A Post-Nuclear Mod for S3 (Sentinels)

[Okim]

42mm will get some attention. Its a one-shot weapon with quite expensive ammo and even the fact that it has area of effect wont compensate if i lower its accuracy.

[Alfred]

Hi again,

 

Another short 3(00) - liner from my side - make sure u got a cup of coffee (or better a pot? ).

 

The 42mm launcher is pretty fair atm.

Dont would to change it too much yet.

I have to say i tested it on a RE so expirience may vary.

 

The engine afaik does not know steer fire (exept handgrenades), even the PIAT was more or less a rifle in S²/S³.

and the PIAT is somehow comparable to the 42mm (not caliber and use more steer fire itself without own propellant).

Clip gets interesting after 1:30

https://www.youtube....h?v=Ku_oAmIcsvE

 

So firing behind cover what would make the 42mm even more useful needs some tricks.

 

Direct shot is not to recommend because the chance to miss by miles is very high,

so i aim free in front or next to the main target on the ground or a object behind it.

With good results, if i get a accidential direct hit it is crushing.

Hit is hit. If i miss its karma.

 

AP costs are fair and realistic - shot and reload in one round possible.

 

Some points to the design

 

 

 

The design is very nice.

Ladder sights, retractable buttstock, kink-loader (hope the translator didnt failed it)

Just dont understand the little "window" at the barrel (for security check maybe?)

Also the sound fits very well even the bullet speed is (cant find a word lets say...) good and suitable could ba maybe a bit slower.

 

The ammobelts are very nice - i just like them.

If it is not too much work i would suggest to turn them 180° to get the bottom looking to the left.

 

The reason:

In S²/S³ series u only have right handed characters (discrimination isnt it^^)

So the realod procedure can be as this:

(Hands just called R and L)

 

R: Release barrel lock

L: Open barrel and pull out empty shell

L: Grap new cartridge insert in barrel and lock the barrel

R: Pull the lock back

Ready to fire

 

This is just how i know it.

 

Ok, u can also hold the launcher at the barrel and do 2./3. with the right hand - uncommon in my eyes but possible (havent seen all in my short life).

 

The color of the warheads could be a bit more red like this ██.

 

Regarding the 42mm AP i would prefer a longer funnel-shaped (incl.distance tube) warhed to show HEAT properties.

 

Also had a look at ur allguns.jpg and noticed a pump-action 42mm.

Upgrade or standalone? If upgrade it should be really expensive;)

Reminds a bit to this:https://www.world.gun...us/gm-94-e.html

 

Referring to ur post of 26.02.14 i have mixed feelings about a SD Shotgun.

 

Storyline and Journal are very well done - brings a lot of atmosphere - just as sidenote from me^^

 

 

 

You mentioned the expensive 42mm ammo, i think its much too cheap.

 

Let me explain:

 

Mini-blast grenade is $500

Blast granade $1000

Fragementation $1200 (fits in stats halfway launcherammo)

p.p.

 

All these can be looted from the bad guys and i use them whenever its possible (even if i dont buy them in the shop)

All this nades are affected by trowingskills and strength what limits the range.

 

The launcherammo is ShelSec only atm and is $200 it has range approx x3 but costs 1/6 of the handgrenade and uses 1/4 of the space.

 

Singleshot and reload in one round limits the use of the 42mm while i can throw 2 nades by hand.

 

Since the 42mm ammo is ShelSec only (what is good at the current point idk how u handle this in upcoming versions) i think the prices should be a bit more balanced.

Lets say approx 3/4 to 2/3 of the current for Handgrenades and x2.5-3x+ for the 42mm

Maybe some can be found in the world in certain places like the mission you gave a preview on 04.03. what looks and sounds pretty awesome.

 

At conclusion i want to say in my eyes the 42mm is a thing of special purpose to fill a hole and adds more tactical possibilities.

All in once i like it pretty much and had no incoming yet - what iam a bit happy about.

But like i said before it is special and should be used as such at last at the current version.

 

Only suggestions no complaints from my side, in doubt just my very personal inked opinion.

 

best regards

 

PS: cant wait to see the new stuff

[Okim]

That windows is just for decoration purposes. Imagine it to be heat exaust or exotic muzzle breaker.

 

The plans are to put in three types of 42mm GLs - with 1 nade, with 3 and with 6. Look at them as launcher tiers. I was also thinking to make autofire 20mm GL. Not sure if this one is really needed. Besides - engine has some odd representation of damage values for rockets with clip size more than 1.

 

I have a huge txt file with all planned guns and their types listed in it. That`s a huge list i need to say (and all shotguns are already finished, btw).

 

What`s a SD Shotgun? You mean Combat shotgun with careful shot and silencer? That`s a unique weapon that you`ll have to fight for at some late mission. If you mean Hi-Cap shotgun with lots of shells - its purely a close range gun for house (bunker) clearing.

 

BTW, here is a dual-shot shotgun - the last SG for the mod i`ve made:

 

https://lordsofthestars.com/other/S3/sg-ds.jpg

[Alfred]

Hi again, i try to keep it short (like everytime)

 

The plans are to put in three types of 42mm GLs - with 1 nade, with 3 and with 6. Look at them as launcher tiers. I was also thinking to make autofire 20mm GL. Not sure if this one is really needed. Besides - engine has some odd representation of damage values for rockets with clip size more than 1.

20mm GL sounds intresting would fit the "riflebehavior" better, autofire... not sure, would tend to 6-shot semi-auto with low blast radius or something like that.

I have a huge txt file with all planned guns and their types listed in it. That`s a huge list i need to say (and all shotguns are already finished, btw).

My posts are longer /joke. Awesome - if u want to share it - here is your victim .

What is rly needed in my opinion is more power. Even the ruins from generations ago seem to be bulletproof.

Only dynamite can harm them. Not even the revolver that rips your wrist off does a scratch.

Me likes flying bricks pretty much in S³.

What`s a SD Shotgun? You mean Combat shotgun with careful shot and silencer?

Yep that thing, just because its very hard/impossile to get SGs to a "tactical" noise output.

Those suppressors i found so far are more usable for ear protection than for real noise reduction. I am willing to learn more

"Streetsweeper" is a clear thing to me.

To stick with SGs: The removal of 20g is good - too loud anyway, but pls hold the triplerifles and so on, they are funny.

To stick with ammo: Slugs would be nice.

 

Your last creation looks awesome. Just the screws on top maybe needs turned in a bit.

 

regards

[Okim]

Buletproofness. I don`t like how easily you can demolish a building in Silent Storm, so i used concrete walls instead of bricks to make walls more durable to conventional ammo. Dynamite, rockets and plasma are your only ways to blow up these walls in the mod. AP ammo for larger guns might be able to pass through it.

 

Brick walls are still in the mod and are as common as concrete ones. These are much easier to penetrate.

 

Silenced shotguns are a good alternative for scouts in later game. Its futuristic setting with plasma and lasers - why the hell not to have silenced shotguns in it?

 

About the model - you wont be seeing these screws in the mod due to model being quite small in the game

[Okim]

Hi there.

 

I`ve made some discoveries recently that stole all my APN modding focus. Discoveries are quite important and can allow me to put in more accurate data into weapon descriptions (on-item-hover window).

 

1. handling.

 

All our speculations regarding handling were totally wrong. Its not related to mass as i once thought and it has nothing to do with skill requirements for weapons. Handling - is - accuracy.

 

Each weapon type in the game has two values - easyhandling and mediumhandling. These are used purely for information provided by weapon description window. If weapon`s minimal range is less than handlingmedium value of the weapon type - you see 'hard' in weapon description. If it equals or more than handlingmedium - you get 'medium'. If your gun has minimal range equal or less than handlingeasy - you get 'easy'. Pretty simple if you know what lays behind it, yeah?

 

Here is an example (purely an example without any connection to the game):

 

SMG weapon type has handlingeasy of 15 and handlingmedium of 10.

 

We have two smgs. One has minimal range of 9 and the other 16. The first is only effective at very close range while the second has much better accuracy. When you hower over those smgs in the inventory screen you get 'handling hard' for the first smg and 'handling easy' for the second one meaning that the first gun is very inaccurate for its class, while the second one can hit targets at much longer ranges.

 

The problem is that you as a player have no idea of all these handling values set per weapon type. All you see is 'easy, medium or hard'. BUT! And this BUT! is the second discovery i`ve made...

 

 

2. item description templates.

 

Each item type (weapon, grenade, medical etc.) has its own template used when you hower over it in the inventory screen. Each template consists of several <value> tags and some formatting tags. Each value tag uses a specific ID that it pulls from some hidden script which i failed to find.

 

So, let`s get back to BUT! from the first discovery. The BUT! is simple - you can manipulate what values are displayed in each template, but you need to know their IDs. Handling turned out to be a hidden script that compares weapon type`s handling values with weapon`s minimal range. It always puts either 'easy', 'medium' or 'hard' into description without any numbers. Unfortunatelyl - there is no way to modify it.

 

I got possessed with an idea of putting in description for all weapons in which you can show the gun`s minimal range (accuracy), recoil, mass, preparation AP costs and etc. There are money-only items in the game that use exactly what i need - a separate 'tooltip' value that contains their descriptions. The problem is - i can`t find the template used by these items, so i have no idea what ID these tooptips use. I`ve tried my luck by randomly trying to figure out this ID and failed. Tried to search for it in scripts and strings tables and failed too. It IS there, but hell knows where it is exactly...

 

 

3. an idea

 

So i`ve come with a simple idea to use weapon type strings to specify easy and hard handling values and turn them in to something more understandable for players - effective range.

 

This way you can at least judge where you effective range value lies. If you get 'medium' - it is between 22 and 14, if its close - its less than 14. If its long - its more than 22. Not so informative in the case of 'medium', but at least something.

 

Manipulations with weapon types also allows me to put in AP costs for readying the weapon, penalty for moving and even bonus for enemy close combat attacks while you handle that gun. Each type has its own values which are also hidden from player.

 

Here is an example of improved description:

 

6mm Assault Rifle

 

Type: Assault Rifle Cost to prepate: 5 AP

 

Weapon is effective at close ranges

(ranges hint - close: <14, medium: 14-22, long: >22)

Maximum range: 35

 

Familiarity: 1 Durability: 3000/3000

Damage: 10-22 Penetration value: 43

 

Clip: 30 round(s) of 6mm AP ammo

 

Rate of fire: 5

 

Snap Shot 15 AP Aimed Shot 30 AP Short Burst 22 AP

 

As you can see there is a bit more info in it than you had previously, but it is still not so correct as i need. If i could find that damn tooltip ID the description box would contain any info you wish. Everything from basic values to hints where and how to use it.

[Toneone]

Hey, just wanted to say that this is very impressive! I've been playing SS for some years now, and your mod filled me with much joy. I pretty much played through the three missions in a single sitting and had a blast. Especially the new models are hella cool! Really hope that you can spare the time to keep working on this.

 

Here are some random observations/thoughts from my playthrough with a Sniper char.

 

-I understand that your ShelSec helpers are basic as of now, but they are really dumb The second mission can become very tough if you haven't hired another member for your team, because your backup is just so damn bad. I lmao when they moved into the building at the end of the map, and got shot in the head instantly. So if you can't make the ShelSec smarter, you may want to consider removing one or two enemies from that building. Because it's a death trap on your own, and still very dicy when you have hired another soldier. Like, without knowing where the soldiers are, you probably will get shot in the face instantly. Oh, and could you please see if you can prevent them from picking up loot? I was forced to kill my helpers after the first mission because they were picking up all the good stuff that I need for money!

 

-It's good that you don't get penalized for losing ShelSec troops, but it may be worthwile to think about giving the player a little bonus for survivors. Something like a 100 bucks may proove enough to make players not consider them as complete cannon fodder. Oh, and if it's possible, you could see if you can penalize players for killing them. Otherwise lots of people will exploit killing them for more loot

 

-You already said that the maps still have some terrain oddities, but I want to point out where I noticed them. The area right in front of the last building in the second mission had some odd paths. Like, moving along the wall lead to some weird things. And the chest in the third mission can't be reached if you don't destroy the barrel that's slightly blocking the entrance. Also, you may want to give the player a tiny bit more cover in the third mission. I had a good time because I was playing a sniper, but other players may have a rough time getting close enough to the bandits. Basically, your only choice is to sprint along the left side of the map, while having a guy in the middle until the boxes break, or hunker down in the house and hope for the best. Placing one or two additional cover pieces in the field, gives the player another option.

 

-I really don't like the absence of burst fire on most automatic guns. It just limits those guns very hard, because you have to spend all of your AP if you want to kill somebody. I can sorta understand why you would remove the burst option, but it also unnecessarily drags out the combat imo. Like, imagine you pop out of cover and see two guys real close. You could kill one with auto fire, but that would leave you standing out in the open, and probably dead on the next turn. So you have to use a single shot, move back to cover and repeat until they swarm you. Of course, you can throw a nade if you have one, but I still think you get my point. I just think that it's weird that my soldiers are incapable of removing their finger from the trigger after a few shots.

 

-The AI seems to have a real boner for headshots. I saw so many heads pop that it got ridiculous.

 

-If you don't select a mission after the initial three, there don't seems to be a way to access the select screen again. Technically, the mod ends there as of now, but it still was strange.

 

-Shotguns are a tiny bit too good. Like, SS has always been a game of rifles, but shotguns are the perfect side-arms and make a lot of the automatic weapons obsolete in a way. Shotguns will still get one or two pellets on target, even at large ranges, and ruin enemies up close. So why should I use a smg class weapon, that can't hit shit beyond short ranges? I can comfortably sit back and just plink enemies to death with buckshot.

 

-Have you tweaked the AP costs for moving? It may be because I'm playing the original SS at the moment, but even with sprinting I don't seem to get very far per turn in this mod.

 

-Are there randoms as of now? In your OP you said there are, but I can't seem to find them.

 

That's all for now. As said, impressive work so far, please keep it up!

[Okim]

Releasing APN 0.2: https://www.lordsofthestars.com/other/S3/APN.02.rar

 

This version is still limited to first 3 missions. However, all the missions were tweaked and some completelly reworked.

 

Major changes were made to ShelSec allies system, a lot of new stuff was added. Bandits were reworked a bit. Mercs got some new stuff.

 

A new weapon test ground was added. Just open the console and type 'template 1000023" in it. Note though that this template contains 75% of all weapons added thus far. Don`t spoil the fun of unlocking these toys once the mod is fully finished

 

Moderators can you please update the topic title? Put there something regarding a new version please.

 

And may be its time to make this thread sticky?

[Toneone]

Haha, look at you already having a new version ready. Awesome! Grabbing it right now.

[Okim]

Just a small warning. I`ve uploaded a version with new weapon descriptions in 'WIP' state, so they might be confusing a bit. That`s one of the experiments that is not supposed to be an end result.

[Toneone]

Only managed to play the first two missions so far, but you changed a lot of the things that I pointed out in my earlier post. So yeah, good job there! However, I also have something negative to report. First off, I'm not really digging the overall reduced damage. On normal difficulty, a bandit takes half a clip from my 6mm rifle to the chest before dropping. That's not much fun, and drags out the combat. I guess it makes sense when you take into account that the progression includes many more guns, but it still needs a bit more balance. JHP ammo helps a little bit(and is a super cool idea), but it still isn't enough. And you really went too far with the penalty for headshots. Yes, their frequency was a problem earlier, but now my sniper is almost useless.

 

Check this

https://i.imgur.com/G08i7ax.jpg

100% with almost full aim on a close guy that's in the open, but the headshot chance is 29%. This severly hinders a sniper, as headshots are the one thing that they should be good at. And don't even think of pulling one from a bit farther away. Yes, this is in the second mission and may change with better skill, but it's still a huge penalty. And everybody else can only hope for getting a crit to see a headshot.

 

https://i.imgur.com/WlBimtM.jpg

I mean, come on. 19%?

 

Also, have a few screens of terrain bugs

 

First map

https://i.imgur.com/7kM9UUK.jpg

Shouldn't i be able to walk between the rocks?

 

https://i.imgur.com/ib9XSsB.jpg

Wanted to hug the corner, but nope.

 

Random encounters

https://i.imgur.com/Quz1198.jpg

Gator fell through the map? He started walking next to Abala, vanished, and had to climb back up.

 

https://i.imgur.com/HW9JbDr.jpg

Same map, unable to go where my cursor is.

 

https://i.imgur.com/aKBWTMD.jpg

Another map, and now the bandits fall through the ground

 

Minor bugs:

- The smith does not tell you how much it costs to add a SN scope to a hunting rifle(3000 iirc)

- Your WIP weapon stat window makes it impossible to see how many rounds are left in the clip without having the gun in your hands

[Okim]

Try to hit someone in the head in the mod and you`ll see why you got such a severe penalty... Headshot is almost 100% lethal now. Well, may be not 100%, but surely much more deadly.

 

WIP discription is a WIP discription. Its not a WIP in fact, just an experiment.

 

Map oddities are helpful, thanks for pointing these out. Randoms will be probably reworked entirely. The maps are a biit to small for normal firefights.

 

JHP ammo will be much more effective, but scarse. As i wrote the initial ammo that you can buy is 'surplus'. Its abundant, but in fact just a crap. JHP and AP will be much deadlier in later game. Probably AP will be more effective and act as one of the high-level tiers of sorts (surplus, jhp, ap, special). The problem is that as soon as you sell at least 1 clip of jhp - it will become available in infinite quantities in the stores which i wish to avoid.

[Toneone]

Try to hit someone in the head in the mod and you`ll see why you got such a severe penalty... Headshot is almost 100% lethal now. Well, may be not 100%, but surely much more deadly.

Well, my point is still that you need to be able to hit the shot in the first place

 

But seriously, I do understand what you are going for. The damage output strongly depends on what weapon you're using though. Like, the custom 7mm rifle is almost lethal on a headshot, but the basic 6mm rifle not so much. But I guess that's okay though, since you're supposed to progress in your weapon choices. I may be biased on this matter, since I always play a sniper in SS, but I really can't see myself ever trying a headshot when my ususal CTH is below 30% you know? Like, during the three mission in your mod, I never had a good enough CTH to make the decision worth it. Body shots range from 50-100%, so I'm always going with the safer bet. However, if my chances for a headshot would clock in at 40% or more, I'd try it. I guess what I want to say is, that while the increased damage is a good idea, I still think that the penalty is a little too harsh. Just a little bit

 

JHP ammo will be much more effective, but scarse. As i wrote the initial ammo that you can buy is 'surplus'. Its abundant, but in fact just a crap. JHP and AP will be much deadlier in later game. Probably AP will be more effective and act as one of the high-level tiers of sorts (surplus, jhp, ap, special). The problem is that as soon as you sell at least 1 clip of jhp - it will become available in infinite quantities in the stores which i wish to avoid.

I never modded SS, but I guess you won't be able to get around that feature. One kinda clunky way to solve this, could be to make the really good ammo very expensive to buy. Like, place some stashes in the world that the player has to raid for that ammo, and make it very unactractive to buy the ammo from your base.

 

Randoms will be probably reworked entirely. The maps are a biit to small for normal firefights.

Sounds good! Though, I wouldn't make randoms a lot bigger than they are now. A little bit more room is fine, but I also enjoy how quick and direct the random battles are now. I mean, let's be honest here, 99% of the players will fight randoms just for the grind. So I think it's okay to make that a bit more convenient.

 

Also, I like the new versions of the campaign missions so far. Having the bandits in the last mission come in waves is a good choice!

[spyda_demonic]

I've only just found this project from steam ... Just wanted to say that it's great you're doing this, the game really needed mods making as it is pretty epic ... shame it never had a huge following, Hopefully now that it's making a bit of a comeback more people will get interested and also start modding .... Thank you!! ... I'm going to love playing this

[Okim]

Sorry guys for disappearing for so long. Had to deal with lots of things of various types and importance.

 

Here is what i managed to achieve regarding weapon description screen in APN. I had to invent a huge work around the issues i`ve described in earlier posts.

 

To achieve an ability to put whatever i need i have to make a separate weapon type for every gun in the mod.

 

For now only 6mm assault rifles (and its ~10 versions) have such detailed descriptions:

 

https://www.lordsofthestars.com/other/S3/item-info.jpg

 

Plans are to make such a screen for every weapon and probably even item in the mod.

 

P.S.: btw - there is no such thing as current clip size for the guns-not-in-hand even in vanilla, so my description does not break anything in this case ;P

[Okim]

As for the overall progress of the mod - i`ve added a new compact 6mm gun and fixed some of the posted issues by users.

 

I`ve also found a new characteristic for the weapons that can be used to make guns even more different from one another. Its the way the gun is held by the soldier - raised to the eyes or 'held on hips'. The first one makes it possible for a gun to be fired over low fences and other obstacles - which is a neat feature for most of the guns.

 

The second one is used by machineguns by default and can be used to simulate fast-to-draw or no-proper-aim weapons such as guns for close combat only.

 

Using this i`ve made a 6mm AR with extended mag (90 rounds) to be fired only from hips. So you can`t spray your enemies with this gun while hiding on the roof on the third mission.

 

Plans are to make a special light machinegun (that counts as a heavy weapon) with firing from raised mode (through the sights). This will be a good defencive weapon that can be fired from ruins, behind the rocks and other garbage.

[Okim]

The abandoned LazTech facility located deep in mutant controlled territory.

 

https://www.lordsofth...ther/S3/lab.jpg

 

The lab is protected, but not by mutants. Your objective here is to retreive any info on laser weapons and loot what ever is possible. The mission is two-stage. The first stage is a lab itself - the second is a devastated building complex on the surface.

 

Map is WIP. I need to populate it with stuff, check and fix passability and destructibility, fix mismatched connections of the walls and etc.

[Toneone]

Thanks for the update! The new weapon description is pretty nifty, especially useful for a game with lots of guns to compare. And the new map looks great too. Keep it coming

[Okim]

Progress update.

 

A 4th mission was finished, scripted and tested. Looks and works nice, but may require additional revisions.

3 more missions to go before the next update

 

48 out of 108 unique detailed weapon descriptions are now finished. 60 more to go + items.

[Okim]

Progress update.

 

Finished 90% of all descriptions.

[Someone64]

This might be a coincidence but if it is it's a pretty big one. Ever since I installed this mod (just put the folder in the root directory of course) and played a game with it pressing alt to show items stopped working. Even if I bind the function to another key it refuses to work. I then tried to start a completely vanilla game to test it out and found out that it stopped working there too.

 

Also, for some reason I can't pick up guns and their clips in this mod which screwed me over several times because I keep accidentally dropping my sidearms instead of equipping them. This also means I can't pick up dropped ammo in a firefight when I'm out of my own.

 

Really excited for the next update. Keep up the good work!

[Okim]

I suggest you to test your keyboard for any issues with keys.

[Someone64]

As I said, I even tried rebinding the keys. Also does work in Silent Storm.

 

EDIT: Well... it was indeed, a big coincidence. The problem was that in Silent Storm, show items is "showitems" meaning alt is binded to showitems. In SSS, it's simply "alt" for some reason. Looks strange when alt is binded to alt. I copied over my config from SS to SSS and everything but that was fine. The only reason I was able to discover this is because I tried reinstalling Sentinels and I took a look at the config file. Sorry for any trouble I may have caused. :/

[orc01]

Кхм, написано, что ты из России, посему попытаюсь обратиться к тебе на родном языке.

Мод просто великолепен! Знаешь, я давненько ждал чего-то подобного, а тут есть ВСЕ! Новые пушки, новое снаряжение, даже карты новые - именно то, чего как раз мне в оригинальном Сайлент Шторме-то и не хватало.

Собственно говоря, ко всему я хотел бы добавить еще одну просьбу - если сие будет не сложным, а можно было бы сделать мод, который просто добавляет оружие и новое снаряжение в магазин?(То бишь без самого пост-ядерного остального содержимого?). Уж очень иногда, играя в твой мод, хочется испробовать новые пушки и на молотовцах(Привык, наверно, уже к ним. Как никак, игра пройдена 24 раза, собираюсь и в 25 проходить)

Заранее спасибо

[Someone64]

I have a strange request that may be impossible due to the limited scripting capabilites of SS modding.

 

Taking inspiration from a game called Red Orchestra it would be cool if you can use terrain to stabilize weapons. Any weapons with bipods will have the effect amplified. This means that if you are prone, sitting behind high enough cover, or standing behind high enough cover, and are facing said cover, accuracy should increase and recoil should lower.