(If you'd prefer to listen to this rather long description, you can do so here: https://soundcloud.com/dominateeye/rtms2-description)

Ranks That Make Sense II: The Unexpected Sequel

Have you ever thought it a bit odd that in the late game, you find yourself sending out fireteams made entirely of officers? Officers who, since there’s no subordinates and also you’re the Commander, aren’t actually commanding anybody? Well, you need find it so no longer, because RTMS2 for XCOM 2 is here to fix this minor peculiarity!

Please note this mod is English only-- I’m not smart enough to be multilingual (although if someone wanted my assistance in making versions for their own language, I’d be happy to help)!

What This Mod Does
This mod changes the names of XCOM’s unit ranks in the game according to a system based off of the CIA ranking system. See below:

Rookie -> Junior Field Agent (JFA)
Squaddie -> Field Agent (FA)
Corporal -> Senior Field Agent (SFA)
Sergeant -> Chief Field Agent (CFA)
Lieutenant -> Junior Special Agent (JSA)
Captain -> Special Agent (SA)
Major -> Senior Special Agent (SSA)
Colonel -> Chief Special Agent (CSA)
Brigadier -> Elite Operations Agent (EOA)

This includes all references to old ranks everywhere else in the game, too-- so now, for instance, instead of getting “Rookies” for scanning someplace, you’ll get “Junior Field Agents”!

This mod also changes all references to XCOM’s “soldiers” to instead say XCOM’s “agents”. This was done because while “soldiers” could technically be correct, it didn’t really feel right-- after all, XCOM units aren’t just regular soldiers, they’re part of a top-secret, off-the-books, under-the-radar elite multinational resistance effort! Also, “agents” just sounds cooler. Come on. You agree with me.

What This Mod Doesn’t Do
This mod does not affect the names of classes, including Psi Operatives, or the ranks of that magic thing I haven’t encountered yet cause I’m not even halfway through my first playthrough. If I or enough people think it would be appropriate, then it might affect those things in future.

This mod does not affect audio, including voice lines, in any way. While I do have a microphone and Audacity, what I don’t have is contact details for any of the game’s many voice actors or decent impression skills, so unfortunately when the characters speak they’re gonna use the old ranks and call units “soldiers” (if they do either of those things in the vanilla game already-- I haven’t noticed it, so it’s possible they just don’t have any voice lines like that).

Please note that I do not own a copy of War of the Chosen, and probably won't for a long time, so if WOTC adds any new ranks or anything like that then this mod won't affect them.

Installation
Just plonk this file into <location of your steam folder>/steamapps/common/XCOM 2/XComGame/Localization/INT, making a backup copy of the original XComGame.int file first.

What Inspired This Mod
This mod is a sequel to Soldier Ranks That Make Sense (RTMS) for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, by Alaknar. It’s a mod I like and use myself when I play XCOM: EU (and one I definitely recommend you use if you like this mod here!). I was disappointed to find that no one had made a similar mod for XCOM 2, on either the Nexus or the Steam Workshop, so I decided to break the metaphorical bottle of champagne on the metaphorical boat that is my modding “career” (probably more like “experience of making one thing once”) by making this.

The idea of basing the ranks off of the CIA system came from that mod, and the idea of changing the in-game text to reference the new ranks and the units correctly came from using that mod and finding that the game still called units “soldiers” and used the old rank names.

I made sure to ask Alaknar for permission before going public with this mod, and especially before using (mostly) the same name as his mod for mine. He’s the original creator, after all, and I’ve basically just copied his technique, which he listed on his mod’s description page, and expanded on it a little bit. Speaking of which…

How This Mod Works (and How You Can Too!)
RTMS2 does one simple thing, in terms of file editing: it replaces XComGame.int in the INT localisation folder from the original version, with the original ranks and “soldiers” instead of “agents”, to the new version with the new ranks and “agents” instead of “soldiers”. That’s it! Pretty simple, right? You could do this yourself, if you wanted to!

Step One: find the file you want (<location of your steam folder>/steamapps/common/XCOM 2/XComGame/Localization/<language you want>/XComGame.<extension that’s the same as the language file you clicked>) and make a backup, just to be safe.
Step Two: Open the original file in your favourite text editing program (I recommend Notepad++)
Step Three: Find “X2ExperienceConfig” to get to the right section of the file.
Step Four: Replace the original rank names with your preferred names, and make sure to also change the abbreviations (the values in the ShortNames section).
Step Five (optional): Do a find and replace search, making sure NEVER to use the “replace all” button, for each of the old rank names, and replace them one by one. Don’t change any you find before an equals sign, because those are probably important value names which could mess with the game if you change them.
Step Six (optional): Do another find and replace search for the words “soldier” and “soldiers”, making sure not to have case-sensitivity turned on, and again, replace them one by one with the same method in Step Five. Again, don’t change any of the value names. Expect this to take an hour or more.
Step Seven: Save the file without changing the name, to ensure it is used by the game.
Step Eight: Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Of course, that’s all a lot of work, and your time is far too valuable for all that, right? Right. So just download my mod, and I’ll have taken care of it all for you!

Parting Thoughts
If you find any text that you think RTMS2 would affect but seems off to you, please do get in touch by leaving a comment! If you could try and give me the full text and where it appears, that would help a lot towards me finding it more easily.

And again, if anyone wants to translate this mod, I’ll be happy to help however I can! Just send me a message!

This description is probably far longer than it needs to be.

I hope you enjoy this mod, and of course, good luck, Commander!