ACM (UFO Aftershock)

[Okim]

Since 1.1 or even 1.0 you can no longer hire any high-level personel. In fact you can hire only 1st level soldiers, so this is a weird situation when you were able to hire someone with high level. There is an exception to this as if you get too high (beyond the normal dimplomacy relation scale) relation with a faction it can allow you to hire some of the best soldiers they can offer. That`s an oversaw that will be fixed in future.

 

In ACM 5.56 flechette ammo has hard damage type. It has lower damage, but a solid bonus to accuracy.

 

I rebalanced cultists about or 6 times already and i feel that current balance is the best we can get. Reduce the numbers of cultists - you`ll get too easy missions in later game. Increase - you`ll be slaughtered in early game.

 

The most difficult parts of the game are first battles with cultists and first wargot encounters. If you have survived both of these stages - the game will be much easier for you. The best way to prepare for the first battles with cultists is to salvage as many equipment from locals either by invading them or by helping them out against mutants. In early games munatns will pose a certain threat to most factions and some spare salvagable equipment is almost quaranteed in such missions. The other problem that you`ll encounter in early games is experience - you receive much lower experience for missions. To overcome this obstacle you`ll have to seek missions and not wait for them to appear randomly. REMEMBER that in ACM you gain experience mainly for killing enemies, not just for participating in a mission.

[otreblA_SNAKE_[ITA]]

So you can hire soldiers with level 2+, and with their own equipment? That's weird, I thought it was impossible in ACM. I only have access to level 1 recruits, and so can my flatmate. Maybe it's a problem with my copy of the game (it's a magazine edition)? But in vanilla game I was getting advanced recruits as normal. Weird...

 

Anyway, I'm glad you managed to get through the first phase, Snake.

I had +100% relationship with humans so they gave me excellent soldiers xDD

You can use the same old trick in vanilla game: arm your soldiers with shotguns, get to the nearest room and wait at the entrance. In this way you only need to face one or two enemies at one time.

In fact I did so, but this isn't the best way to win a match (it's boring: I don't like camping)

 

 

Since 1.1 or even 1.0 you can no longer hire any high-level personel. In fact you can hire only 1st level soldiers, so this is a weird situation when you were able to hire someone with high level. There is an exception to this as if you get too high (beyond the normal dimplomacy relation scale) relation with a faction it can allow you to hire some of the best soldiers they can offer. That`s an oversaw that will be fixed in future.

 

In ACM 5.56 flechette ammo has hard damage type. It has lower damage, but a solid bonus to accuracy.

 

I rebalanced cultists about or 6 times already and i feel that current balance is the best we can get. Reduce the numbers of cultists - you`ll get too easy missions in later game. Increase - you`ll be slaughtered in early game.

 

The most difficult parts of the game are first battles with cultists and first wargot encounters. If you have survived both of these stages - the game will be much easier for you. The best way to prepare for the first battles with cultists is to salvage as many equipment from locals either by invading them or by helping them out against mutants. In early games munatns will pose a certain threat to most factions and some spare salvagable equipment is almost quaranteed in such missions. The other problem that you`ll encounter in early games is experience - you receive much lower experience for missions. To overcome this obstacle you`ll have to seek missions and not wait for them to appear randomly. REMEMBER that in ACM you gain experience mainly for killing enemies, not just for participating in a mission.

...and I say again: great mod

[Solarius Scorch]

To be honest, I haven't finished the game yet (I haven't even encountered Star Ghosts yet), so I was going to wait until I complete the game before writing here. However, various issues I want to write about started to come up, so I decided to go ahead and write it already. Bear in mind though that this review isn't complete, just some thoughts I've had up to this point.

 

First of all, I must say I love ACM to bits. At this point, I simply can't imagine playing Aftershock without it. UFO: AS is one of those games who are perfect in their overall form, and can only be enhanced by adding content; this is what ACM does, and it does that splendidly. What I would like to highlight in particular is:

 

* Balance. You managed to balance everything much better that in the vanilla game, for example explosives are finally useful but not overpowered. I know this kind of balance is very difficult to obtain, and that's why I'm so enthusiastic about how you did it.

 

* Graphics. You're throwing models at us like crazy, and that's astonishing. Not only are they good, but every edition of the mod brings significant changes and improvements.

 

* New content. As I wrote before, that's crucial for an Aftershock mod. I'm not talking about just adding new stuff, but also the way it influences the game. These new weapons often fill empty spaces: for example if my soldier has good Mechanical but no Gunman training, his or her skill would be wasted in the vanilla game, but now I can give them an RPK. (Same with Long Range and SKS, for example.) Introducing commando weapons was a smart move, too; this way, a somewhat weak class became important without invalidating others classes. And so on, and so forth: the new content is just perfect.

 

On the other hand, there is a few things I'm not so sure about. These are mostly minor details, and some might be controversial too, but I'll list them here.

 

* Cyborg weapons. They are much better balanced in ACM 1.3, so they're not as much of an issue as before, but I still think Browning is too accurate (which, combined with its power, makes it the ultimate weapon against everything). I understand we're talking about an advanced cyborg here (who probably weight 300 kg at least), and that due to its mass the weapon doesn't have as much recoil, but still I can't see why this weapon is more accurate than practically everything else. After all, it's being fired by a soldier, cyborg or not, and not from a vehicle. The minigun (in its newest incarnation) is fine. The Barett is also okay from the gameplay point of view, even though I can't see why it's more powerful than the "normal" Barett that can be used by anyone.

 

* Human soldiers seem a bit outdated now, don't you think? Cyborgs are simply so much better in every possible aspect. I understand it is somehow justified, but on the other hand it bugs me a little bit as a gameplay issue. In the vanilla game, humans could at least use better armour, but in the ACM they lose that benefit too (or so it seems to me, as I said I haven't finished the game yet). Psionics, on the other hand, are still very useful, they do wonders with the right equipment (and are excellent natural scanners).

 

* Machine guns. Right now, they're completely useless: they have poor range, poor accuracy, and to be honest their damage is only so-so. Not only they are easily outmatched by cyborg weapons, but even many assault rifles (like the SCAR line, who can also spit out large numbers of 7.62mm XP bullets). Perhaps the only useful heavy weapon (save for cyborg weapons) is the laser cannon.

 

* The previously discussed issue of recruiting advanced soldiers: to be honest, I liked it better in the vanilla game. I understand you wanted to force the player to grow his or her soldiers from a level 1 (like in the original XCom series), and I can see the value of that decision, but at the same time it takes away some of the fun. The thing is, it's generally better for a game if there are multiple (balanced) routes to one thing, and that's what the option to hire advanced soldiers was: it provided you with alternative means to obtain people and equipment. You can do well without this possibility of course, but I would still like it to be there. Plus, the diplomacy in this situation becomes even less significant (because the only thing you can get through diplomatic actions are the resources, and this can only be useful in the first stages of the game, unless you're a poor manager). What would perhaps be best is capping the recruited soldiers at, say, level 6, but make them available only if the fraction really likes you (which means, if you send them lots of resources); this could give you an advantage before the cultists arrive, but wouldn't be very significant in later game.

 

Finally, I have two suggestions for future releases:

 

* One-handed SMGs. While every other type of weapons received high-level items, you're stuck with MAC-10 and Micro-Uzi till the end of the game. Yes, there's the laser pistol and plasma pistol, but they're completely different branch. I'd like to see some better one-handed firearms.

 

* Psionic light suit texture. Not only it looks exactly the same as the default Psionic skin, but it's unbelievably ugly too. I wish at least one of them would be changed... A simple recolouring would do, for a start.

 

As I wrote in the beginning, this is not a complete analysis, I'll probably have some more things to say in the future. For now, I congratulate you a truly excellent product, and I wish you best luck with the next edition.

[ERISS]

First of all, I must say I love ACM to bits. At this point, I simply can't imagine playing Aftershock without it. UFO: AS is one of those games who are perfect in their overall form, and can only be enhanced by adding content; this is what ACM does, and it does that splendidly. What I would like to highlight in particular is:

* Balance.

* Graphics.

* New content.

Okay you sold me the mod, I'll cancel my vanilia Superhero difficulty game.

What difficulty is good with ACM? (As I know the game, I find the max difficulty for vanillia is the good for me.)

 

* Psionic light suit texture. Not only it looks exactly the same as the default Psionic skin, but it's unbelievably ugly too. I wish at least one of them would be changed... A simple recolouring would do, for a start.

https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=333

Is this mod working with ACM?

[Okim]

https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=333

Is this mod working with ACM?

 

 

ACM is not working with any other mods. It has changes in too much files and surely wont be compatible with anything else using these files.

[Solarius Scorch]

Okay you sold me the mod, I'll cancel my vanilia Superhero difficulty game.

What difficulty is good with ACM? (As I know the game, I find the max difficulty for vanillia is the good for me.)

 

I must confess I'm playing on Regular only (level 2). My flatmate is playing on Veteran (level 3) though, and despite the excessive profanities coming from his room every day he's doing fine. So, I guess any setting would do, just remember that the game tends to be more difficult than vanilla (especially in the beginning).

 

ACM is not working with any other mods. It has changes in too much files and surely wont be compatible with anything else using these files.

 

Exactly, that's the problem. I don't want to be forcing anything on anyone, but I think providing Okim with new skins for Psionics is a good idea. (I'm not an artist myself, unfortunately.)

[alienshooter]

In ACM 5.56 flechette ammo has hard damage type. It has lower damage, but a solid bonus to accuracy.

My mistake, sorry. Since 5.56 flechette does hard damage, I would be happy to choose it for new recruits, because I think that accuracy is more important than damage for low level soldiers.

 

PS: Do the under-barrell bio scanner and dopler scanner need scout equipments training to operate? If so then I need to train some soldiers in both scout and trooper to put them to good use.

[alienshooter]

there is a few things I'm not so sure about. These are mostly minor details, and some might be controversial too, but I'll list them here.

 

* Cyborg weapons.

* Machine guns.

* One-handed SMGs.

I think that maybe you will have different ideas after completing the game, because It seems to me that there is an advanced human MG that is even more powerful than SCARs (which I think is fair, because it needs heavy equipments training to operate while SCARs don't), and an advanced one-handed SMG that is maybe the best one-handed weapon in the game.

 

I'm sorry if I've ruined the fun of exploring the game for you.

 

Plus, I think that human heavy weapons can catch up with their cyborg counterparts in late game, because they can have more attachments. A PKP with combat scope, gyrostabilizer and flash supresser is no less powerful than a Browning M2 or minigun. A laser cannon with combat scope, UB laser sight and focuser is no less powerful than a gatling laser either.

 

 

* Human soldiers seem a bit outdated now, don't you think? Cyborgs are simply so much better in every possible aspect. I understand it is somehow justified, but on the other hand it bugs me a little bit as a gameplay issue. In the vanilla game, humans could at least use better armour, but in the ACM they lose that benefit too (or so it seems to me, as I said I haven't finished the game yet). Psionics, on the other hand, are still very useful, they do wonders with the right equipment (and are excellent natural scanners).

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that human medium armor + medium helmet already gives slightly better protection than cyborg advanced body implant, not to mention power shield and heavy armor. Also please consider that cyborgs and psionics can only be trained in two classes while it is three for humans, which means that human soldiers have much more versatility than the other two races.

 

Compared with a lv3 human technician in heavy armor (who is most close to a cyborg IMHO), a lv3 cyborg soilder has 2 more strength (or agility) which means a +1 bonus in about 5 different skills, can use wargot weapons, but has less protection and in lack of a few ablities (capacity bonus, deployable equipments training, drones repair). I don't think the cyborg soilder is necessarily more useful than the human technician.

[Soolfol]

Hello!

The mod does not work for me.

Sorry for my english

[Okim]

Hello!

The mod does not work for me.

Sorry for my english

 

Hello!

 

Thats bad, sorry to hear.

 

In future if you have a problem with something a simple notification of it wont solve it. I need additional info in order to figure out what happens with your game.

 

Be sure that you are following all the instructions found on the first page of this thread.

[Solarius Scorch]

I think that maybe you will have different ideas after completing the game, because It seems to me that there is an advanced human MG that is even more powerful than SCARs (which I think is fair, because it needs heavy equipments training to operate while SCARs don't), and an advanced one-handed SMG that is maybe the best one-handed weapon in the game.

 

I'm sorry if I've ruined the fun of exploring the game for you.

 

No worries. Yeah, I'm using the P90 now and it's wonderful, so the area of SMGs is not much of an issue. However, when talking about HMGs I meant things like M60, which is completely useless, and it seems a bit like a waste...

 

Plus, I think that human heavy weapons can catch up with their cyborg counterparts in late game, because they can have more attachments. A PKP with combat scope, gyrostabilizer and flash supresser is no less powerful than a Browning M2 or minigun. A laser cannon with combat scope, UB laser sight and focuser is no less powerful than a gatling laser either.

 

I'm just getting to power armours and stim injectors, which seem like big advantages for human soldiers. Forget what I wrote before.

 

 

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that human medium armor + medium helmet already gives slightly better protection than cyborg advanced body implant, not to mention power shield and heavy armor. Also please consider that cyborgs and psionics can only be trained in two classes while it is three for humans, which means that human soldiers have much more versatility than the other two races.

 

Compared with a lv3 human technician in heavy armor (who is most close to a cyborg IMHO), a lv3 cyborg soilder has 2 more strength (or agility) which means a +1 bonus in about 5 different skills, can use wargot weapons, but has less protection and in lack of a few ablities (capacity bonus, deployable equipments training, drones repair). I don't think the cyborg soilder is necessarily more useful than the human technician.

 

Yeah, yeah. You're right, mister. I can't do my own calculations yet, but I'll keep it in mind.

 

I'm playing intensively at the moment, so my perception of things tends to change everyday. I'll keep throwing new thoughts here, I hope they'll make sense.

[otreblA_SNAKE_[ITA]]

Okim: what can you tell us about faces? Are you going to re-modeling\re-texturing faces too or you will leave them as they are in the vanilla game?

[Cal.50]

hello Okim! i got some strange bug here.

 

even tho i have max relationship with any faction every merc available for recruiting has 1st level. it's like 'clone wars'.

https://i4.fastpic.ru/big/2010/0513/f8/42a7...6d2406d2f8.jpeg

https://i4.fastpic.ru/big/2010/0513/42/40a7...9186fbaf42.jpeg

 

i use only ACM & Skip Introduction mods.

 

__________

UPD:

Since 1.1 or even 1.0 you can no longer hire any high-level personel. In fact you can hire only 1st level soldiers, so this is a weird situation when you were able to hire someone with high level. There is an exception to this as if you get too high (beyond the normal dimplomacy relation scale) relation with a faction it can allow you to hire some of the best soldiers they can offer. That`s an oversaw that will be fixed in future.

okay, i found an answer so the problem is kinda solved. i just hope that character face variations will be returned in some future.

[Okim]

It is not a bug - it is feature. ACM has no recruits past level 1 and currently there is no way to introduce face variety. Game just ignores any changes made to relevant files - it seems that it uses hardcoded recruits files.

[Cal.50]

It is not a bug - it is feature. ACM has no recruits past level 1 and currently there is no way to introduce face variety. Game just ignores any changes made to relevant files - it seems that it uses hardcoded recruits files.

in this case is it possible to get a version of mod without this feature pls?

[Okim]

in this case is it possible to get a version of mod without this feature pls?

 

 

Nope. Besides, high level recruits have equipment that is sometimes incompatible with ACM (or in most cases weird).

[Solarius Scorch]

Nope. Besides, high level recruits have equipment that is sometimes incompatible with ACM (or in most cases weird).

 

Hmm, that would explain some issues with rescued officials. (Like the model having two Colts, but in the under his portrait you can see only one.)

 

Is there a way to fix this?

[Okim]

No. Recruits seem to have hardcoded equipment and characteristic files. Simply editing their files in male/female (soldier, seer) folders does nothing.

[alienshooter]

However, when talking about HMGs I meant things like M60, which is completely useless, and it seems a bit like a waste...

I feel that M60 is a bit underpowered too. Compared with M249, it has only slightly better range and accuracy, but much less damage and higher recoil. However, I don't think it's completely useless. At least it's still much more powerful than those "unadvanced" auto rifles (like M4 or HK33). So it seems to me that M60 already serves its purpose.

 

Also, I agree with you that Browning M2 is a bit overpowered. It seems that M2 beats minigun in almost everything except for recoil in 1.3 version.

 

BTW, I feel that SKS is a bit underpowered. Its bayonet does less damage than bullets, so that it's not very useful even in close combat. Plus, even in burst fire mode, M14 still has better range and accuracy than SKS.

 

However, I don't think these are big issues. ACM already has better game balance than most others, and even those "underpowered" weapons are all very cool and fun to play with.

[Okim]

I feel that M60 is a bit underpowered too. Compared with M249, it has only slightly better range and accuracy, but much less damage and higher recoil. However, I don't think it's completely useless. At least it's still much more powerful than those "unadvanced" auto rifles (like M4 or HK33). So it seems to me that M60 already serves its purpose.

 

Also, I agree with you that Browning M2 is a bit overpowered. It seems that M2 beats minigun in almost everything except for recoil in 1.3 version.

 

BTW, I feel that SKS is a bit underpowered. Its bayonet does less damage than bullets, so that it's not very useful even in close combat. Plus, even in burst fire mode, M14 still has better range and accuracy than SKS.

 

However, I don't think these are big issues. ACM already has better game balance than most others, and even those "underpowered" weapons are all very cool and fun to play with.

 

Underpowered weapons are present in the game mostly as a decoration. Most of these rifles are used by less advanced factions such as local humans, cyborgs and cultist (who in fact have mostly ex-soviet and modern Russian arms). This makes tactical combats a bit more interesting.

 

M60 is not underpowered. It has the longest range and the best accuracy amoung basic machineguns. M249 is mostly a close support weapon as its recoil reduces its long burst effectiveness. SKS is good as it can use heavy ap ammo that increases its damage by +20%. With attached accelerator SKS can have damage that can be compared to sniper rifles.

[Cal.50]

since i don't know anything about game mechanics i wouldn't make any suggestions. hope u'll keep looking for way out of this situation form time to time.

 

btw i think FAMAS is too loud. sometimes it even makes me jump up of suddenness...

[Solarius Scorch]

btw i think FAMAS is too loud. sometimes it even makes me jump up of suddenness...

 

On the other hand, Groza has the most pleasant sound in the entire game. I'm not a gun junkie, but this staccato is pure poetry.

[Cal.50]

hello Okim!

 

back to these days i played UFO:AS with ShadoWarrior's mods i remember that there was a certain reason why it was impossible to beat super hero difficulty - too tough start. a lot of enemies with a lot of hp and the great lack of ammo for ret. weapons. it tooks like superhuman efforts to go through it and even greater to survive first skirmish with the cultists.

 

therefore i'd like to ask is it possible to make 'Laputa Factory' (like 'Laputa Lab') to produce reticulan stuff?

[exewon]

Hi I just started a new game with this mod (on newbie difficulty)

And is the game supposed to be this hard (lost 3 of my men on a capture mission)?

[Okim]

Hi I just started a new game with this mod (on newbie difficulty)

And is the game supposed to be this hard (lost 3 of my men on a capture mission)?

 

 

Yes it is. My ACMS are kinda hard to play, at least they are intended to be such.

 

 

About reticulan staff. I was considering an ability to manufacture ret batteries and missiles, but i found no proper way to logically explain why laputians are able to manufacture these.