Hard Campaign (Modified Levels.txt)
Jan 11, 2017 3:24:05 GMT
apophys, SevenOfCarina, and 9 more like this
Post by Rocket Witch on Jan 11, 2017 3:24:05 GMT
I imagine some sort of scenario editor is in the works already, so I haven't put this in suggestions.
The idea here is to make the fleet combats more intense by recomposing and reinforcing the enemy fleets. Core designs continue to be used — the changes are meant to be stock-balanced so that custom ship designs using only core modules can still tackle the levels. This is simply because no reasonable amount of stock ships can withstand player designs and I don't want to make this a complex mod that includes a bunch of blueprints; also in my opinion the core/stock meta offers the most enjoyable gameplay (though it could still be cheesed with advanced armour layouts and is missing ammo modules for the 120mm and 1200mm guns, plus refuellers for some of the propellants used).
Big thank you to qswitched for making all the game files so accessible.
Changelist
Retaking Ceres: Customisation enabled, per a line in the briefing that claims the player's fleet is customisable (and just for fun). Laser Skiff added to improve the enemy's point defences, since normally a one-two punch of Flak Missiles to the Laser Frigate followed by drones to take out the rest of the fleet provides a very simple means of completion. The heat signature of the Laser Skiff is low enough to be concealed by decoys, in theory (in practice only the Beamcraft is cold enough while firing, but it can't destroy missiles).
Main Belt Extraction: No changes to the enemy fleet — I don't know if this will affect the mission scripting, and the story isn't very permissive of a larger enemy force in this mission. Default allied fleet changed to a Laser Skiff and a Raider to increase difficulty by lowering the mass and cost limit (which is determined automatically by the default fleet's parameters rounded up to the nearest 100t & 10Mc).
Vesta Overkill: Marauder added (I think it suits Ms. Overkill).
On the Surface of Giants: The Methane Depot is now defended by a Sentinel. I thought of using the Laser Station for this but it wouldn't be a consistent threat since it lacks all-round weapons coverage and stations can't reorient to face incoming opponents.
Solar Ties: Missile Schooner and extra Cutter added; Corvette replaced with Gunship. This should really feel like NP are throwing everything they have at Venus, since their defeat here is a major blow, and at least for myself the increased mass limit made this mission much easier than Vesta Overkill.
Dusk Over Triton: Orbital Attack Craft and Orbital Defense Craft added to first fleet. Ranger added to second fleet. Some small capitals to make the fleets look less bizzarely overspecialised considering they represent the majority of the USTA presence around Neptune.
The Jovian Lunar Tour: Position of one Marauder swapped with the Cutter to make enemy composition more balanced.
The Fall of Titan: The enemy fleet is now composed of two Fleet Carriers, two Missile Schooners, two Rangers, one Solar Lance. A grand finale with a massive wall of crap flying at you as soon as you come near Titan.
I've included the file as an attachment since the code is huge. Levels.txt is the modified version. Backup.txt is the original version in case you need it.
Suggestions for improvement are welcome as I haven't playtested this.
The idea here is to make the fleet combats more intense by recomposing and reinforcing the enemy fleets. Core designs continue to be used — the changes are meant to be stock-balanced so that custom ship designs using only core modules can still tackle the levels. This is simply because no reasonable amount of stock ships can withstand player designs and I don't want to make this a complex mod that includes a bunch of blueprints; also in my opinion the core/stock meta offers the most enjoyable gameplay (though it could still be cheesed with advanced armour layouts and is missing ammo modules for the 120mm and 1200mm guns, plus refuellers for some of the propellants used).
Big thank you to qswitched for making all the game files so accessible.
Changelist
Retaking Ceres: Customisation enabled, per a line in the briefing that claims the player's fleet is customisable (and just for fun). Laser Skiff added to improve the enemy's point defences, since normally a one-two punch of Flak Missiles to the Laser Frigate followed by drones to take out the rest of the fleet provides a very simple means of completion. The heat signature of the Laser Skiff is low enough to be concealed by decoys, in theory (in practice only the Beamcraft is cold enough while firing, but it can't destroy missiles).
Main Belt Extraction: No changes to the enemy fleet — I don't know if this will affect the mission scripting, and the story isn't very permissive of a larger enemy force in this mission. Default allied fleet changed to a Laser Skiff and a Raider to increase difficulty by lowering the mass and cost limit (which is determined automatically by the default fleet's parameters rounded up to the nearest 100t & 10Mc).
Vesta Overkill: Marauder added (I think it suits Ms. Overkill).
On the Surface of Giants: The Methane Depot is now defended by a Sentinel. I thought of using the Laser Station for this but it wouldn't be a consistent threat since it lacks all-round weapons coverage and stations can't reorient to face incoming opponents.
Solar Ties: Missile Schooner and extra Cutter added; Corvette replaced with Gunship. This should really feel like NP are throwing everything they have at Venus, since their defeat here is a major blow, and at least for myself the increased mass limit made this mission much easier than Vesta Overkill.
Dusk Over Triton: Orbital Attack Craft and Orbital Defense Craft added to first fleet. Ranger added to second fleet. Some small capitals to make the fleets look less bizzarely overspecialised considering they represent the majority of the USTA presence around Neptune.
The Jovian Lunar Tour: Position of one Marauder swapped with the Cutter to make enemy composition more balanced.
The Fall of Titan: The enemy fleet is now composed of two Fleet Carriers, two Missile Schooners, two Rangers, one Solar Lance. A grand finale with a massive wall of crap flying at you as soon as you come near Titan.
I've included the file as an attachment since the code is huge. Levels.txt is the modified version. Backup.txt is the original version in case you need it.
Suggestions for improvement are welcome as I haven't playtested this.