distance for all grenades. Like down to 4. It makes no sense you can throw something farther than you can shoot, and it reduces the amount of nade battles and OP alien nading.

To balance some of this, though, I added significant recoil to almost all weapons and didn't alter accuracy. So a rifle has 60 recoil, LMG and sniper 70, shotgun 65. Basically, it rewards having more experienced soldiers and makes newbie soldiers less effective, also makes the strength trait all that much more important. Recoil is one of the most underused stats.

[Ajaxial]

Thanks! I'm glad you like the changes and have a similar vision for the weapon changes and firefights.

I had noticed that aliens were indeed quite grenade happy which on one hand adds quite a nice element of change to firefights but the distances are quite absurd and changes to distances could be doing with some tweaking and was pondering on making a few tweaks. I'm currently running through the game unlocking all the weapon techs and such so that I can readily have all tiers to hand to loadout my troops with any tier of weapons and such I need to test out any tweaks I make.

Recoil I haven't honestly played with at all. It might be certainly worth looking into as you have mentioned. Plus would make sense as soldiers who are trained within a military environment to be physically fit and have a certain degree of strength. Especially for that stat to grow quite often given the loads they carry and the abudence of ground exercise they endure so to speak.

[drages]

About recoil, as a navy officer, i think having recoil at rifles/sniper/shotguns is not realistic. Shotguns are already very short ranged weapons at xdivision, rifles could be used anyone over 50 so nearly all soldiers are +50 str so i didnt bother to add it and snipers are pure acc weapon which u should not involve str at all...

On the other hand, at hmg/minigun/cannon/rocket launchers should have it..

About grenades, i checked the throwingRangeModifier of my grenades and they were about 2-3 for explosives and 4-5 to tacticals as it should be.. Is there something i am missing?

As high explosives, i make it hard to throw as the explosive tech higher at 0.98.. but i am thinking to change that a bit.. to make it at least 0.5-1 to make them able to throw a short distance at least.. I think there not much ppl who will go to melee range and put a high explosive under the enemy.. so maybe they became more useful..

[Ajaxial]

In regards to the recoil. In what terms is the recoil stat used in Xenonauts specifically. Does it just throw off the aim for the troopers next shot or does it accumulate per shot until they move/pass a turn and the recoil settles allowing them to "steady" aim once more. Again I haven't really looked into the recoil stat in Xenonauts and how it's function works in terms of game mechanics.

I don't have files to hand. But some grenades can be thrown quite some distance. And the aliens are able to throw quite a considerable distance also in some occasional instances with incredible accuracy. Caesans being the culprit for me. (Little buggers.)

I like your ideas for C4 and the likes. As stated by yourself. I only ever use C4 and similar for uses such as blowing up the power cores at Alien bases and laying it at some Base doors etc where I know Aliens will venture through as an attempt to try and act as a makeshift timed det charge. Sometimes I get lucky and actually get a kill or two, although most of the time it goes off and kills nothing.

[drages]

In regards to the recoil. In what terms is the recoil stat used in Xenonauts specifically. Does it just throw off the aim for the troopers next shot or does it accumulate per shot until they move/pass a turn and the recoil settles allowing them to "steady" aim once more. Again I haven't really looked into the recoil stat in Xenonauts and how it's function works in terms of game mechanics.

I don't have files to hand. But some grenades can be thrown quite some distance. And the aliens are able to throw quite a considerable distance also in some occasional instances with incredible accuracy. Caesans being the culprit for me. (Little buggers.)

I like your ideas for C4 and the likes. As stated by yourself. I only ever use C4 and similar for uses such as blowing up the power cores at Alien bases and laying it at some Base doors etc where I know Aliens will venture through as an attempt to try and act as a makeshift timed det charge. Sometimes I get lucky and actually get a kill or two, although most of the time it goes off and kills nothing.

Recoil is just a penalty to aim if the str is lower then recoil. Move/pass turn is "isHeavy" thing. 0.98 uses isheavy for snipers too but at 0.99 i stop using it, just not overpowered as before as damage. Aliens dont get any penalty so its important at balance..

Aliens dont use recoil, isheavy and they dont reload.

Alien grenades throwingRangeModifier are 1... i dont know how they can throw so far.. i can check it later. I am fighting with alien stats and weapons and its one of the borest part to code...

With 0.99 Ilunak made large and small door open/close door TU softcoded. I am thinking new ideas to make player blow ups the big gates at least without hurting enemy AI. At X-Division, big gates are very tough to destroy..

Btw do u use 0.33 CE?

[Ajaxial]

Recoil is just a penalty to aim if the str is lower then recoil. Move/pass turn is "isHeavy" thing. 0.98 uses isheavy for snipers too but at 0.99 i stop using it, just not overpowered as before as damage. Aliens dont get any penalty so its important at balance..

Aliens dont use recoil, isheavy and they dont reload.

Alien grenades throwingRangeModifier are 1... i dont know how they can throw so far.. i can check it later. I am fighting with alien stats and weapons and its one of the borest part to code...

With 0.99 Ilunak made large and small door open/close door TU softcoded. I am thinking new ideas to make player blow ups the big gates at least without hurting enemy AI. At X-Division, big gates are very tough to destroy..

Btw do u use 0.33 CE?

Ah okay. I knew "Isheavy" varible made it carry over on turn was wondering if the recoil did the same but a toned down variant of it per se. Thank you for clearing that up.

I'm not sure why alien throwing range seems certainly very far. I'll run some tests later when I'm able too and fiddle around with some of the grenade stats and so forth and see what happens. It's always fun to fiddle with code and see what wonderous mishaps occur.

I like the idea of changing door TU costs. I have actually merged Kabills mod that stops doors from auto closing on UFO's into my copy of X-Division. I just love the little touch that it adds. It just REALLY bugged me that if I open a door it stays open on the alien turn and then closes, and if the alien opens a door, it stays open until it's my turn then it closes. At-least now it stays open until it gets closed or blown open.

[drages]

I am against always-open gates. It's important for defending alien AI too. Those gates are aliens and its normal when they can close it end of turn .. but it depends on ppl.. there are many arguments about this here and there at forum.

Anyway i asked that, do u use CE 0.33?

[Ajaxial]

I am against always-open gates. It's important for defending alien AI too. Those gates are aliens and its normal when they can close it end of turn .. but it depends on ppl.. there are many arguments about this here and there at forum.

Anyway i asked that, do u use CE 0.33?

Ah sorry I forgot to answer that question. Yes I do. GoG copy came with CE but I downloaded it from the forums and installed it anyway just to be extra safe and make sure I have all the right resources for modding.

Fair enough. I just wish it would work so that the side that opened the door is the side it would stay open for. IE when aliens open it it closes for me. But if I open it, it closes for their turn. I think that would be neat. Maybe it's a preference thing?

[drages]

The door thing was strange for me at first but i liked that..

The tests i make for 0.99, with 0.33 CE, aliens are very aggressive.. how is at your side? They hide or assault on you?

[Ajaxial]

I'd say most of the time they hide and I have to hunt them down. On a rare occasion however they do actually advance on me and try to hunt me down. It would be nice to actually have to hunker down and defend a large influx of Xenos. But it seems that they usually run away or stay exactly where they are. Or never venture outside their ship/room.

[drages]

I'd say most of the time they hide and I have to hunt them down. On a rare occasion however they do actually advance on me and try to hunt me down. It would be nice to actually have to hunker down and defend a large influx of Xenos. But it seems that they usually run away or stay exactly where they are. Or never venture outside their ship/room.

Really? Lol.. then my new written AI code is crazy.. it was tamed at 0.32 but after 0.33 enemies shoot first ask later .. if even 0.98 ai is not aggressive, it's strange.. anyway ilunak can handle it.. I am happy with my new AI but maybe its more aggressive then it should be..

[Ajaxial]

That sounds fantastic. To actually have the aliens actively seek and hunt me down when I land would be amazing fun, rather than sit and hide in the corner of rooms and buildings and not actually leave their ship etc gets very tedious at times.

[CherryCoke]

Just wanted to say that I've been playing with your mod on top of X-Division, and after having nearly completed a run in both X-Division and restarted X-Division with your addon, I can safely assert that your tweaks are a much needed step in the right direction. In my opinion, the only way X-Division's early game doesn't turn into a complete headache is to field a squad of shields, snipers, heavies, and rockets and/or flamethrowers.

The biggest quality of life change, in my opinion, is the slight range buffs. Early on in the game your soldiers are not high enough rank to adequately engage Aliens in close quarters combat, and you're often left in very vulnerable positions--especially considering the ease in which your soldiers are killed early on and the enhanced intelligence and aggressiveness of the AI (and its fetish with throwing grenades).

Anyway, just offering my two cents as well as saying tanks for dedicating the time to make this sub mod; tediously editing numbers may not be the most glorious or sexy of work, but it has helped me maintain my sanity.

[Ajaxial]

Just wanted to say that I've been playing with your mod on top of X-Division, and after having nearly completed a run in both X-Division and restarted X-Division with your addon, I can safely assert that your tweaks are a much needed step in the right direction. In my opinion, the only way X-Division's early game doesn't turn into a complete headache is to field a squad of shields, snipers, heavies, and rockets and/or flamethrowers.

The biggest quality of life change, in my opinion, is the slight range buffs. Early on in the game your soldiers are not high enough rank to adequately engage Aliens in close quarters combat, and you're often left in very vulnerable positions--especially considering the ease in which your soldiers are killed early on and the enhanced intelligence and aggressiveness of the AI (and its fetish with throwing grenades).

Anyway, just offering my two cents as well as saying tanks for dedicating the time to make this sub mod; tediously editing numbers may not be the most glorious or sexy of work, but it has helped me maintain my sanity.

It's great to hear that you are enjoying X-Division with my little balance minimod. And I'm especially happy to hear that my tweaks help you find the game and the mod itself more to your liking and enjoyment and allow you seat yourself into it a lot more. I agree X-Division is indeed a very tough mod and some aspects of it like the range that your were forced to deal with was a bit on the crazy side.

It is true that tweaking numbers and varibles and having to test and retest isn't the greatest or the most fun. But it still gives a great sense of achievement knowing that I've personally played a part in helping to whatever slight degree making the game play out the way it does.

And when someone such as yourself comes along and tells me that it actually improves upon the one small little problem they had with an other massive expansion to an already fantastic game. It makes all that time absolutely worth it.

Thank you for taking the time to play with my minimod and for taking the time to post here. It's truly appreciated. If you have any feedback at all or ideas. I'd be absolutely happy to hear about them for future tweaks and updates.

[Basck]

Something is wrong with the file strings.xml. XML Viewer report errors.

[Ajaxial]

The files are built straight from the HF4 files rather than a modmerge.

X-Div itself contains a couple errors and missing info in terms of things like Entries etc. It's entirely possible that the issue is related to X-Div.

If possible compare X-Div HF 4 Strings and my strings. If the error is persistent in both then the problem lies with the base files that this is mod from. If it isn't then I shall certainly delve into the file to fix any errors I've stupidly left in and failed to fix. Thus far however I've come across no issues in regards to it, or I may have entirely missed them. No-one else has reported anything either so I'm at a loss.

If you do test mine and HF4 Strings.xml files against each other. Please let me know the results.

I'm currently away from my rig and I'm unable to work with any of the files for awhile.

[drages]

X-Div itself contains a couple errors and missing info in terms of things like Entries etc.

Lies!!!!

Yeah it could be. I checked and there is one.. but nothing big.

[Ajaxial]

Heh. Not in a bad way ofcourse Drages.

Once I'm able and unless anyone else compares the two. I'll check when I can but that will be another week or so away.

[drages]

Heh. Not in a bad way ofcourse Drages.

Once I'm able and unless anyone else compares the two. I'll check when I can but that will be another week or so away.

I was joking ofcourse. After you finished the balancing, i am planning to put this mod to the moddb and nexus as a whole file. 0.99 got much time to totally finish and 0.98 will be fully working and balanced mod with your help. So there is no reason to not put this mod at those website and reach more community.