0 of 0
About this mod
SHOCK is a gameplay overhaul for Prey (2017) that aims to enhance the game's RPG elements, survival horror atmosphere and scarce resource management. Abilities, loot, crafting and player progression have been extensively reworked to allow for interesting character builds, more meaningful decisions and a greater sense of challenge to overcome.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
- Donations
Discord: Buzbee#1159
Background
Spoiler:
Show
This mod is a total overhaul of Prey. It makes abilities more interesting, resources more scarce, chipsets more powerful and the enemies of the station more frightening. It is designed with my favorite game in mind- System Shock 2- which is also the spiritual predecessor to Prey.
Why
Spoiler:
Show
Why make this mod? Prey has identity issues. On one hand, its inspired by System Shock 2, Deus Ex and Thief- all of which are excellent titles that reviewed well or became cult classics later in life. Unfortunately, these types of games (often coined immersive sims) don't sell very well for a variety of reasons, and Prey has it uniquely worse than the others- its name has absolutely nothing to do with any immersive sim or "shock" style of game, despite Neuroshock being a clear choice for the game's title.
It affects gameplay, too. Upon browsing the game's files and cut content, it's clear how much Prey was changed before launch to appeal to a broader audience. Traumas were disabled, weapons were made unbreakable and fabrication licenses were made infinite. Mechanics like neuromod abilities, chipsets and guns were either so overpowered as to disincentivize creativity or so underpowered that you barely clock them as new additions to your character.
In truth, Prey is an excellent game needs a lot of tweaking and attention. Most major mechanics need and have received an overhaul- specific changes are described below.
It affects gameplay, too. Upon browsing the game's files and cut content, it's clear how much Prey was changed before launch to appeal to a broader audience. Traumas were disabled, weapons were made unbreakable and fabrication licenses were made infinite. Mechanics like neuromod abilities, chipsets and guns were either so overpowered as to disincentivize creativity or so underpowered that you barely clock them as new additions to your character.
In truth, Prey is an excellent game needs a lot of tweaking and attention. Most major mechanics need and have received an overhaul- specific changes are described below.
Changes
Spoiler:
Show
Balancing
Spoiler:
Show
Morgan is no longer a jack of all trades. While your health and general durability remains mostly the same, other characteristics like jumping, swinging the wrench and sprinting are noticeably harder at the start of the game. You begin with no ability to cast Psi, zero chipset slots and an inability to sneak attack. Typhon and operators have loot locked behind abilities and you can't upgrade weapons without Modify.
Ability choices are far more impactful. The first rank of each ability brings Morgan back in line with vanilla- Stealth I unlocks sneak attack, Modify I unlocks weapon upgrading, Psi I unlocks Typhon power casting, etc. These bonuses can be significant, too- Endurance I doubles food healing overtime, Agility I lets you run twice as long and Strength I adds carry capacity, along with multiple other benefits for each ability.
Specialization is rewarding. The final abilities in each tree have steep Neuromod costs that also come with game changing additions. Agility III doubles your jump height and makes you swing the wrench so fast you can batter enemies around like flies. Endurance III allows you to shrug off traumas, Strength III makes you hit like a truck and capable of carrying everything you'll ever want while Psi III gives you significant Psi regeneration.
Craft a unique build for every playthrough. Combining Strength III, Endurance III and Agility III makes the player an unstoppable god of martial combat... yet Hack, Repair, Stealth, or Psi will likely be too expensive on top of that. A jack of all trades character takes advantage of many distinct tools, but might struggle to take down larger foes that require one specific resource. For a good time, do a Psi character with Research.
Ability choices are far more impactful. The first rank of each ability brings Morgan back in line with vanilla- Stealth I unlocks sneak attack, Modify I unlocks weapon upgrading, Psi I unlocks Typhon power casting, etc. These bonuses can be significant, too- Endurance I doubles food healing overtime, Agility I lets you run twice as long and Strength I adds carry capacity, along with multiple other benefits for each ability.
Specialization is rewarding. The final abilities in each tree have steep Neuromod costs that also come with game changing additions. Agility III doubles your jump height and makes you swing the wrench so fast you can batter enemies around like flies. Endurance III allows you to shrug off traumas, Strength III makes you hit like a truck and capable of carrying everything you'll ever want while Psi III gives you significant Psi regeneration.
Craft a unique build for every playthrough. Combining Strength III, Endurance III and Agility III makes the player an unstoppable god of martial combat... yet Hack, Repair, Stealth, or Psi will likely be too expensive on top of that. A jack of all trades character takes advantage of many distinct tools, but might struggle to take down larger foes that require one specific resource. For a good time, do a Psi character with Research.
Combat
Spoiler:
Melee combat is more fleshed out. Strength reflects your damage per swing, Endurance governs your total damage potential and Agility reflects how quickly you expend this potential. Going for Str I, End III and Agi I gives you a huge gas tank, but low damage and slow strikes. Str III, End I, Agi III, on the other hand, gives you a brutally strong, ridiculously fast striker that will run out of stamina in seconds.
Weapons have been rebalanced. The strategic niche of each weapon has been defined more clearly- the Stungun and Gloogun are less interchangeable, the Shotgun has far less capacity and the Q-Beam now significantly ramps up in damage overtime. Mimics aren't blown away so easily by the 9mm and status effects like Gloo and Stun have been toned down.
Weapon modifications are more exciting. Every rank of a weapon modification provides a unique feature and is connected to each rank of Modify. Modifications are playstyle changing or rewarding, like the Pistol losing less damage to drop-off, the Stungun gaining flat out double damage as a final upgrade or the Q-Beam setting things on fire. No longer will the standard be "+10/20/30/40% damage" or whatever Arkane cooked up on bring your child to work day.
Show
Melee combat is more fleshed out. Strength reflects your damage per swing, Endurance governs your total damage potential and Agility reflects how quickly you expend this potential. Going for Str I, End III and Agi I gives you a huge gas tank, but low damage and slow strikes. Str III, End I, Agi III, on the other hand, gives you a brutally strong, ridiculously fast striker that will run out of stamina in seconds.
Weapons have been rebalanced. The strategic niche of each weapon has been defined more clearly- the Stungun and Gloogun are less interchangeable, the Shotgun has far less capacity and the Q-Beam now significantly ramps up in damage overtime. Mimics aren't blown away so easily by the 9mm and status effects like Gloo and Stun have been toned down.
Weapon modifications are more exciting. Every rank of a weapon modification provides a unique feature and is connected to each rank of Modify. Modifications are playstyle changing or rewarding, like the Pistol losing less damage to drop-off, the Stungun gaining flat out double damage as a final upgrade or the Q-Beam setting things on fire. No longer will the standard be "+10/20/30/40% damage" or whatever Arkane cooked up on bring your child to work day.
Psionics
Spoiler:
Overpowered Psi powers are more balanced. Taking higher level Psychoshock powers now unlocks targeting new, stronger enemies rather than just granting higher damage or nullwave, making it still feel strong while no longer being an immediate, game-winning tool. Kinetic Blast now deals physical damage, not explosive (dealt 2x damage to most enemies), making Superthermal and Electrostatic Burst actually viable powers. Show
Weaker Psi powers are now really fun. Phantom Shift III lets you teleport incredibly cheaply with 95% cooldown reduction, letting you have intense teleport duels with Phantoms and unparalleled psionic mobility. Mimic Matter is more fun with Research as you eliminate the Psi cost and can transform without worry. Remote Manipulation is a joy with 95% cooldown reduction, 25 meter range and a potential for zero Psi cost. Backlash is ridiculously customizable with Research, letting you lose the fear for a cheaper Psi cost, double the fear duration and/or explode attackers who strike you for a greater Psi cost.
Psi powers can be enhanced by the Research ability. Research allows you to loot chipsets from Typhon, which change how their respective Psi powers function. Mimic Matter and Remote Manipulation can lose their initial Psi costs, Superthermal can deal a chunk of irresistable damage at a higher cost, Mindjack and Machine Mind can subjugate targets forever, Electrostatic Burst can trade stun duration to become a nuke. Higher level Research grants access to more powerful chipsets, but also more chipset slots, creating a good motivator to kill Typhon and get your greasy chipset fix.
Typhon powers are merged with passive effects. Later ranks of each elemental Typhon power grant a respective elemental or status immunity. These elemental immunities are insane. You can stand next to an electrical outlet with Electrostatic Burst III and take no damage, while Superthermal III lets you cast fire traps directly on your person at no cost. Some Psi powers lower their costs in later ranks as a passive effect instead, like Lift Field, Kinetic Blast, Phantom Shift and Remote Manipulation.
World
Spoiler:
Show
Fabrication licenses are no longer infinite. They now spawn on the appropriate human corpses and rarely in appropriate containers. Neuromod fab plans are found on Technopaths due to their tech hoarding nature and ammunition plans can be found on security personnel. This change means you cannot fabricate Neuromods to excess and cannot overpower the game with the sheer quantity of your ammunition... more changes to this in the coming update.
Looting enemies is more significant. Operators drop Spare Parts for free, but all other loot is locked behind Repair. Likewise, Typhon are impossible to loot without the Research skill, which grants access to unique chipsets based on the Typhon you retrieved them from. Playing without Research or Repair feels like a significant choice, as you are forgoing certain materials.
Loot is far more varied. Since regular players won't know this, vanilla Prey uses a lot of guaranteed loot tables- a 90% chance of 1 specific item spawning. This mod works differently. Instead, there is a 10% chance of 1 item spawning from a list of 18. This 10% chance is then duplicated 9 times, meaning a boring "guaranteed" container can now have anywhere from 0-9 completely distinct items, different every playthrough.
Loot is more scarce. Despite the variety, loot has been trimmed down too. Corpses and containers are far more likely to be flat out empty or simply containing one item. Fabrication yields have been cut in half, meaning junk items are worth less than in vanilla, but actually feel more appropriate. Hand placed items are being edited currently, but present versions of this mod do not touch items outside of containers.
Looting enemies is more significant. Operators drop Spare Parts for free, but all other loot is locked behind Repair. Likewise, Typhon are impossible to loot without the Research skill, which grants access to unique chipsets based on the Typhon you retrieved them from. Playing without Research or Repair feels like a significant choice, as you are forgoing certain materials.
Loot is far more varied. Since regular players won't know this, vanilla Prey uses a lot of guaranteed loot tables- a 90% chance of 1 specific item spawning. This mod works differently. Instead, there is a 10% chance of 1 item spawning from a list of 18. This 10% chance is then duplicated 9 times, meaning a boring "guaranteed" container can now have anywhere from 0-9 completely distinct items, different every playthrough.
Loot is more scarce. Despite the variety, loot has been trimmed down too. Corpses and containers are far more likely to be flat out empty or simply containing one item. Fabrication yields have been cut in half, meaning junk items are worth less than in vanilla, but actually feel more appropriate. Hand placed items are being edited currently, but present versions of this mod do not touch items outside of containers.
Changelog
Spoiler:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fJNknt8ywzwnfmFbt8jfiPbZ7fvznK1ht2MIYDTR69E/editShow
Installation
Spoiler:
Show
1. Download the mod from the files tab. You will receive a file called "SHOCK" with a series of number followed by the file type, which is a zip file. Example: "SHOCK-38-1-5-1-1649805268.zip".
2. Once you have this, you need to unzip the file to take out what is inside of it. This requires the program 7-Zip, Winrar or another equivalent. 7-Zip is free, and it's what I recommend: https://www.7-zip.org/
3. Once you've opened the zip file with 7-Zip (right click, open with, search for 7-Zip), you should find the file "patch_SHOCK.pak."
2. Once you have this, you need to unzip the file to take out what is inside of it. This requires the program 7-Zip, Winrar or another equivalent. 7-Zip is free, and it's what I recommend: https://www.7-zip.org/
3. Once you've opened the zip file with 7-Zip (right click, open with, search for 7-Zip), you should find the file "patch_SHOCK.pak."
4. You then need to find your Prey game folder, which for most people is in their C: drive. If you bought the game on Steam it's likely under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Prey".
5. Once you've found the Prey folder, go into the GameSDK folder. You do not require 7-Zip to open these folders- just click. Then, inside GameSDK, you will find the Precache folder.
6. Precache is where you put most mods. You have to then take the "patch_SHOCK.pak" file from earlier and drop it into this folder. You can just drag the .pak file from the 7-Zip interface right into the folder like any other item. Be sure to drag the .pak file and not the .zip file- the .pak file is the actual mod, the .zip is just a sausage casing.
6. Once it's in, you start Prey up and make a new save. New saves are required for most major updates, but bugfixes are generally not disruptive to an ongoing playthrough.
Compatibility
Spoiler:
Show
Currently, this mod is compatible with mods that don't affect gameplay. Mods like Real Lights Ultra are currently incompatible, though this will change in the future.
Credits
Spoiler:
Show
Thanks to DeepEuphoria for fixing multiple nasty bugs.
Thanks to Czartchonn for suggesting that Operators should only remove traumas.
Thanks to Czartchonn for suggesting that Operators should only remove traumas.