Sadly no way to make the neuromod upgrades reset every run? I hate the "game gets easier every run" mechanics, you can choose not to buy anything but never installing any neuromods kills half the game...
Sadly, I think it's impossible to change that. At least, I couldn't figure out a way to do it. I wish I could have just increased Neuromodspawns and reset all Neuromods every run.
I started a new file using this mod and it's been very fun. I did have to download the Easier Timer and I'm still struggling to escape with more than one character. I do have some feedback:
-Did you remove the fabrication plan for the Time Delay? Or am I just that unlucky? -I think the Weavers drop way too many Cystoids and those little sh*ts are now the number 1 reason why I keep dying. -Even with the Easier Timer, I still think it's too fast. I don't really have time to hunt down Typhon or explore secret areas. It's just a speedrun the whole way through. -Is the mod supposed to have 2 Moonsharks spawn in the crater? Because that's insane! lol -If you ever decide to change the prices for items, please keep EMPs at 1000sp. They're a great little add-on for Typhon Gates. -Is there a way to make the mule NOT the default right-click option? I've accidentally spawned him so many times because I forget to switch to a different character ability.
I'm still working my way through the character stories, which has proved to be VERY difficult, but I've been having a blast.
- yes I did remove the time delay fabrication. You need to hunt down typhon to survive. - in the base game, weavers are a joke. You can just push them with a shot gun. Now you can't do this any more without an artrax and precise movement. If you dash at the right time, the cystodis explode, but you are out of their range. Of course, you can just shoot them from a distance, then they are still safe to kill. - The speedrun feeling was what I went for, but timer changes are easy to make. I uploaded an Easy Easier Timer and the timer of the vanilla game. - Lol wtf. I never had this happen to me. Probably a side effect of the increased threat levels I set, but sadly there is no way to control the spawning of individual enemies. - Noted. More feedback on the prices is always welcome. I never buy anything because it feels like cheating to me, so I don't know what feels fair for people that do want to buy stuff. - No there's sadly now way
Being honest my biggest issue with this mod is how crazy, insanely sensitive Phantoms are now. I have them seeing me through walls if I run within 30 feet of them, and that is a huge pain given how incredibly difficult they are to fight. The Phantoms are more of a problem than ever. I think you tweaked it too far.
I also think a few items seem TOO costly.
To add to this: I think the new timer is a tad too fast. I don't know if the times work out to be the same, but it feels far, far faster than the original timer and I feel like I can't sit and think for even a minute which is kinda a problem given how often the game wants you to just that. I'm thinking upping how long it takes around waves 2-3. I find myself frequently getting up to wave 3 or 4 within the first character, and this isn't a case where I am playing too slow either, I am usually rushing from point to point. And this is early on, before you unlock the mule etc.
I also ended up dying a fair number of times during the tutorial just from the game expecting me to have access to certain tools I didn't yet.
Great work so far, but it definitely needs tweaking and more room to breathe to allow for those great emergent moments Prey is known for. It seems more like you brought the line between "in danger" and "death" closer together rather than the line between "safety/easy" and "in danger".
Crafting REALLY suffers from this as early on you are not going to be getting many enemies spawning who can even drop time resets to counter this, nor are you going to have the ammo to kill them off. Crafting itself is a vital part of prey's loop and in addition to making crafting choices harder, you gave us less time to do so.
I started a new game, and you're right. My changes gave the game an inverse difficulty curve, It gets easier the longer you play. The timer is now slower and enemies are a bit weaker until you complete the first few missions.
That you experience the phantoms to be more sensitive is weird. I did not change their awareness. They wander around more and charge you a lot faster if they see you but they shouldn't be better at spotting you.
The rest of the game is pretty much balanced intentionally the way it is. The first and second phases are rather boring with the enemie spawns, and so they are just a short period in which you can collect gear to survive the later phases. Especially the first phase is just meant to get you to the tower and maybe into the first area safely. The game should only be beatable with 4 or 5 escapes in one run if you run everywhere at dead sprint with artax boosts, and only carefully choose which areas are worth looting. For most things that aren't on your way is no time. The crafting is balanced in a way that a lot of times you have to sacrifice a weapon to get what you want.
I know that this very stress full and hard, but I like it that way. Luckily if you want it a bit easier you can use the additional file I uploaded that slows down the timer and makes enemies a bit weaker. Feel free to give feedback on this new version, I didn't have time to test it a lot, so it may be still a bit unbalanced.
Why the f*#@ would you want to make an already niche and difficult DLC (to finish perfectly) even harder? Jesus, it never ends with you hardcore guys does it?
With the vanilla DLC I managed to escape every 2nd or 3rd time with all 5 people. I guess if you put enough time in you can get good at everything ¯\_(^_^)_/¯ Now I luckily get crushed again if I make to many mistakes. If I escape to often with this version I will make an even harder one :)
I like the majority of the changes of this mod, except for the Mule limit, I think it's a bit too finicky.
Could I make an alternative proposal to nerve the Mule? Limit the inventory size. Right now, the Mule has as much storage as the player, which makes it rife for exploitation. Thus, I propose that you make the Mule storage no bigger then a common storage box. If you can pass on two guns, some ammo and some healing items, then that is a pretty big nerve, without making it a lot more tedious to use.
That was my initial idea but sadly it´s not not possible :( In its current form you really have to plan around the mule use and sometimes take extra time to visit the central crater tower to place items there for the next run. You loose to much resources otherwise. I think that are interesting decisions that add to the game, but of course playing this way is really different from the vanilla game.
Fun Fact: I also tried fixing the problem by making the players inventory smaller but having a normal mule. That was horrible because you had to call the mule every 2 seconds and half of each run was just inventory managment. So I dont think there is a better solution.
I hope you'll see this, because I really want to try out this mod, but there's a problem. With this mod I can now sprint at ludicrously high speeds, more or less ruining the game.
EDIT: I went digging through the mod files and I found that the parameters that dictates sprint speed had their values borked, resulting in outrageously fast sprint speed. Fixing this is however quite easy if you know where to look. If anyone sees this and would like to fix this issue for themselves, here's how to do it: - Open the downloaded .pak mod file with 7zip or winrar. - Inside, there will be a 2 folders and 1 file. Open the Ark folder. - Inside, the Ark folder, open the Player folder. - Inside the Player folder, open PlayerConfig.xml. - Find the acceleratedSprintSpeedScale parameter and change its value from 5.0 to 1.40. - Find the sprintSpeedScale parameter and change its value from 1.625 to 1.20. - Save the file and don't forget to update the archive, otherwise the change will not be saved.
I don't know what the original sprint speed values were, but I think the values I gave are fairly close. sprintSpeedScale determines the base sprinting speed. Setting this to 1 would give sprinting the same speed as jogging/walking. acceleratedSprintSpeedScale multiplies the sprinting speed after enough time is spent sprinting (about 1.5 seconds)
Additionally, the inventory upgrade for Joan is broken and does nothing unfortunately.
Thx for the report. It turns out, I´m really stupid. I had found and fixed those bugs already a month ago, but then uploaded an old version with the bugs I corrected this mistake now. In addition the automatic healing you get, when you´re low is also way to strong in the old version. The easiest way for you to fix this is probably just downloading the mod again. Sadly this requiers you to start a new game. I uploaded a savegame file you can use to skip the tutorial and the first few escapes.
The inventory upgrade is working as intended but I know why you are confused abou this one. I nerved some abilities espicially this one because I think a lot of inventory space keeps you from making interesting decisions about which items to take with you. But I didnt manage to change the ability descriptions, so know you´re not always getting whats advertised (I´m sorry for this one, hopefully I find time to fix this some day). The first two of Joans upgrades now only give you more chip slots and only the third one grants you a inventory column.
14 comments
-Did you remove the fabrication plan for the Time Delay? Or am I just that unlucky?
-I think the Weavers drop way too many Cystoids and those little sh*ts are now the number 1 reason why I keep dying.
-Even with the Easier Timer, I still think it's too fast. I don't really have time to hunt down Typhon or explore secret areas. It's just a speedrun the whole way through.
-Is the mod supposed to have 2 Moonsharks spawn in the crater? Because that's insane! lol
-If you ever decide to change the prices for items, please keep EMPs at 1000sp. They're a great little add-on for Typhon Gates.
-Is there a way to make the mule NOT the default right-click option? I've accidentally spawned him so many times because I forget to switch to a different character ability.
I'm still working my way through the character stories, which has proved to be VERY difficult, but I've been having a blast.
- in the base game, weavers are a joke. You can just push them with a shot gun. Now you can't do this any more without an artrax and precise movement. If you dash at the right time, the cystodis explode, but you are out of their range. Of course, you can just shoot them from a distance, then they are still safe to kill.
- The speedrun feeling was what I went for, but timer changes are easy to make. I uploaded an Easy Easier Timer and the timer of the vanilla game.
- Lol wtf. I never had this happen to me. Probably a side effect of the increased threat levels I set, but sadly there is no way to control the spawning of individual enemies.
- Noted. More feedback on the prices is always welcome. I never buy anything because it feels like cheating to me, so I don't know what feels fair for people that do want to buy stuff.
- No there's sadly now way
I'm glad you enjoy the mod :)
I also think a few items seem TOO costly.
To add to this: I think the new timer is a tad too fast. I don't know if the times work out to be the same, but it feels far, far faster than the original timer and I feel like I can't sit and think for even a minute which is kinda a problem given how often the game wants you to just that.
I'm thinking upping how long it takes around waves 2-3.
I find myself frequently getting up to wave 3 or 4 within the first character, and this isn't a case where I am playing too slow either, I am usually rushing from point to point. And this is early on, before you unlock the mule etc.
I also ended up dying a fair number of times during the tutorial just from the game expecting me to have access to certain tools I didn't yet.
Great work so far, but it definitely needs tweaking and more room to breathe to allow for those great emergent moments Prey is known for.
It seems more like you brought the line between "in danger" and "death" closer together rather than the line between "safety/easy" and "in danger".
Crafting REALLY suffers from this as early on you are not going to be getting many enemies spawning who can even drop time resets to counter this, nor are you going to have the ammo to kill them off. Crafting itself is a vital part of prey's loop and in addition to making crafting choices harder, you gave us less time to do so.
That you experience the phantoms to be more sensitive is weird. I did not change their awareness. They wander around more and charge you a lot faster if they see you but they shouldn't be better at spotting you.
The rest of the game is pretty much balanced intentionally the way it is. The first and second phases are rather boring with the enemie spawns, and so they are just a short period in which you can collect gear to survive the later phases. Especially the first phase is just meant to get you to the tower and maybe into the first area safely.
The game should only be beatable with 4 or 5 escapes in one run if you run everywhere at dead sprint with artax boosts, and only carefully choose which areas are worth looting. For most things that aren't on your way is no time.
The crafting is balanced in a way that a lot of times you have to sacrifice a weapon to get what you want.
I know that this very stress full and hard, but I like it that way. Luckily if you want it a bit easier you can use the additional file I uploaded that slows down the timer and makes enemies a bit weaker. Feel free to give feedback on this new version, I didn't have time to test it a lot, so it may be still a bit unbalanced.
Now I luckily get crushed again if I make to many mistakes. If I escape to often with this version I will make an even harder one :)
The shop makes the game trivially easy.
Could I make an alternative proposal to nerve the Mule? Limit the inventory size.
Right now, the Mule has as much storage as the player, which makes it rife for exploitation. Thus, I propose that you make the Mule storage no bigger then a common storage box. If you can pass on two guns, some ammo and some healing items, then that is a pretty big nerve, without making it a lot more tedious to use.
In its current form you really have to plan around the mule use and sometimes take extra time to visit the central crater tower to place items there for the next run. You loose to much resources otherwise. I think that are interesting decisions that add to the game, but of course playing this way is really different from the vanilla game.
Fun Fact: I also tried fixing the problem by making the players inventory smaller but having a normal mule. That was horrible because you had to call the mule every 2 seconds and half of each run was just inventory managment. So I dont think there is a better solution.
With this mod I can now sprint at ludicrously high speeds, more or less ruining the game.
EDIT: I went digging through the mod files and I found that the parameters that dictates sprint speed had their values borked, resulting in outrageously fast sprint speed. Fixing this is however quite easy if you know where to look. If anyone sees this and would like to fix this issue for themselves, here's how to do it:
- Open the downloaded .pak mod file with 7zip or winrar.
- Inside, there will be a 2 folders and 1 file. Open the Ark folder.
- Inside, the Ark folder, open the Player folder.
- Inside the Player folder, open PlayerConfig.xml.
- Find the acceleratedSprintSpeedScale parameter and change its value from 5.0 to 1.40.
- Find the sprintSpeedScale parameter and change its value from 1.625 to 1.20.
- Save the file and don't forget to update the archive, otherwise the change will not be saved.
I don't know what the original sprint speed values were, but I think the values I gave are fairly close.
sprintSpeedScale determines the base sprinting speed. Setting this to 1 would give sprinting the same speed as jogging/walking.
acceleratedSprintSpeedScale multiplies the sprinting speed after enough time is spent sprinting (about 1.5 seconds)
Additionally, the inventory upgrade for Joan is broken and does nothing unfortunately.
It turns out, I´m really stupid. I had found and fixed those bugs already a month ago, but then uploaded an old version with the bugs
I corrected this mistake now.
In addition the automatic healing you get, when you´re low is also way to strong in the old version. The easiest way for you to fix this is probably just downloading the mod again. Sadly this requiers you to start a new game. I uploaded a savegame file you can use to skip the tutorial and the first few escapes.
The inventory upgrade is working as intended but I know why you are confused abou this one. I nerved some abilities espicially this one because I think a lot of inventory space keeps you from making interesting decisions about which items to take with you. But I didnt manage to change the ability descriptions, so know you´re not always getting whats advertised (I´m sorry for this one, hopefully I find time to fix this some day). The first two of Joans upgrades now only give you more chip slots and only the third one grants you a inventory column.