Thanks for downloading this mod. This mod attempts to make the single player experience Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain more challenging through a variety of tweaks.

PRE-INSTALLATION
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PLEASE NOTE: You may want to backup your save files (you should find a local copy of your save files under \Steam\userdata\[your user number]\287700 AND Steam\userdata\[your user number]\311340 - search for 287700 and 311340 if you can't find it and back up this folder somewhere) just in case. There have been no reported problems, but it never hurts to be safe.

*311340 is actually Ground Zeroes, but for some reason Steam saves the backups here even if you never owned nor played Ground Zeroes.

You should definately find and backup your 00.dat file (the file you will be altering for the mod) which is found here:
\Steam\steamapps\common\MGS_TPP\master\0\00.dat


INSTALLATION
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To install this mod you need the latest version of the QAR tool found here:
http://www.nexusmods.com/phantompain/mods/13/?

Step 1
Use that tool to extract the 00.dat file in your metal gear directory under the 0 (zero) subfolder found here:
\Steam\steamapps\common\MGS_TPP\master\0\00.dat

To extract you just drag 00.dat onto the MSGV_QAR_Tool.exe file.

Step 2
After that is extracted add my included files overwriting the originals.

STEP 3
Using notepad++ you will need to add the following lines to the 00.inf file created by the QAR Tool:

18e79375763ab913|00\Tpp\Scripts\Equip\EquipParameters.lua key=0 version=0 compressed=0
ed536ac413794307|00\Assets\tpp\pack\player\game_object\single_player_game_obj.fpkd key=0 version=0 compressed=1
18e290cbdda48b0e|00\Assets\tpp\level_asset\chara\enemy\Soldier2ParameterTables.lua key=0 version=0 compressed=0
18e3e671d3cd34b6|00\Assets\tpp\level_asset\chara\player\game_object\player2_camouf_param.lua key=0 version=0 compressed=0

Step 4
After you add those lines repack the 00.dat file by dragging the 00.inf file onto the MSGV_QAR_Tool.exe file.

Step 5
Launch game and enjoy!


GAMEPLAY CHANGES
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1) VISION: All vision ranges for enemies are extended approximately +50%. Even just casual patroling at night they can still spot you at a fair range. A good rule of thumb is they can see you almost as well as you can see them. Camouflage, stealth and weather play a MUCH larger factor in you not triggering their suspicions.

This may need to be tweaked in the future because even the Afghanastan basic soldiers are really good at spotting you at a distance now especially during the day.

2) HEARING: Soldiers have a nominal increase in hearing. They can hear very loud noises like unsilenced gunshots and explosions much further. They can also hear loud noises like fultoning, running and D-Dog's barking much further. No more fultoning right behind someone's back as there is a good chance they will hear it (I always hated that the guy literally SCREAMS when he's pulled into the air, but his buddies blissfully walk away)

For sneaking the values are roughly the same, but when investigating guards can notice you from almost double the distance (before they had to approach to right under 10 meters and you had to fail the camo check). You can still get within striking distance by crouch walking or using the sneaking suit, but no more walking directly up to someone. If you get right next to them they will spin around startled and spot you.

3) SUBDUAL: Enemies wake up faster (about 50% faster) from being knocked out or stunned. This puts more pressure on you to either permanently dispose of them or get the job done quicker (which is not easy considering thier improved alertness).

4) WEATHER: The weather plays a much heavier role in reducing enemy detection ranges. Sandstorms severly limit their detection ability (unless they are wearing goggles). Fog severly limits their detection ranges bringing levels to around the vanilla values. Rainstorms *slightly* hamper enemy hearing and range. Even cloudy weather will have a tiny influence on overall vision range (but not angle of vision nor hearing) due to the lower amount of direct sunlight or moonlight.

Weather effectiveness is now basically = sandstorm > fog > rain > cloudy weather.

Note that in the vanilla game rain and cloudy weather has NO adjustments (surprising as I thought rain might be more helpful)

5) HEALTH and DAMAGE: the player and enemies have roughly the same health now and are affected by damage in the same manner. Health regeneration takes longer to kick in and is very, very, very slow. (there were issues with removing health regeneration completely so please don't ask me to remove it totally)

6) AMMUNITION: All guns and gear have had ammo reduced by around half. This varies slightly by weapon / item, but as a rule of thumb Snake will have 4 clips of ammo for most weapons. Carried gear is cut to around half the original values and increasing the levels gives around half the benefit (adding only +1 to +2 additional ammounts). So for example hand grenades start with a max of 2 and when fully researched give a max of 6.

This should help encourage more tactical use of resources and gathering ammo in the field, but you can of course call in resupply drops if you are willing to spend the GMP and resources.

The empty magazine gimmick has been changed from infinite ammo to have 6 uses. It will be restocked if you call in more supplies.


7) CAMOUFLAGE: Camo gives a SLIGHT improvement to hiding and moving slowly over the appropriate terrain types. It has more of an impact then it did in vanilla, but this is still very slight overall and works best at far distances, in low light, when not moving/crouching, etc.

By virtue of the games stealth system it will ALWAYS be much more effective for you to crouch, lay down, crawl, stay in shadows and so forth. Camo has the smallest impact on stealth overall, but it's always best to stack the deck in your favor so wearing the right camo WILL help you. There will be times when an enemy would not spot you wearing the correct camo when they defnately would spot you if you were wearing the stealth suit or battledress so there is some tradeoff there.

Again camo works best when used in conjunction with all other methods of hiding.

Most camos have generally been given additional minor benefits to work in multiple terrains so that they can be used in either theatre of combat (Afghanastan or Africa) however each one still has an area it excels in and gives the most bonus for.

Here's how camo works in the hardcore mod:

* OLIVE DRAB: a good basic camo for most outdoor situtations. Works everywhere Woodland (plants/scrub) or Wetwork (swamps/marshess) is effective, BUT both of those camos are BETTER than Olive Drab in their respective environments.
BEST USE = Good cheap camo that works wherever there is plants or trees in both combat areas.

* SPLITTER: in addition to working while in vehicles and gun emplacements splitter gives a minor bonus where Olive Drab would. Meaning Splitter is more useful than Olive Drab, but Olive Drab has a slight improvement over Splitter in outdoor environments.
Overall both Splitter and Olive Drab are outshined by other more specific camos.
BEST USE = Driving vehicles or sitting in AA gun about to unleash hell upon your foes.

* SQUARE: just as in vanilla Square offers good camouflage in areas of metal and concrete thus it works well in bases however at close quarters you will be better served by not being seen at all. You'll have to decide between Square or Stealth Suit for moving around urban environments.
BEST USE = inside of bases where there is lots of concrete and metal.

* TIGER STRIPE: Works on rocky terrains just as it did in vanilla.
BEST USE = If you are going to lay on rocks and observe outposts then this is the camo for you.

* GOLDEN TIGER: In vanilla this camo literally works on only one terrain - the red soil. Since Africa has such a huge diversity of terrain it makes the usefulness of this camo extremely situational there and almost useless in Afghanistan. Now in addition to being excellent on red soil it combines the benfits of Tiger Stripe (rocky) and Wetworks (marshes/swamps), but is far less effective than either of those in their respective environments. This camo is now ok to use in either Africa or Afghanistan, but still really shines when used on the red soil (and is the only camo that gives you this benefit).
BEST USES = Red soil

* DESERT FOX: Just as in vanilla this camo works on sand and soil making it useful when traversing roads and open areas although with improved vision ranges this can be dangerous if you are not careful.
BEST USES = Sand and dirt.

* ANIMALS: Oddly this camo combines the benefits of woodlands with desert fox. Unusal given the camos garish appearance (which is decidely eighties ;). I've decided to leave this as it is although it's effectiveness is now less than either of those camos in their respective environments.
BEST USES = It's still usefull, but lets be honest - it's really just a fashion statement!

* WOODLANDS and WETWORK = both have better effectiveness than vanilla in their respective environments. Wetlands being the most expensive camo is now even more versatile and gives minor bonus is a wider range of settings (sand, soil, plants, etc.). Woodlands works best in plants and scrub, but does confer very minor benefits in swamps and marhes. Between the two Woodlands offers the best benefit among plants while Wetworks can be used in a much broader area and works better in swampy areas.
BEST USES = Woodland for Afghanistan. Wetworks for Africa. Although either can be used worldwide.

Quick recap and comparison:
Olive Drab (100 GMP) = Good among plants/scrub and in swamps/marshes. Useless elsewhere.
Tiger (200 GMP) = Very good on rocky terrains. Not useful elsewhere.
Desert Fox (300 GMP) = Very good on sand/dirt. Poor on rocky terrain. No benefit for plants or swamps.
Splitter (700 GMP) = Good in vehicles/gun emplacements. Poor among plants/scrubs and in swamps/marshes. Useless elsewhere.
Golden Tiger (800 GMP) = Very good on red soil. Poor on rocky terrain and in swamps/marshes.
Animals (800 GMP) = Good among plants or on sand/dirt. No benefit in rocky terrain or swamps.
Woodlands (900 GMP) = Very good among plants. Poor in swamps. No benefits elsewhere.
Square (1700 GMP) = Very good on concrete/metal. Absolutely no benefits out in the wilderness.
Wetworks (1900 GMP) = Very good in swamps/marshes. Poor when in plants or on dirt/soil. Covers the widest range of terrains.



CREDITS
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JRavens - mod author
Sergeanur - QAR tools to pack and unpack MGS files.

Thank you for downloading and trying this mod!

Please check out my other mods at www.Facebook.com/FarCryMods or http://farcrymods.freeforums.net/
Featuring mods for Far Cry 3/4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and other games!