Wouldn't it make more sense to give CMs equivalent to the average CM value for the service the player chose? Also, does this still give the service-specific starting equipment?

I wonder if there is any value to having a "pick a starter item" section of character creation, with choices for a maintenance tool, psi amp, repair tool (maybe a bit op) etc.

The 3D character-generation of ss2 was always a huge immersion breaking point for me (similar to the Qbr-devices).

I would very much like to ask you how having the player interactively role-play their career leading up to the Von Braun is LESS immersive than lazily shoving a skill selection screen in the player's face, but I fear that knowing would be worse for my sanity than not knowing.

what does roleplaying even mean in this context i thought that was sex stuff sorry i don't know the lingo also cool hack I have been looking for something like this since the first time i played this game almost 20 years ago now never knew people played this game still even guys the same age i was when i did originally still remember how terrifying the first scene with the hybrid chasing a woman was before graphics got so real almost realer than real as they say still knowing an entire fan club of dudes exists for this game makes me feel goddamn old haha i am 53 granted but still keep up the great work love the Blackadder reference though maybe that would have worked better back in 1998 haha the 'rosodude' must be an old fart like me haha cheers

I realize you posted that from a phone, but even then it's not too hard, to add punctuation marks and paragraphs. It's basic courtesy not making us wade through your stream of conscious less.

To answer your question: role playing in this context means that you actually engage in the actions within the game-world, instead of reading a skill tree or a summary of what happened.
The character creation in SS2 is split in that regard. You role-play the decisions but not the training years.

What a way to introduce someone dealing with a technological barrier to this community. The guy is clearly new to this, cut him some slack. How would you feel if your older relative found a community dedicated to a hobby from his past and was treated like a nuisance simply for expressing his nostalgia?

Also, your definition doesn't make any sense. Role playing is simply the act of assuming a different role. You can always just imagine going on the training missions in your head, like they do in D&D - and D&D is clearly more mechanically complicated of a ruleset than SS2, so you can't say it's just make believe. I mean, try figuring out THAC0!

Anyway, I was linked here from planetdeusex.ru (that's the biggest and only russian-speaking deus ex forum in the known universe FYI) and I have to respectfully disagree with the positive feedback in this thread. For one, the devs clearly intended for there to be 3 distinct classes with their own training paths, so thinking that one knows better than venerable game designer is a little ludicrous. No offence, I appreciate the effort you put into this work, I just think it was misplaced. And the training descriptions are very indulgent and completely clash with the tone of the vanilla game. Like, a Blackadder reference in a sci-fi horror game? Sorry Rorodude I don't mean to insult your writing but I would not take the game seriously had I read these briefings during my first playthrough.

Listen, I want to be constructive about this because I am not just trying to shit on your work. I think you should continue trying! Look for the kickass SCP mod for how to implement changes that are authentic to the original design philosophy. And if you want me to, I can rewrite the briefings to at least match the tone of the originals. I have been writing Thief fanfiction for a few years now so I know what I'm talking about. Just let me know man; no hard feelings.

I think the career selection was a good idea to immersively role play your career, but the execution falls woefully short and ends up being way more cumbersome and confusing than a skill tree.

What it amounts to is being dropped 3 times into the same(ish) corridor and then going through a door, upon which you are still presented with an interface describing anything interesting that may have happened. How is it role play if you can't play your career missions? And it never feels like a year had passed. It's just an annoyingly repetitive dungeon you have to run through to get to the real game.

^this

+ the earth & space station level never occurred to me as especially believable.. they are way too gamey, there is a huge gap between them & the realism / immersion of the von braun

haha, valid point.

Another awesome mod.
One question though. Is it possible to extend the in-game starting shuttle scene on station.mis just a bit so that it doesn't abruptly gets cut off?
Well, in a perfect world making the player unable to move for the scene would make sense too, if thats possible at all.. With all that we could imagine starting with the shuttle.
Alternatively if thats possible to let the player watch the shuttle and move in the hangar but maybe put the activator/tripwire when opening the door/going through? I know this might be much but it could help with immersion..

Also just maybe you might consider giving the player a psi-amp if possible, since you removed the first one in Med/Sci in your amazing SS2-RSD mod? Can be harsh to try Psi without one until the next one in Med/Sci2(?).

See if anything I'd have preferred to have each of the training bits to be mini missions of say 10 minutes each (like the training mission competition we attempted here several years ago). More content rather than less preferred for me. That said if it was made an option somewhere (like a pop up on starting a new game asking if you wanted to skip that section) then cool.

Honestly, I feel like the whole character creation sequence could have been made significantly better if they just gave you 3 different station missions

Lots of things can be made better when you have infinite time and budget.