I made a MOD I call a Mini Patch MOD

[Blashy]

Here is the lowdown, it is actually how I play the game now or my other mod with Historical allied production.

But this MOD's goal is keeping Hubert's default scenario pretty much intact but brings more options to the game.

Available at CMMODS

What it does is add more diversity to the game as more units now have a possible tactical value, heavy bombing strategy, heavy sub warfare, use of rockets and some not so popular techs are now more appealing because of tech limits.

1- USA engineer gets +2 to tank attack, since his fortification ability is of no use I gave them the roll of tank busters. I know USA had some good units who specialized in this.

2- Rockets start equivalent to having level 2 tech, but tech is now limited to 3 levels. So at max level it is equal to level 5 from the default scenario. Now they are useful right from the start and you do not have to wait/hope you get tech level 3+.

3- a) Bombers have 8 strategic attack (instead of 5). I tested this thoroughly and the damage caused by bombing vs. the damage taken by the bomber was simply not worth it, even a level 3 bomber vs. a no AA city was either equal in cost or worse. This opens up the possibility of either side investing in bombers and surprising the enemy if he has no AA tech.

4- Paratroopers, Rockets and Engineers are now equal in cost to Armies. It makes sense, they are not as powerful as an army but cost more (why?), although they have a special ability that brings them to equal level of Armies, certainly not higher in ability (attack/defense) which would mean higher cost.

5- Sub cost at 100. Now the option for a sub strategy is very real possibility and could be lethal should the Allies not be ready.

6- Blitz attack/movement penalty is now +2 instead of +1. This makes the pace of blitzing more realistic, no longer can you just pass through the enemy so easily. Overall it feels more like the blitz I have read in books or seen in documentaries.

7- Mountains now cost +2 action points instead of +1. This change really makes mountains feel like what they are, a major obstacle. Until I raised this I never thought of mountains obstacles, but this gives them their due. They were and even are to this day big problems for armies to cross.

8- Research costs have been modified to make ALL research fields attractive as a possible strategy for ALL major countrie. What I did was start off the price at 25mpps and raised it if needed. Example: Bombers, Italy can only have one bomber, investing in bomber technology is not very appealing, 500mpps for ONE level 5 bomber... well I doubt anyone has interest to invest, so I left the price at 25mpps, UK, USSR and Germany can have 2 bombers the cost is 50mpps while USA with 4 bombers remains at the original 100mpps. IT; UK only has 3 cities, investing 125mpps per level is a waste of money, the cost is now 25mpps, Italy is 50 since it has 5 cities, Germany is next at 75 while USA and USSR remain at 125mpps. Some techs have stayed the same price. Have a look:

9- Research chits now have limits to make tech progression a little more linear and not see L3 IW in 1940, it can still occur but the chances are greatly reduced. L5 techs, max 3 chits can be invested. L3 or lower techs, max 1 chit can be invested.

10- I "fixed" to Urals to have a more realistic geographical look, meaning they have added mountains tile: 133,6 to 133,9 (inclusive). 134,10 and 132,5 .

11- Cruisers now cost 200 too offset to an extent the lower cost of subs.

12- Port Sub Defense bonus is now 6 instead of 2, seeing as how attacking ships in ports was a suicide mission 90% of the time, now it is more in line with this.

13- (AI) I made a change to USA's purchase, research and diplomacy scripts. After a while USA starts to accumulate tons of MPPs and I just want to make sure it uses up as many as possible.

14- Battleships cost now 300 (was 400) and Carriers are 350 (was 450).

I increased purchase scripts by a total of 150% for each trigger, so a 10% trigger is now 25%.

I increased research and diplomacy by 50%.

[ June 05, 2007, 05:39 PM: Message edited by: Blashy ]

[n0kn0k]

Interesting I totally agree on the Rocket view. They are pretty useless atm in the game.

[purger]

It sounds very interesting.

But CMMODS is down.

Could you mail me your mod?

Thanks in advance

purger27@vip.hr

[Hubert Cater]

Great stuff Blash

[Blashy]

While CMMODS is down if you want to give it a spin send me an email asking for it.

blashy@gmail.com

[JerseyJohn]

Blashy, sounds really interesting.

I'll give CMMODS another couple of days as I'm kind of backed up on other things, and hopefully it will be downloadable again. If not, I'll drop you a line asking for it. Thanks for posting the email link.

[SeaMonkey]

Blashy, send me your mod...please and I hope by God by now you have an artillery icon replacing that blasted rocket one.

[ChrisND]

Hey Blashy, I am in 1943 as the Axis and the game is fun so far.. I am playing +50% and +1 exp, I am holding my own but I am sure the worst is yet to come.

One big difference is that the AI appears with more techs than in the standard game, since it has more money to throw around. I would also recommend an even more varied and aggressive Allied diplomacy system if you haven't already implemented one.

[Blashy]

I have not touched anything except what I posted.

I want to keep this campaign as true to Hubert's default scenario, but making all units a possible options (well except for surface vessels...) .

The AI purchasing scripts has a few flaws but Edwin has a few AI purchasing scripts that are interesting and I will implement them in all my scenarios. I will post when the update is made.

The flaw in the AI is how it purchases, to a point where it accumulate 1000s of MPPs that could be used up.

[Blashy]

Latest version is at CMMODS.

I had forgotten to change the range of rockets for v1.06 . Fixed now.

Thanks to Rannug for the heads up.

[n0kn0k]

Originally posted by Blashy:

The flaw in the AI is how it purchases, to a point where it accumulate 1000s of MPPs that could be used up.

Noticed that also. But can't that be easily solved by upping the percentages a bit ?

[Blashy]

Yes, Edwin is making some scripts regarding this and I hope I can steal them from him and insert them into mine, hehe.

[Blashy]

I've mod some significant changes that IMHO has really improved the game: www.cmmods.com

The goal of this MOD is adding more diversity to the game as more units now have a possible tactical value, heavy bombing strategy, heavy sub warfare, use of rockets and some not so popular techs are now more appealing because the price of techs has been modified for each country.

1- USA engineer gets +2 to tank attack, since his fortification ability is of no use I gave them the roll of tank busters. I know USA had some good units who specialized in this.

2- Rockets start equivalent to having level 2 tech, but tech is now limited to 3 levels. So at max level it is equal to level 5 from the default scenario. Now they are useful right from the start and you do not have to wait/hope you get tech level 3+.

3- Bombers have +3 to strategic attack. I tested this thoroughly and the damage caused by bombing vs. the damage taken by the bomber was simply not worth it, even a level 3 bomber vs. a no AA city was either equal in cost or worse. This opens up the possibility of either side investing in bombers and surprising the enemy if he has no AA tech.

4- Paratroopers, Rockets and Engineers are now equal in cost to Armies. It makes sense, they are not as powerful as an army but cost more (why?), although they have a special ability that brings them to equal level of Armies, certainly not higher in ability (attack/defense) which would mean higher cost.

5- Sub cost at 100. Now the option for a sub strategy is very real possibility and could be lethal should the Allies not be ready.

6- Anti Submarine Warfare cost is now 50 instead of 100, this is to obviously counter the lower sub cost.

7- L3 or less techs are limited to 1 chit while L5 techs are limited to 3 chits. Which in turn can make Intelligence tech more enticing. This one is the most fun of all IMHO. The tech progression has a more historical feel yet sometimes one gets lucky in one area and it can make things exciting.

8- Blitz attack/movement penalty is now +2 instead of +1. This makes the pace of blitzing more realistic, no longer can you just pass through the enemy so easily. Overall it feels more like the blitz I have read in books or seen in documentaries.

9- Mountains now cost +2 action points instead of +1. This change really makes mountains feel like what they are, a major obstacle. Until I raised this I never thought of mountains obstacles, but this gives them their due. They were and even are to this day big problems for armies to cross.

10- Research costs have been modified to make ALL research fields attractive as a possible strategy for ALL major countries. What I did was start off the price at 25mpps and raised it if needed. Example: Bombers, Italy can only have one bomber, investing in bomber technology is not very appealing, 500mpps for ONE level 5 bomber... well I doubt anyone has interest to invest, so I left the price at 25mpps, UK, USSR and Germany can have 2 bombers the cost is 50mpps while USA with 4 bombers remains at the original 100mpps. IT; UK only has 3 cities, investing 125mpps per level is a waste of money, the cost is now 25mpps, Italy is 50 since it has 5 cities, Germany is next at 75 while USA and USSR remain at 125mpps. Some techs have stayed the same price. Have a look via the editor if you wish or in game for all the changes.

11- The AI no longer accumulates tons of MPPs, I've double the chances it purchases and so far it has looked pretty good. NOTE: You still need to play at hardest setting for a good challenge .

[ChrisND]

Good job Blashy, I only play your mod with the AI now! Anyone want to play a game of it PvP with me?

[SeaMonkey]

I would ND, but we already have a game. If I make it into the second round(doubtful) I want to play this mod with my opponent, forget Fall Weiss, its getting a little long in the tooth.

Way to go Blashy!

[Moonslayer]

@Blashy

Spooky that I have just finished 2 days of solid play on your old version of this mod then you go and update it

Looks like the rest of the Easter weekend is taken care of then!

Incidentally your mod is great... I played on expert +2 and the AI gave me a run for my money. It wasn't over for sure until well into 1945 when the west wall collapsed and russia finally reclaimed it's first city. Great stuff!

[Blashy]

I'm glad you enjoy it.

I just made a change to USA's purchase, research and diplomacy scripts. After a while USA starts to accumulate tons of MPPs and I just want to make sure it uses up as many as possible.

I increased purchas scripts by a total of 150% for each trigger, so a 10% trigger is now 25%.

I increased research and diplomacy by 50%.

And I "fixed" to Urals to have a more realistic geographical look, meaning they have added mountains tile: 133,6 to 133,9 (inclusive). 134,10 and 132,5 .

Let me know if USA accumulates tons of mpps if you play Axis or any other major country.

[SeaMonkey]

Hey Blashy, did you ever do anything about the cost of naval repairs?

IMO, it is too expensive to keep the naval warfare going, perhaps if we could get Hubert to only allow a one strength reinforcement repair per turn per docked fleet at a cheap rate, it would be more realistic.

[Blashy]

The only thing I could do is make the price of units cheaper.

But with ASW only 50mpps and it can make quick work of subs even if they are only 100mpps.

If the Axis player goes all out on subs and Allies are well prepared, it will end up with Allies roaming the high seas.

In terms of ship to ship battles, it can indeed end up in one big battle or two. But historically, this is what pretty much occurred. So I find that ok, I can say that in the future you will be please with what Hubert has planned. Sorry can't say more ... NDA .

[SeaMonkey]

Thanks Blashy, as I agree with your assessment there's not much to elaborate on. My perspective was one on more patroling and single unit engagements which obviously don't happen often in SC2.

Speculating on what HC may have in the future, I can see where surface raiders would contribute to my perspective. We can only hope.

What is truly astounding is that Hubert continues to dabble with the SC2 features, its amazing!

What a value the SC series has turned out to be, a credit to the developer's committment, a most refreshing and rare commodity nowadays.

Hubert, can I make a charitable contribution on your behalf?

[Hubert Cater]

Absolutely, just by continuing to support and purchase game releases is charitable enough for me

[Armuss]

Meybe (?):

1. USA Engineers +2TA and +2TD cost+50MP.

2. All strong Army (Germany, UK, Finland...) cost+25MP, weak Italy Army cost-25MP.

[Blashy]

+2 TA to engineers is simply to give them something to compensate since they will not use their fortification. So they do not need an extra cost.

[Armuss]

OK:)

Your Mod = Official 1.06a Patch?

(Hubert Cater accepted?)

[Blashy]

Its not official but I did name it mini patch because the goal is to keep it in line with Hubert's default campaign of making the game 50-50.

But I find the default campaign has too many possible options that can not be done because of them having no appeal (too costly, etc...) or tactical value.