[Obsolete] SS2 Community Patch (SCP) Beta 4

[665c15eacc018Deus]

That's the idea haha !

By the way co-op seemed to be working pretty fine overall, except for elevators.

[665c15eacc393RoSoDude]

I had a thought that SHODAN's "Good job, here's some cybermodules" messages should only play AFTER playing any audio log that triggers the objective completion (the one that comes to mind is in the Rickenbacker crew quarters that you have to find the keycode from an audio log in). I don't know if this is possible to do.

[665c15eacc538voodoo47]

I don't think so - the Shodan message will trigger after you pick the log up, so if you happen to also play it right away, you will get both blahblahs.

[665c15eacc6b1RoSoDude]

Could you guys maybe give some explanation as to why you altered the SHODAN reveal to make the walls fade away rather than physically moving out of place? The changelist in the readme file simply states the following:

Would be much cooler if wall/floor/ceiling faded away instead of just dropping down below //done

I found the old animation very iconic and memorable, making it appear as if SHODAN was actually altering the physical space itself rather than just causing some illusion. Even if it really is an illusion, making it appear real adds to the feeling of disorientation it seems the devs were going for.

[665c15eacc80fZylonBane]

The new animation is exactly the same as the old animation, except the wall pieces fade out instead of visibly parking themselves on the floor and ceiling... which always looked lame.

Having them fade out removes any possibility of people thinking that SHODAN installed an elaborate hydraulics system in Polito's office.

[665c15eacc962voodoo47]

yeah, they move away and fade away. the explanation is that if we can add cool stuff that fits, we do it. that's why the smoke is smokier, fog foggier, zap-zaps zappier, brass cases brassier etc.

also, the greater reaver projectile is now purple, to make it very obvious that catching it with your face is a very bad, insta-death idea.


but checked the current setup just to be sure, and I think maybe they could fade away a bit slower.

[665c15eacca50ZylonBane]

I'd be fine with that.

[665c15eaccf17RoSoDude]

My impression of it in-game was that the walls were quickly fading out while just slightly moving away from the player, since it was a rather dominant effect. If they start to fade just as they're already sliding out of view, that would lessen this impression and ensure the mechanical look of the action remains. I still claim it's not a bad thing that it's initially unclear to the player whether SHODAN is actually physically manipulating the environment, especially since it's shortly resolved when the room fades back to normal anyway, but I can also agree it's bad if the objects just kinda stay put in full view of the player.

I'm all for new effects and subtle improvements, just as long as they augment the original design rather than taking away from it. That was my concern with the change (since it's one of the most important moments in the game narratively). I certainly appreciate the work you guys are doing to continue to polish the game; I'm always recommending the mod to new players.

You can expect further grumbling from me about the Tank O/S upgrade and the base unpowered protection from the Powered Armor, though.

[665c15eacd342voodoo47]

ah, I definitely wanted to lower that to 10% when unpowered, adding it to the tracker right away.

[665c15eacd5afRoSoDude]

I'll humbly request that it be pushed back even further down to 0% since the item is already attractive enough, requiring only Strength 3 to obtain the second highest protection value in the game assuming you keep it charged (which is not hard to do especially with some points in MAINT). With 10% protection uncharged, if you generously assume that half the time it's unpowered, that's an average of 30% protection, still a no-brainer choice over Light and even Medium Combat Armor. Relying on it should involve some real risk to balance out the reward.

(I appreciate a reduction either way, though)

[665c15eacd6fdvoodoo47]

no to the complete removal - the description of the armor strongly suggests that there should be some protection going on even with no power (this has been discussed and thought through, so I'm not making a decision on the fly here).

we are trying to fix these kinds of discrepancies as well - sometimes it's the item that receives a modification, sometimes it's the description. another example is the auto-repair unit - its description said that the item would be repaired to a pristine (10) condition, but that would be too good, so we modified the description instead.

[665c15eacda79ZylonBane]

another example is the auto-repair unit - its description said that the item would be repaired to a pristine (10) condition, but that would be too good, so we modified the description instead.

We did?

[665c15eacdb91voodoo47]

yep, the pristine stuff has been kicked out of the description - as mentioned, the autorepair unit is essentially just a broken item unlocker, not even giving the measly +1 condition boost to weapons as the Repair skill does.

[665c15eacdd60ahuna]

Hi there,

I'm playing the game with your mod and right now everything looks fine. But today I was in Dr. Watsons Office and I did not find a Way back up. There is the elevator, but both switches (top and bottom) are missing. You see it in the attached screenshot. There is a dark part on the wall where the switch is supposed to be. If I disable your mod, I see them. If I enable it, they are gone. So I disabled it, pushed the button, and then enabled the mod again. Now I'm wondering If there is anything else I do not see Apart from that I really like your work!

Regards, Michael
[Bildschirmfoto 2018-08-23 um 19.15.17.png expired]

[665c15eace251voodoo47]

you have activated the mod after starting a new game, and that's simply not supported. you need to start a new game with SCP already activated to fix this (also, the mod cannot be disabled or enabled during a playthrough).

SCP requires System Shock 2 patched to version 2.46+ (SS2Tool) and you need to start a new game.

[665c15eace35fahuna]

Sorry, my bad. Thanks for the answer! Regard, Michael

[665c15eace449KillerBudgie]

So... is the next release going to be Beta 5 or Final?

[665c15eace568voodoo47]

final? this will go on as long as we draw breath, we might get out of beta eventually, but we'll never be completely done, as things will never be perfect.

anyway yeah, beta5, now delayed, hopefully coming next week or so. but hey, you are getting an extra Terri audio clip, so well worth it.

[665c15eace64aKillerBudgie]

I was hoping it would've been out yesterday. But okay. I'll wait until then.

[665c15eace728Silversharp]

So what's the ETA on beta 5? You can't hide forever!

[665c15eacea0dsarge945]

I would love to see Beta 5 as well, but I am happy to wait.

I assume all the released SCP minimods will break with b5?

[665c15eaceae3voodoo47]

why would they?

[665c15eacebd6ZylonBane]

Some people just like to assume bad things. It makes them feel smart.

[665c15eacecdavoodoo47]

one way or another, mods breaking with a regular update would mean something is set up really shoddily (Fallout 4 experience maybe?), around this place it's "everything works unless stated otherwise".