SS2 Alarming Cameras (SCP Minimod)

[66681bace8840RoSoDude]

°DML°string

System Shock 2 - Alarming Cameras (SCP Minimod) v1.03
by RoSoDude https://rosodudemods.wordpress.com/

This mod adds a new feature to the camera alarm dynamics in SCP:

• Unless the security grid is hacked, cameras activate the alarm when they are destroyed
• Remote Electron Tampering allows the player to circumvent destruction alarms for 5 seconds + 5 seconds per PSI
• The old alarm-shortening effect for Remote Electron Tampering has been removed
• Cameras under the effect of stasis will not activate destruction alarms
• Polito's email about security cameras no longer mentions destroying them (download subtitle fix separately)

Requires SCP Beta 5 (and hopefully supports future versions), install above it in Blue Mod Manager. Overwrites psi power descriptions, so will minorly conflict with other mods that change those.

[66681bace8abbgoosefromtopgun]

I really like this. Makes hacking way more important. Just noticed an issue. Destroying more than one camera sets off more than a singular alarm. Instead, multiple alarms are set off concurrently so that you have an overlay of multiple klaxon alarm sounds.

[66681bace8c89voodoo47]

they are connected to different ecologies, most likely - if that's the case, this is "correct", and not sure whether something can be done about it.

//hmm, not possible to trigger multiple alerts the vanilla way - so the mod's script file may need a tweak, "do not sound an additional alert if one is already in progress".

[66681bace8de7ZylonBane]

Yup, making this work in SCP Beta 5 was a pain in the ass.

[66681bace8ee0voodoo47]

aha, right, I've been testing this with b5 wip. maybe we could share the latest scpCameraHelper script?

[66681bace8fddZylonBane]

Shhhh, that hasn't been released yet.

[66681bace9122RoSoDude]

Serves me right for not even testing that despite it being a motivating example for gameplay strategy. Hmm. Is there any data I could check on the ecologies for active alarms? This would be so easy with Unreal's AllActors() function...

[66681bace9241voodoo47]

modder: "I'll just make this nice and simple minimod.."
Dark: "NO."

[66681bace95cbZylonBane]

Hmm. Is there any data I could check on the ecologies for active alarms?

ShockGame.IsAlarmActive() will just tell you if there's an active alarm.

[66681bace96c5RoSoDude]

Version 1.01 - Fixed multiple stacking alarms when breaking cameras while another camera has already activated the alarm.

[66681bace97c6voodoo47]

ah, you'll also probably want to modify that email (and its audio) from Polito where she tells you to destroy cameras, as that is not such a great idea with this mod loaded.

déjà vu - didn't someone already make (a cruder version of) this?

[66681bace9917RoSoDude]

That came to mind, but I didn't want to do it without modifying the voice lines and... that's a bit above my pay grade. I did at least update the relevant info comp.

Yeah, there was a guy in the Secmod thread who made cameras alarm when destroyed, even when the security grid was hacked. We had a brief conversation about what it would take to create this mod (answer: two lines of Squirrel script on top of SCP's and a bit of DML for the new Remote Electron Tampering effect).

[66681bace9aaaJossiRossi]

I can do audio editing if you wanted a version of that email without the line about the cameras. New lines are technically possible with a sound alike (not happening) or splicing in lines from other emails to say the right thing (possible but down to luck). Removing a sentence about killing the cameras would be easy though

[66681bace9c5evoodoo47]

I'm fairly sure the edited clip already existed.. somewhere - I remember someone who only wanted to do the alert triggering upon destruction part of the mod, without making them hackable (that is fairly easy to do), but I can't seem to find it anywhere (I don't think it's been the Nixos guy whose topic I've just bumped in the Engineering subforum, as I'm almost sure that edited audio clip was discussed and included).


//ok, looks like I'm not insane (well, not any more than usual);
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=7153.msg129967#msg129967
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=10910

[66681bace9fd2sarge945]

Thanks for making remote electron tampering actually somewhat worthwhile as a skill now!

[66681bacea1f7RoSoDude]

Uh oh, another unexpected behavior. When the new Remote Electron Tampering power is active, not only are destruction alarms canceled, but so are ALL alarms. This is not the fault of my script, but a problem with setting Codebreaker (-3154)'s PsiPower Type from "One-Shot" to "Shield". It seems that since the power was originally capable of deactivating alarms, they get stopped before they start when the power is active.

I can force the script to send an alarm signal to linked ecologies when the power is active, but the camera state doesn't get set properly -- touching a security panel won't reset the camera state, and instead it gets stuck in red alert mode (and thus can't reactivate the alarm after it's deactivated). Another related problem is that dying and respawning to a QBR during an alarm forced this way via script will actually reset the camera state for some reason, which means that you can get the camera to alarm again the instant you deactivate the security panel. It's a big mess and I don't know if there's a simple property I can set to fix it or if I need to do more elaborate hackery.

[66681bacea3bdRoSoDude]

Version 1.02 - Fixed Remote Electron Tampering disabling standard alarms and causing cameras to become stuck in the red alert state. Cameras under the effect of stasis will no longer activate destruction alarms.

After many failed attempts, I finally managed to find a fix -- I rearranged the scripts so I can intercept the Alertness message and deactivate Remote Electron Tempering before the message reaches the vanilla cameraalert script. The situation where the player casts the power, deactivates the alarm, and then tries to destroy the camera again within the duration is so niche that I think it's a fair tradeoff for everything working properly. I'd appreciate if someone could check over the other scripts to make sure they're moved correctly. I wasn't sure if I had to move the NVMetaTrap script params to the Security Camera Scripts object, but I did it anyway. It seems like the Stasis Field Generator still blinds cameras and they stop being HUD selectable once destroyed, so I think it's all okay.

I'll look into fixing voice lines another time, getting this critical fix out was the top priority.

[66681bacea5e3Dan]

Please feel absolutely free to just copy over "\snd2\vEmails\EM0210.wav", "\strings\LEVEL02.STR" (Edit in Line 58) and "\subtitles\english\vemails.sub" from the link voodoo47 posted previously.
Thanks for this fantastic mod, RoSoDude!

[66681bacea7eftiphares4]

The new flashing camera effect (which looks really super super cool & which i love - such qol-improvement, awesome! and fits so well graphically/atmospherically) of SCP Beta 5 gets overridden by Alarming Cameras - even when placing down under SCP Beta 5 priority-wise in Blue Mod Manager list. 

It would be cool if it would work together with alarming cameras - especially because that hard security mini mod is way too hard for me as it is now / for most people i think.


edit: And it seems that Alarming Cameras is not working with SCP Beta 5 at all. Destroyed some cams & no alarm. Which is pity - it is the only way to play SS2 imo so far.     :l 

[66681bacea8f5RoSoDude]

Yes, SCP Beta 5 rearranged the camera scripts again so I'll need to update this mod to work with it. It's on the way, don't worry.

[66681baceaa57Hans Schmidt]

Any news on this?

This mod is much better balanced in my opinion than the equivalent Hard Security Mode minimod, since it makes the game harder but still leaves several ways to bypass the alarm (hacking, psi, and stasis). Since trying it, i can't even imagine playing the game without it, it would be too easy to just shoot the cameras.

The only changes from the minimod that i would like is the requirement to hack the security console to disable alarm (at reduced difficulty) and triggering alarms on failed hack. If that was integrated into this mod, keeping the alarm reduction on the psi power would actually become useful for non-hackers.

[66681baceab50ZylonBane]

You know you can hack and stasis cameras in SCP too, right?

[66681bacead20Hans Schmidt]

Oh, thanks ZylonBane for the info on the stasis option in SCP. However, it is the least useful option, given how late you get the stasis field generator.
But since you commented, is this compatible with the other minimod allowing to lay the stasis traps? It actually makes the weapon useful, which is definitely a good change.

Yes, you can hack cameras individually. But that is much more clunky and dangerous compared to shooting them, since you need to be close. And is more expensive, as the poster in that thread noted.

This mod on the other hand gives multiple ways to deal with them at range, and very realistically too, but all require cybermodule investment. And the more practical options are given to the paths generally considered harder at the beginning, which actually improves game balance in the beginning levels between specializations. That is why this mod is so good.

The only thing that could improve it would be to change the hacking 'minigame', to one where choices actually matter. But i guess that would be way out of scope of a simple small mod.

[66681baceae25ZylonBane]

So what you're saying is, of all the ways Alarming Cameras gives players to deal with cameras, psi is the only one you like.