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About this mod
Teeny-tiny balance tweaks. Shotgun, Assault Rifle, Gas Grenades, etc.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
How to install? Super easy:
1. navigate to (...)\System Shock Remake\SystemShock\Content\Paks
2. unzip .zip file there
3. play the game
The aim of this mod is simple: to improve the game's balance and thus deliver a more satisfying overarching experience.
This is not meant to be an overhaul or an easy/cheat mod.
"Less is more."
Changelog
◢ Dragon's Breath damage 150 > 180 (20% buff)
(kinetic/incendiary split 30/120 > 60/120)
◢ Flechette damage 100 > 120 (20% buff)
◢ Assault Rifle damage
◢ Ion Rifle OC damage 200 > 210 (better scaling coming from 35/70)
◢ Ion Rifle energy costs 7/15/70 > 6/14/60 (5/12/52 with modkit)
◢ Ion Rifle armor pen 50/70/90 > 60/80/100 (now +10 than modded Sparq)
◢ Sparq low mode armor pen 30 > 40 (better scaling into 60/80)
◢ Magnum normal/laser fire SFX fixed (was it that hard, Night Dive?)
◢ Magnum laser target acquire 3 times faster (nearly instant)
◢ Magnum damage 65 > 70 (armor pen unchanged, just a minor buff)
◢ Magnum target lock cost 1 > 0 (buggy targeting logic on inanimate objs)
◢ Railgun damage 300/350 > 350/400 (to, uh, "drive the point home")
◢ Plasma Core damage 300 > 500 (something-something "let it rip")
◢ Gas Grenades damage 150 > 180, blast radius 250 > 300 (20% buff)
◢ Staminup duration 70 > 105, max HP +20 > +30 (50% buff)
◢ Enviro-Pack V1 protection 83% > 88% (+5%, same as V2)
◢ Enviro-Pack energy tick rate 4s > 6s (50% less draining)
◢ Head Lamp energy tick rate 4s > 6s (50% less draining)
◢ Infrared Unit energy tick rate 5s > 8s (~50% less draining)
◢ Sensaround energy tick rate 5s > 8s (~50% less draining)
◢ Target Identifier hack cost 20 > 1 (practically free)
◢ Target Identifier V2 hack time 2.5 > 2 (20% faster)
◢ Target Identifier V3 hack time 2 > 1 (50% faster)
◢ Pulser damage 5 > 10 (100% buff, less Cyberspace tedium)
◢ Human Corpse loot Sparq 2% > 0% (Junk Food 3% > 5% instead)
◢ Human Skull resized 1*1 > 2*2 (see Abe's Head, Crew Cap, etc.)
◢ Monkey Wrench damage 18/30 > 21/35 (more meaningful upgrade to the Pipe)
◢ (Unique) Cyborg Drone drops Virtual Reality Headset now instead of Access Card
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Reasoning & Explanation
◢ The Shotgun in System Shock, contrary to most video game tropes, is actually not OP! It slightly suffers from ammo deficit (which also costs
So a higher upfront damage (15% armor pen, mind you) should make Dragon's Breath feel somewhat more impactful without altering its (incendiary) role. And higher Flechette damage should help it become a more practical alternative VS cyborgs/bots late-game.
PS: Tested VS Mutated Cyborgs on hardest difficulty and 4 shots of Dragon's Breath will down them (over time), whereas it'll take 6 Flechette rounds otherwise.
◢ Assault Rifle is a "worse" Skorpion. Not bad per se, it's just Skorp's sheer DPS (coupled with the game showering you with Teflon rounds handsomely) overall beats it in a straight fight. Ideally, AR should excel at long-range accuracy, but it just lacks a little punch to give Skorp any competition.
With Patch 1.2 buffing it by a measly 1 pt. of damage, I realized even this mod didn't do it justice, so buffed a smidgen more.
◢ Realistically, you'll rarely use Railgun and Plasma Rifle all that much (they take a ton of inventory space to carry around like dead weight). Plasma Rifle deserves extra attention as it is an exclusively endgame weapon and Plasma Core is super gimmicky at best and could use a bit more oomph to really give you that BFG feeling. So let every shot be a statement. "One shot, one kill." (Until Diego shows up, that is.)
◢ Ion Rifle was much more lackluster than I originally anticipated. A fully modded Sparq basically outclassed it in every respect (similar dmg output, same armor pen, cheaper energy cost, less inventory space). Ion Rifle absolutely needed a buff to become a worthwhile alternative. Now, both fully modded, they'll cost the same energy on low/high but Ion will do slightly more dmg with better armor pen. At overcharge, Ion will outperform Sparq (at the cost of a higher energy cost). The tradeoff being size.
◢ Magnum's SFX needed a fix. Devs had a chance to do it with Patch 1.2 but didn't. So here it is. Punchier SFX with laser, normal SFX without. Additionally, faster target acquisition speed to keep you from taking fire on peeking. And a minor dmg buff to offset
Edit: Screw that. Buggy targeting logic is annoying (laser would lock on all sort of in-game inanimate objects like doors, lights, dead enemies, wall panels, etc.). No longer uses energy to lock. So it's just 3 energy per shot now.
◢ Gas Grenades are just anemic (tiny blast radius compared to Frags and EMP, not to mention Frags are far more plentiful and strong enough to handle any organic threat anyway). Problem is, their visual blast is hardcoded to be very tiny so increasing its AOE too much just looks off (so the buff must be smol).
◢ Staminup, while not the worst thing in the world, wasn't exactly very useful. A longer duration should mitigate that, and a higher max HP bonus means you can pop 2 for +45 max HP (instead of +30) to make it tactically more viable on occasion.
◢ Lots of players have expressed some frustration with Enviro-Pack not providing sufficient protection (Beta Grove, anyone?). Making it a bit beefier would make highly hazardous areas more forgiving (more fun) without wholly negating their threat/effect. +5% protection brings 127 LBP from 22 to 15, making Beta Grove slightly more bearable.
Edit: And now, it drains energy more slowly too.
◢ Target Identifier's hacking potential seems to be often overlooked due to its high energy inefficiency (i.e. cameras can be just as easily shot instead and most enemies aren't worth "scrambling"). It's just an unfun mechanic that never quite pays off. Now? Actually worth a damn (and allows for more stealthy playstyles).
◢ Enviro-Pack, Head Lamp, Infrared Unit and Sensaround drain energy more slowly now. It was a bit too much having to constantly micromanage expenditures before and ended up being more punishing than fun. Now it's more lax. (Sensaround is more helpful now and Infrared in particular just got more tactically interesting.)
◢ And the buff to Monkey Wrench was a last-minute decision. It's a more clear upgrade to the Pipe now. (And helps fend off those annoying zombies in Medical a bit easier.)
◢ Ah, Cyberspace. Don't we all just love it? At least the first playthrough and a half (?). Again, another common "complaint" about the game from most players. I see no harm in making it smoother, so Pulser is twice as strong now.
◢ Human Corpses have a small chance to carry a Sparq. It might be just a pet peeve, but it ends up becoming a bit ridiculous (one game I collected 16 and I wasn't even past Exec yet!). Love multiple copies of weapons (it makes the world feel more "lived in"), but to a point. There will still be Sparqs lying around, no worries, but not as random loot. (FYI: no others weapon is lootable, not even the lowly Pistol or Wrench.)
◢ And Human Skull was just another personal pet peeve (made all the more obvious now that Abe's Head was made 2*2). So yeah, immersion. Crew Cap, Pistol, etc. all take the same physical space in the game world. Whatever. Fixed. It just makes sense.
◢ Last but not least. Remember that (Unique) Cyborg Drone in Research who was carrying a SCI Access Card? Yeah, kinda silly considering another SCI Access Card was laying right there on a desk not 2 feet from said Cyborg (LOL, who designed this game?). Could've just given it some fancy item like Dimensional Pocket, sure, but that'd be out of place. Could've also wholly removed its loot. But then Unique Cyborg Drone wouldn't be so yoo-neek. So it now carries a fancy Virtual Reality Headset (recycle for 6, vaporize for 30)!
~~~
PS: Props to Nixos for modding essentials.