A total overhaul mod for Long War b15f3 featuring a new tech tree, new strategic AI, new perks, new item balance, and dozens of minor changes throughout with an overall goal of reducing the game by about half.
Feel free to do whatever you want with Medium War files I created, but please remember to ask creators of other files
File credits
Thanks to IronRose, JohnnyLump, Amineri, JC Lewis, wghost81, Beaglerush and the Something Awful forum community for help on putting this together, as well as Level 8 Heavy Floater (Air War overhaul), eclipse666 (Carlock) and hawkeye2777 (Van Doorn in March) for their modwork that I basically stole because it was awesome.
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Changelogs
Version b1b
Included the wrong stat randomizer in the original mod, resulting in all soldiers having 11 move and very low will. Built a new randomizer that allows for bonus points to be added for character creation in the DGC.ini (HIGH_MOBILITY). By default bonus points are set to zero. Bonus points do not apply for Strict Screening games.
Fixed an entry in the DGC.ini that allowed SHIVs to equip Arc Throwers and Medikits. This was left over from a failed attempt to give SHIVs even more options.
I'm sure there are dozens more bugs to find, not to mention balancing. I currently have a campaign going on Classic to get a feel for where things are, but feedback is appreciated.
Version B1f
Tweaks to Tactical Game: Adjusted perk trees for several classes, primarily rocketeers. New perk tree text file included! Shock and Awe now gives 2 additional rockets Shredder Ammo now gives 2 shredder rockets. Shredder Ammo now gives a free AP grenade to Engineers (which will have the Shredder ability) SHIV HP decreased by 2, SHIV Suppression project increases SHIV HP by 2 back to previous. Fixed Sectoid very low will.
Tweaks to strategic game: You now start with only 3 interceptors, down from 4 Abductions are on a 4 hour timer and the Skyranger moves 25% slower. Super Skyranger project increases Skyranger speed (12.5% faster than old Skyranger, 50% faster than new Skyranger) Fixed gatling lasers given at the wrong tech Fixed Cybernetics not being in the right place on the tech tree Rank requirements for OTS slightly increased Recruits slightly more expensive ($20->$25) Wrecks are slightly less valuable Japan 'Ghost in the Machine' bonus bumped to 4 additional SHIVs (6 total; everyone starts with 2)
Version B1e
Tracked down a bug in the strategic AI. Some function in Long War that I couldn't track down was changing a value in unexpected ways so I ended up rewriting a large chunk of the strategic AI.
The high risk, high reward landed large in March is back (and every month thereafter has a good chance of at least one landed large UFO)
Alien aggro decays slower at lower tiers, meaning you have to almost actively ignore the aliens for them to go back to stealing a country every month.
There is just enough time to squeeze in two abduction missions if one of them is fairly close. You can get rewards for both missions, but you get a little aggro from every successful mission. Considering creating a Foundry project to speed up the Skyranger.
Fixed the medic tree; had field surgeon instead of paramedic at CPL.
Repairing SHIVs takes a little bit longer and costs a little bit more (50% of building a new one). They're still incredibly useful little meatshields. Might add a little Meld to the rebuild cost in the future. Considering lowering the basic SHIV's DR.
Halved the number of Council requests you should get in a month. Abduction rewards are intended to be the primary source of income and staff.
In all, this was a big update. Strategic AI changes should become active at the start of the next month, although you'll likely be back at Month 1 behavior.
Version B1d
Caught two typos in the DGC.ini file that left Snipers and Assaults with only partial perk trees. You don't need to reinstall the entire mod for this one, just replace the DGC.ini.
Small bug fixes will probably be coming fast and furious as my own quality assurance playthrough progresses. I've played the first month close to 20 times now and still keep catching things.
Version B1c
New, less dumb version naming!
Updated the strategic AI to send UFO research/harvest missions to a country you control only about half of the time, instead of every single mission (still a 15% chance to see all three of the first month research missions, and a 10% chance to see none).
Tweaked the air war to make scouts slightly more annoying. They now escape slightly faster and do slightly more damage. It may take two interceptors to bring one down, especially after the first month.
Medium War is a total overhaul mod for Long War b15f3 that significantly changes how the game plays and hopefully cuts down the Long War experience by about half. Some Long War features were set back to vanilla, such as weapon damage, abduction blitzes and a shortened EXALT arc. The tech tree and item balance have been significantly changes to feature more distinct branches. Laser and Pulse weapons form a distinct pathway from Gauss and Plasma weapons and the two branches are roughly balanced against each other. Gene mods have been unlocked from autopsy techs and now form their own research paths. Psi Perks are only limited by soldier experience (except for Rift, which remains specially coded).
Base soldiers have the most options in Medium War, with three perk choices per rank, genemods, psi perks and weapon and armor choices. MECs are specialists, with only two perk choices per rank, fewer small item slots and fewer small item choices overall. SHIVs should be an essential part of any strategy now, with more choices in load outs to create mission support platforms for any squad.
Balance is a big concern in this first beta and the prices are mostly pulled out of a hat. I'll be refining play balance with time and feedback.
Thanks to IronRose, JohnnyLump, Amineri, JC Lewis, wghost81, Beaglerush and the Something Awful forum community for help on putting this together, as well as Level 8 Heavy Floater (Air War overhaul), eclipse666 (Carlock) and hawkeye2777 (Van Doorn in March) for their modwork that I basically stole because it was awesome.
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