Balance Mod

1246

Comments

  • twilitebluetwiliteblue bug stalker Join Date: 2003-02-04 Member: 13116Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited January 2012
    I think Spores.kSporeDustCloudRadius is a little small at 1.5. I would suggest increasing it slightly, to 2.0.

    BTW where is the lastest changelog and download link? I can't find it. Ver 2.3 is quite old isn't it?
  • endarendar Join Date: 2010-07-27 Member: 73256Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited January 2012
    dePARA, I'd love to get the code you have to display the changes while players are in the ready room. I don't have the skills to do it.
    edit: ok i see how it can be done (the messages). ignore above.

    and blue, the mod hasnt been updated in a while, the changes made are much "simpler" in nature by dePARA, and are mostly just to the balance.lua and similar files.
  • endarendar Join Date: 2010-07-27 Member: 73256Members, Squad Five Blue
    Have you thought of resurrecting this Schimmel? If its even been long enough to call it a resurrection.

    I now fully understand why its up to the community at this stage to balance the game. UWE don't need to care about balance at this stage, because any efforts are wasted each patch. Time balanced is time wasted.

    However, time balanced by community (schimmel/dePARA) is wasted in the sense of developing the game, but not wasted for people who are actually playing NS2 for fun, and coming back to play night after night because they are starting to enjoy the game. Balance on!
  • AsranielAsraniel Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 724Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Retired Community Developer
    <!--quoteo(post=1895076:date=Jan 17 2012, 10:50 AM:name=endar)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (endar @ Jan 17 2012, 10:50 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1895076"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Have you thought of resurrecting this Schimmel? If its even been long enough to call it a resurrection.

    I now fully understand why its up to the community at this stage to balance the game. UWE don't need to care about balance at this stage, because any efforts are wasted each patch. Time balanced is time wasted.

    However, time balanced by community (schimmel/dePARA) is wasted in the sense of developing the game, but not wasted for people who are actually playing NS2 for fun, and coming back to play night after night because they are starting to enjoy the game. Balance on!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Schimmel is now an official dev, so i doubt he has enough time to continue this mod.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited January 2012
    To counter the early cc rushes a little bit, i activate the free initial mac again.

    Open the balancemisc.lua and set the value to one.
    Then replace the file: <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?r5th88cfnr0hasq" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/?r5th88cfnr0hasq</a>

    With the mac, aliens have another target and the mac, if survive the first rush waves, can repair the cc.

    Thx to schimmel again for the lua-file.
  • ZycaRZycaR Join Date: 2002-11-12 Member: 8263Members
    great touch that initial MAC. I miss it, once 192 comes...
    Always success to destroy MAC in first skulk rush :)
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited January 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1896630:date=Jan 22 2012, 02:55 PM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Jan 22 2012, 02:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1896630"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->To counter the early cc rushes a little bit, i activate the free initial mac again.

    Open the balancemisc.lua and set the value to one.
    Then replace the file: <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?r5th88cfnr0hasq" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/?r5th88cfnr0hasq</a>

    With the mac, aliens have another target and the mac, if survive the first rush waves, can repair the cc.

    Thx to schimmel again for the lua-file.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Giving a MAC to counter that problem is not really the right solution.
    If you wanna balance the game right, have summit with static spawns(only way it works well at the moment).
    And give CC and Hive their HP back after the HP nerf they got some patches ago.
    When the random spawns came in, Charlie wanted to have 2minute games, so he gave random spawns and CC/Hive health nerfs.
    To fix this you will have to revert it. Give hive and CC their HP back, and make static spawns.
    The best thing is, you don't need a new client version of summit to play static spawns.
    Just overwrite the servers ns2_summit with this one, everyone can join and play still:
    <a href="http://zeikko.fi/ns2/ns2_summit.level" target="_blank">http://zeikko.fi/ns2/ns2_summit.level</a>
    For tram, you would need a screnario like this to balance it:
    Marines spawn in the old marine spawn, aliens in either Server Room or the old alien start(cant remember new names).
    The solution is not a MAC, MACs should be something you unlock through your robotics facility, imo.
    Also, your MAC currently spawns inside the command chair, so it's pretty damn annoying for aliens.
    Or rather; overpowered, because you can't kill it.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    The mac didnt spawn in the cc anymore with the new lua-file.
    Sure it didnt help much, its just a little "counter" as i mention before.
  • KrizzenKrizzen Join Date: 2011-12-16 Member: 138181Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1894927:date=Jan 16 2012, 12:57 PM:name=Harimau)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Harimau @ Jan 16 2012, 12:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1894927"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think this is useful on a... player vs player level perhaps, but on a team vs team level, there's still so much missing content that it would be wasted effort.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    If a lot of people enjoy it, it surely isn't a wasted effort.
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited January 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1896682:date=Jan 22 2012, 07:24 PM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Jan 22 2012, 07:24 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1896682"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The mac didnt spawn in the cc anymore with the new lua-file.
    Sure it didnt help much, its just a little "counter" as i mention before.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Try using my suggestion, remove the MAC, and give CC and hive their HP back.
    Also, if you want balanced games, the current summit or tram is not feasable.
    <b>The maps will never be balanced as long as both teams are able to spawn at the same locations.</b>
    <b>Asymmetric teams need asymmetric spawns. Or they will be at large disadvantages.</b>
    That is mostly due to <b>vent systems</b> near the tech point areas, and the actual space of the starting areas(hiding spots, LOS blocking).
    Also, with random spawns, the distance between the bases is a pain in the ass, and causes way too many boring 1 minute games.
    For now the only balanced spawning scenario on summit is aliens in atrium and marines in sub access(link in post above).
    You can put that on your server, and people won't need a new version of summit on their clients.
    Later on I hope that psykoman will remake the vent systems and rework flight control to make it a feasable spawn for marines.
    That way we can have two good scenarios on summit. Sub vs Atrium or FC vs DC.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    I increased the com-chair HP and Armor a little bit.
    Only see cc-rushes and thats not only cause random spawn-points. The CC in 1.93 feel so fragile and goes down in sec.

    balancehealth.lua
    HP + 20% to 3600
    Armor +50% to 1500

    Its still going down very quick comppare older versions.
    With the initial-MAC Marines can survive the first rush waves easier now.

    btw, i like the random spawnpoints. Sure its not "balanced", but make the game more interesting.
    Shade need an rework in my opinion . The "rushing-problem" is cause permanent cloak while running and not cause some vents near marinestart.
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=1897939:date=Jan 28 2012, 08:41 PM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Jan 28 2012, 08:41 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1897939"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I increased the com-chair HP and Armor a little bit.
    Only see cc-rushes and thats not only cause random spawn-points. The CC in 1.93 feel so fragile and goes down in sec.

    balancehealth.lua
    HP + 20% to 3600
    Armor +50% to 1500

    Its still going down very quick comppare older versions.
    With the initial-MAC Marines can survive the first rush waves easier now.

    btw, i like the random spawnpoints. Sure its not "balanced", but make the game more interesting.
    Shade need an rework in my opinion . The "rushing-problem" is cause permanent cloak while running and not cause some vents near marinestart.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The shade is just as much of a problem as hiding spots and vents are, in marine starts.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    I also increase fade BlinkEnergyCost from 35 to 50 in balance.lua.

    This prevent Blinkspam and fades have to retreat earlier, more hit&run style.
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited January 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1897961:date=Jan 29 2012, 12:10 AM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Jan 29 2012, 12:10 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1897961"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I also increase fade BlinkEnergyCost from 35 to 50 in balance.lua.

    This prevent Blinkspam and fades have to retreat earlier, more hit&run style.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Hopefully we will have this implemented soon:
    <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=115631&st=40" target="_blank">Fade blink momentum</a>
    A game where it is being used:
    <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eNjayY_xkrg"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eNjayY_xkrg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>

    It defintly makes the fades need to play more carefully, they have less time to be in the blink state
    But they have a powerful momentum and air control to get around with, UWE tried to implement this feature, but they ran into the same problems as Yuuki first did.
    It's working pretty great compared to the vanilla one, in vanilla momentum is only preserved when going directly up, or directly down, and the adrenaline drain is way too low when you have momentum to work with. The mod increases the drain the more you stay in the blink state, to encourage small blinks. But you can still do some escape blinks, and it works well against flamethrowers, make sure you have energy to escape and youre fine, if not, youre dead.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    I nerf the Lerk a bit on our Server.

    So here are all changes that actually running:

    Initial-Mac

    balancehealth.lua
    kLerkArmorFullyUpgradedAmount = 20
    kBlinkEnergyCost = 50
    kCommandStationHealth = 3600 kCommandStationArmor = 1500

    balance.lua
    kSpikeMaxDamage = 22
    kSpikeMinDamage = 18
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=1898098:date=Jan 29 2012, 11:38 PM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Jan 29 2012, 11:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1898098"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I nerf the Lerk a bit on our Server.

    So here are all changes that actually running:

    Initial-Mac

    balancehealth.lua
    kLerkArmorFullyUpgradedAmount = 20
    kBlinkEnergyCost = 50
    kCommandStationHealth = 3600 kCommandStationArmor = 1500

    balance.lua
    kSpikeMaxDamage = 22
    kSpikeMinDamage = 18<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Do you have lerk hide armor on your server?
    It's that you should change for the lerk :P (from 2 to 0)
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    Good point swalk.

    I remove the Lerk hide armor in balancemisc.lua and give him his normal armor back:
    kLerkArmorFullyUpgradedAmount = 30
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited February 2012
    New build (1.94), new tweaks :)

    I increase Onos hide armor to 7 in balancehealth.lua to help in his role of a finisher and increase bilebomb-damage to 225 in balance.lua (see changelog of 1.94).

    Increased Onos gore damaga to 90.
  • swalkswalk Say hello to my little friend. Join Date: 2011-01-20 Member: 78384Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited February 2012
    Dont increase his hide armor, increase his actual HP instead :P It's so low compared to NS1 :P
    I personally don't like the hide armor, as it's a hidden game mechanic that's making the game unnessesarily complex.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited February 2012
    Removing the Hide Armor didnt work well for onos. There seem to an an internal maximum for hp and armor.
    I increased it to 900 hp and 700 armor, but shown hp was 650.

    Wihtout the hide armor, onos die in seconds.

    So here are the actual Changes on HBZ1:

    balance.lua
    kGoreDamage = 90 (default 70)
    kBlinkEnergyCost = 50 (default 35)
    kBileBombDamage = 225 (default 200)

    balancehealth.lua
    kOnosHideArmor = 6

    balancemisc.lua
    kFrenzyMinHealth = 6 (default 10)

    frenzymixin.lua
    FrenzyMixin.kFrenzyAmount = 0.20 (default 0.33)
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    After a long time we have a build (200) that need some tweaking.

    Lerk bilebomb is pretty useless right now. We test these values yesterday on our server and they seem to work much better:
    balance.lua
    kBileBombDamage = 40
    kBileBombDuration = 5

    You have to change this too or the marinearmor will be also involved:
    damagetypes.lua
    kCorrodeDamagePlayerArmorScalar = 0.05

    With catalyse you have fades in around 5 min on the field. As long as you can use catalyze on hives i remove the effect on our HBZ servers:
    kHiveCatalystDuration = 0
    kHiveCatalystPercentageIncrease = 0

    btw. if you want remove the stuttering and have no problem playing without sound, visit this thread:
    <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=117103" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=117103</a>
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited March 2012
    I retweak the bilebomb again, cause it didnt fit.

    Halfed ARC-damage also.
    The ARC in NS2 has the same damage like in NS1=900, BUT in NS1 wasnt an damagetype scaler.
    So, through the kDamageType.StructuresOnly an ARC can deal up to 1800 damage.
    Wich results in: 1 shot, all defence is down insta.

    These are the new changes on the HBZ servers:

    balance.lua
    kBileBombDamage = 65
    kBileBombDuration = 4
    kARCDamage = 450
    kHiveCatalystDuration = 0
    kHiveCatalystPercentageIncrease = 0

    damagetypes.lua
    kCorrodeDamagePlayerArmorScalar = 0.05
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    New tweaks for 202 on HBZ3.

    Right now the onos has these damagtypes both on 100:
    Goredamagetype=Heavy (Extra damage vs. armor)
    Smashdamagetype=Doors (Like Normal but also does damage to Doors. Nothing else damages Doors.)

    Did we have doors in 202? Yes, but they are still not weldable, so this damagetype is useless right now.
    So i change the smash-damagetype to structures, wich ends in 200 dmg to structures.

    I increase the Onos cost to 90 to prevent the early Onos.

    The arc still has the same values like in my last post, wich result in: 1 shot, everything is down.
    So i halfed the arc-damage again.

    And i make the spawnpoints fixed on tram, cause this map didnt work with random spawns.
    If aliens start in shipping and marines in repair for example, aliens have no chance to get an 2nd hive up.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    Ok, everything under 300 damage is useless for smash vs buildings, so i change it back to 300 again but increase the energycost from 13 to 25 and change the damagetype to structuresonly.

    kSmashDamage = 300
    kSmashDamageType = kDamageType.StructuresOnly
    kSmashFireDelay = 1.9
    kSmashEnergyCost = 25

    These changes are only on HBZ3 for testing.
  • twilitebluetwiliteblue bug stalker Join Date: 2003-02-04 Member: 13116Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1920540:date=Apr 1 2012, 08:42 AM:name=dePARA)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dePARA @ Apr 1 2012, 08:42 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1920540"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Ok, everything under 300 damage is useless for smash vs buildings, so i change it back to 300 again but increase the energycost from 13 to 25 and change the damagetype to structuresonly.

    kSmashDamage = 300
    kSmashDamageType = kDamageType.StructuresOnly
    kSmashFireDelay = 1.9
    kSmashEnergyCost = 25

    These changes are only on HBZ3 for testing.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Why not change Smash to 150 Structural damage? It would be similar to the current (100) damage against players. ie one shot marines without armor, two hits to kill marines with full armor.
    Gore still deals more DPS against players for less energy, so these Smash changes would be balanced.
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2012
    Ok, good point.
    I change smash damage to 150 structural and energycost to 22.
    Increase gore-enerycost from 12 to 15 so it fit with the changed smash values.

    I revert the ARC-damage to 900 also, cause there seem to be an bug that arcs only fire every 2nd shot.

    So here are the current Changes on HBZ3:

    kGoreDamage = 100
    kGoreDamageType = kDamageType.Heavy
    kGoreFireDelay = 0.5
    kGoreEnergyCost = 15
    kGoreMarineTossEnergyCost = 12

    kSmashDamage = 150
    kSmashDamageType = kDamageType.Structural
    kSmashFireDelay = 1.9
    kSmashEnergyCost = 22

    Onos Cost 90

    Reduce the ARC Armor and HP a bit to give aliens a chance vs arctrains:
    From: kARCHealth = 2400 kARCArmor = 300
    to: kARCHealth = 2000 kARCArmor = 200
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2012
    203 is out.

    I stay with my smash-values on HBZ3:

    kSmashDamage = 150
    kSmashDamageType = kDamageType.Structural
    kSmashFireDelay = 1.9
    kSmashEnergyCost = 22

    Lowered ARC HP and armor also: kARCHealth = 2000 kARCArmor = 200

    And i test lowered starting res on HBZ3:

    Startres 15 (default 25)
    To compensate that startres for the gorge i reduce its structure cost:

    kHydraCost = 7 (default 10)
    kMiniCystCost = 1 (default 3)

    This has different effects:
    Com need the help of an Gorge to build cystchains again.
    No more 2 min lerk, 5 min Fade and 10 min Onos.
    Marines have enough res for mines, but have to wait longer for shotgun then.

    These changes affect the game till 10 min, then it runs "normal" again.
  • XariusXarius Join Date: 2003-12-21 Member: 24630Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    edited April 2012
    These changes sounds amazing, just like it should be on all servers :D

    Could you also experiment with lower p.res costs for gorge hydras and cysts? I think that would help in making the gorge a lot more viable.
  • SewlekSewlek The programmer previously known as Schimmel Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16247Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Developer
    door damage type is the same as structural (but also deals damage to doors)
  • dePARAdePARA Join Date: 2011-04-29 Member: 96321Members, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=1921782:date=Apr 4 2012, 02:14 PM:name=Sewlek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sewlek @ Apr 4 2012, 02:14 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1921782"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->door damage type is the same as structural (but also deals damage to doors)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    From damagetypes.lua:
    "Like Normal but also does damage to Doors. Nothing else damages Doors"
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