[Squad] RF1995 v.1.3.7 (NOT updated for ITB 1.2)

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Lemonymous
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:29 am

[Squad] RF1995 v.1.3.7 (NOT updated for ITB 1.2)

Postby Lemonymous » Wed Mar 28, 2018 5:04 pm

Warning:
This mod has not been updated for ITB 1.2. For bug free experience, use with ITB 1.1 - otherwise use at your own risk.

See here for an updated version of this mod.



"How this squad got mixed up in the earth-saving business is unknown. Now where do the Vek hide their flag?"

Image Image Image

Image Image


RF1995 1.3.6 - requires mod loader 2.3.0 or later
Mod Loader - (originally made by Cyberboy2000 and continued by kartoFlane)
Special thanks to kartoFlane for his code library modApiExt, which this mod uses heavily.

Installation
1. Make sure Into the Breach is up to date.
2. Find your Into the Breach directory. If you are playing ITB under Steam, this directory can be found via Steam Library -> Right Click Into the Breach -> Properties -> Local Files -> Browse Local Files.

3. Scroll down to Readme.md here, and follow the instructions there to install the mod loader.
4. Download this mod and place the 'RF1995' folder into the 'mods' folder inside your ITB directory.

5. Run game - you're now good to go!

Mod Options
Click Mod Content -> Configure Mods -> RF1995

Toggle weapons from this squad. When you are not playing RF1995 they can appear in the store for other squads to buy.


Changelog

Code: Select all

1.3.7 - fixed an incompatibility issue with Into the Wild. Updating either mod should prevent Snubnose cannon to halt the game.
1.3.6 - fixed a possible compatibility issue with other mods using the C utils dll.
1.3.5 - updated all my mods with correct modApiExt versioning. If you encounter bugs, update all your mods.
1.3.4 - fixed mistake causing Snubnose Cannon's tipimage to not play.
1.3.3 - modApiExt compatibility with other mods not using it's latest commits
1.3.2 - Changed preview of multishot weapons to indicate total damage on pawns, as well as better preview of push damage. (still imperfect due to game limitations)
1.3.1 - Corrected preview damage on frozen buildings/mountains (unable to detect shield)
1.3.0

- Restructured and made code as modular as possible.

- Minelayer design pass.
- Changed names of units and weapons in order to make
  most of them unique.
- Option to add each weapon to the store.
- Builds the squad of 3 randomly at startup.

1.2.2 - Compatibility Update
1.2.1 - Changed to only 1 pre-made squad of Jeep, Helicopter and Tank.
   Minelayer is available in Random and Custom squads.

1.2.0 - Made compatible with Mod Loader 2.2.0,
   and incompatible with Mod Loader of previous versions.

1.1.6 - Minor fix.
1.1.5 - Minelayer will no longer cause error in 'Test Mech'

1.1.4

Changes:
- Mine now deals 3 damage, down from kill.

Fixes:
- Mechs will heal as normal in the final mission part 2.
- Squad icons have team color.

1.1.2 - Hotfix
1.1.1 - Bandaid Hotfix
1.1.0 - Launcher update.

New:
- Deployment warning for non-massive units.
- New team color.

Changes:
- Launcher Mech renamed to Minelayer Mech.
- New sprite: Minelayer Mech.
- New sprite: Launcher Weapon.
- New sprite: Mine Weapon.
- Minelayer Mech now has 3 move, up from 2.
- Launcher Weapon changed slightly: "Launch a damaging missile at a tile in clear view, pushing 3 adjacent tiles."
- Mine Weapon changed to a passive ability: "Leave a mine after moving."
- Mine Weapon gains a new upgrade: "All Mechs gain immunity to mines."

Fixes:
- Tank Cannon now shows the correct damage preview when targeting shielded buildings.

1.0.0 - Initial Release

A squad of 4 units; Jeep, Tank, Helicopter and Launcher can be customized into a 3 Mech squad of your liking.
None of the mechs are massive, so unless they can fly, don't deploy them in water.


Old versions - may require older mod loaders: 1.2.2, 1.1.6, 1.0.1
Last edited by Lemonymous on Sun Jan 09, 2022 10:59 pm, edited 29 times in total.
Captain Trek
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:17 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Captain Trek » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:59 am

EDIT: Please note that this review is out of date. The Launcher mech (now known as the Minelayer mech) is now balanced and has received a substantial facelift. The squad's overall rating is now A+, Minelayer included.


Apologies for the belated response. I wanted to achieve a 4-island hard victory with every combination of these mechs before reviewing this squad.

To be honest? It really wasn't worth it.

Now don't get me wrong, three out of the four mechs in this squad are great. When you play with the Jeep, Helicopter, and Tank, they work wonderfully together to create a "speedy glass cannon" playstyle that really keeps you on your toes (especially around webbers), but feels balanced. The Grenade and Rocket offer very unique, interesting gameplay opportunities, and the Cannon does too once you get Double Shot (Double Shot + Force Amp might just be my favorite combo that I've thus far discovered with a mod squad). Indeed, all three mechs have excellent upgrade options that further expand the aforementioned interesting opportunities while providing enough punch to challenge the late game. The lack of Massive has a possibility of screwing you over when you're on Pinnacle, but you're usually quite able to work around it and it certainly adds a dimension of challenge to the squad that no other squad has. There is if course always a chance of getting screwed over by an unavoidable block spawns mission and the overall difficulty can fluctuate significantly depending on whether or not your pilots get +HP, but there isn't really anything you can do about that, so I won't hold it too much against you.

They also look great. Their sprites are nicely detailed and their small size helps emphasize their underdog feel and lack of Massive. Very nice unique weapon portraits as well. I have no complaints about their aesthetics.

The Launcher has none of these qualities.

Slow and generally terrible, instead of offering anything unique that lets you work around the problems the game presents (even the Tank at least has +1 movement compared to the Rift Walkers' Cannon Mech), the Launcher is instead a flatly inferior version of the Rift Walkers' Artillery Mech. Sure, being able to fire the Missile adjacent is a little handy sometimes, but that pales in comparison to not having the arcing shot to start off with and having to pay two whole cores for it, which feels like an absolute slap in the face. And even then it still doesn't have Buildings Immune and thus is still a flatly inferior version of of the Artillery Mech! The inflexibility and lack of speed just screws you over. Across all three 4-island victories I completed with it (one with the Tank and Helicopter, one with the Jeep and Helicopter, one with the Jeep and Tank), the thing never felt like it could truly pull its weight and the three victories were by far my lowest scoring 4-island hard victories thus far with any squad, the runs feeling blatantly underpowered throughout (it should say something that I picked up an Ice Generator after the second island on one of them and still wasn't completely sure I could actually win). Indeed, during one of those runs I picked up a Vulcan Artillery and then hardly ever used the Missile again despite never upgrading the Vulcan! The mines, meanwhile, rarely come into play because, again, the thing is so fucking slow, and generally feel like a gimmick that does nothing to address the mech's true problems.

Its sprite also lacks in detail compared to the others. What even is it? An M270? If so, why is it so slow and why does it have so many hit points? It feels out of place next to the other three mechs and the Missile's weapon portrait is lazily recycled from the Helicopter's weapon.

Frankly, the Launcher Mech lets this otherwise really fun and unique squad down in a big way. I just have nothing good to say about it, whereas I have everything good to say about the other three. That's why I'm going to give this squad two ratings:

Without the Launcher, this squad rates at a solid A grade, the first intended-to-be-balanced mod squad to do so. It's a squad I would highly recommend everyone give a try and challenge themselves to make it work.

With the Launcher, this squad rates at a B-. It loses a letter grade for being underpowered and the Launcher being awful and uninteresting, and loses another third of a letter grade for the Launcher lacking in polish compared to the other three mechs. I strongly urge everybody who plays this squad to steer well clear of the Launcher, as unwarranted frustration is never a good substitute for legitimate challenge.
Last edited by Captain Trek on Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:01 am, edited 5 times in total.
Lemonymous
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:29 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Lemonymous » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:58 am

Captain Trek wrote:[Review]


Thank you for your review!

First, let me tell you I am sorry you felt it was not worth it playing with the Launcher, especially considering how many runs you did with it. I do try to make all my units fun, and in my tests it was. Unfortunately, I seem to have failed.
It is indeed supposed to represent some kind of an M270 even though it doesn't really look it. Full disclosure; none of the mechs are entirely of my creation, and some barely any at all. The sprites used are modified sprites (some only to add team color and missing animations) from the base game. Tank and Launcher(artillery) are from Archive Island missions and only changed because I got confused about which unit was my tank or launcher on those missions. Helicopter is an unused sprite, as is the Jeep.

To answer your questions about the Launcher. It's slow, tanky, ranged and has mines because that is how the unit from the game the squad is based on is. Simple as that. Personally, I enjoyed playing it as a frontline artillery that mined spawn points, and I could usually push or tank something when needed. You can push units onto it with a Rocket or the Tank. Mining Alpha Vek is also something it can do, that the rest of the team can't. I'm sad to hear you had none of that fun with it. I will take your thoughts into advicement and try to rebalance it while keeping it's traits intact in an attempt to make it fun for others as well.

Different change ideas from the top of my head:
Starting damage: 2
Upgrade damage: 2
Artillery upgrade cost: 1
Use Mine to escape Webs.
Massive. (with change in sprite)
Push on target hit as well.
No Push towards the Launcher.
Move 3. (not a personal favorite)
Sprite and upgrade image overhaul.
Others?

Regardless of the Launcher, I am very glad to hear you had success with the remaining three units. I was initially very unsure about the Jeep, but I too were having good results with it. Sometimes you luck out I suppose. I am still unsure about Push upgrade though. One one hand it does give you options, but with the close proximity of your attacks as well as your low hp, it is sometimes a double edged sword. However, since you mention nothing of this, I will keep it as it is.


All in all I enjoyed reading your review. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for taking the time to playtest so extensively!

Now I will do my best and see if I can pull the Launcher up to where the rest of the units are. In the meantime, I will make Jeep, Tank and Helicopter the base squad.
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stylesrj
Posts: 3644
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:54 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby stylesrj » Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:57 am

I should mention I've done a video run on the RF1995. Without the Launcher though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27EaIP88zpE
Lemonymous
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:29 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Lemonymous » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:25 am

Thank you for showcasing the squad. Looked like you had a bit of fun there as well :)
Captain Trek
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:17 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Captain Trek » Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:21 am

This is the squad (in the form of Jeep, Chopper, and Tank, obviously) I find myself coming back to the most often when I just want to play around. Their fragility makes repeat playthroughs engaging, but their speed makes them great for skylarking and having fun. It's a very good combo for replayability.
Lemonymous
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:29 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Lemonymous » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:26 am

Squad has been updated.
Captain Trek
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:17 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Captain Trek » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:19 am

I can't complete the final island because all three of my mechs return a "something went wrong in Move::GetTargetArea" error when I click on them, leaving them unable to be moved. This is a fresh install of the game with only the new version of RF1995 and the latest version of the modloader.

Image

As you can see, there's nothing out-of-the-ordinary going on either.
Lemonymous
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:29 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Lemonymous » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:52 am

Sorry about that Captain Trek. It is a bug on my side. I have disabled mines on the final island so you can move freely. I will try to get the mines working there as soon as possible.
Captain Trek
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:17 am

Re: [Squad] RF1995

Postby Captain Trek » Thu Apr 19, 2018 3:43 am

Huh. Whatever you did, it's made it so that the mechs retain their lost HP for the second half of the final battle.

Also, I'm a bit annoyed that a Blast Psion can spawn and Vek can then run onto a mine, dealing unavoidable damage.