New guy with Heroes Unleashed addon idea

[Jack Wachter]

Hey, I'm new to the forums but have played a decent amount of GR (mostly SP, but have done some MP, both coop and pvp). I've played around with a lot of mods and have spent time making personal mods for myself, so I have a grasp of how the file system works. Right now I have a personal mod that is pretty close to what I want it to be (basically could use some fine tuning) outside of potentially adding content to it. My goal with this mod is to make a public version of this mod (so I'm trying to figure out the whole permissions thing since I don't have the skills to make new skins, weapon models, etc. I am aware of the Sharing is Caring thread and have been looking at it to see what I can use. Will gladly credit all content I use that's not mine with source and author).

As for my idea, it is an addon to Heroes Unleashed. There are some minor gripes I have with HU that this mod corrects and then some: semi auto firerate too slow, ammo too low (especially with the reloadable rockets, also it's nice to be able to switch to a fresh magazine between engagements). I've also made a weapons directory with all of the kits from the various units in HU, organized by primary weapon. The BLUFOR folder (basically US units as well as SAS and KSK) has 109 weapon folders while the OPFOR folder (Russian units) has 52 folders. See screenshots for glimpse of what I'm working with. Using this weapons directory, I've greatly increased the weapon selection for SP (rifleman for regular Ghost has almost 3000 kits, no joke). I've used a weapon type prefix system on the kits to aid with organization (thank you bulk rename for existing). MP kits and ammo haven't been changed as of this post.

The theme I'm currently working with (and current title) is "Plausible Deniability." The increased weapon selection (including enemy weapons) aids with this idea as well as the skins I have setup right now. The regular Ghosts are from Serpentine Dream Theory (I love the "SOF" feel they have over regular soldier) while specialists are CIA SAD from Blood Oil (IMPORTANT QUESTION: I know that Blood Oil is on the sharing is caring list, but have seen that Eskwaad has been particular with his permissions on his skins. Am I ok to use these characters as specialists, where the ONLY modifications I made are kit path, stats, and making them specialists, or should I take them out and find something else?).

Main adjustments/content so far in a nice bulleted list:

• Heavy Body Armor (from HU extras)
• Ghillie Suit Ghost Sniper uses legacy camo (from HU extras)
• GRS Map Pack 3 added (slightly different killhouse from Killhouse Double, plus some missions that feel more deliberate than the random missions)
• Kit compiling and weapon selection greatly increased (definitely has room to trim)
• Ammo increase (not perfect, could use touchups)
• SP and MP Ghosts (Serpentine Dream Theory, looking at putting in some of the legacy ghillie suit snipers as well)
• SP Specialists, all have max body armor (currently CIA SAD from Blood Oil, see above bolded part for question I have about permissions)
• Panoramic Night Vision (got to have access to the best gear, now if only an actual in-game model existed for these)
• MP5SD with magnifier had no zoom. I fixed that

Things I want to do and/or considering doing:

• Adding in the missions from Blood Oil and Serpentine Dream Theory (I should be ok to do this because of Sharing is Caring thread if I understand it right, will credit. If my understanding of the permissions is wrong, please correct me)
• New campaign and/or new missions (not priority, plus don't have the skills atm. Would be both SP and COOP)
• Maybe give all SP Ghosts max body armor? Not sure about this, would leave MP guys alone though
• Adjust MP kits to increase ammo and on team vs team settings, give the AI backup unsuppressed weapons with more scopes (currently they use all suppressed with some scopes, some no scopes. Not the best for balance, gives certain units the advantage)
• Changing the specialists to different set of skins (mainly if using Blood Oil characters presents permissions issues, open to suggestions here either way though)
• I'm up for totally new skins, not that I can make them. What I have now pretty much captures what I'm going for though. BUT, higher res textures for Serp Dream guys with regular, arid, and tropical multicam (or some other camouflage, the US4CES camo is interesting. Can read about its development here, also has a lot of interesting information about camouflage such as pixelated patterns can actually be better than blobby patterns assuming proper color choice
• Make new kits complete with kit image file (mainly stuff with MP5SD with magnifier and MP7 as secondary with primaries like HK416, Mk46, some sniper rifles, etc.)
• Trim the kit selection in SP since a lot of stuff is probably unnecessary (thinking get rid of pistol primary entirely, rockets with no gun as secondary gone, etc.)
• Address any current bugs with HU. I know that wombat made a multicam mod with some tag fixes, maybe incorporate those as well? (if you see this wombat, is it alright if I use content from that mod for this mod?)
• Maybe extra skin settings to be contained as tiny add-on mods (similar to what HU has, but priority is one mod that works fine before looking at extra stuff)
• Finding a compass with E and W reversed because the arrow is weird. This would be great for COOP when calling out hostiles (don't have to open command map to get sense of direction). I have found some (BH clean command map and Not a Game), but those don't have any written permissions stating if it's ok to use them for other things or not. I would prefer to have it as part of the mod, keep number of mods down as much as possible, but am being careful of permissions
• There are some weapons I would like to add (some of which I know exist in other mods): Mk17 CQC with GL scoped (scope preferred, but can go EOTECH or something), loud and suppressed versions. Mk48 with a scope, maybe some of the Blood Oil sniper rifles
• Updated weapon sounds
• Maybe giving iron sight and non-zoom weapons a slight bit of zoom (not pistols though)

So, my first post, nice and long. The current version is basically done with the current content I want in it, but fine tuning is still needed plus want to add more (currently around 500 MB). Let me know what you think and what you would like to see. If you want to help with this, let me know (I'd totally appreciate this, anywhere from testing all the way to making content for this. Again, will be credited). You can post here, message me here or at my email: jackwachter09@gmail.com

Some of the BLUFOR weapons

Some of the OPFOR weapons

You can get an idea of the prefix system I'm using here. Notice the letter before the weapon type. This is to increase control over weapon order based on type. "a" is reserved for personal custom kits that don't come in HU. The order of weapon types I'm using now is the following: custom kits, rifles, SMGs, PDWs, pistols, LMGs, GPMGs, bolt action sniper rifles, semi-automatic sniper rifles, single shot disposable rockets, reloadable rockets, grenade launchers, and shotguns.

Some pictures showing the current skin setup (SDT Ghosts, Blood Oil CIA SAD specialists), training with enemy weapons

[wombat50]

12 hours ago, Jack Wachter said:

Address any current bugs with HU. I know that wombat made a multicam mod with some tag fixes, maybe incorporate those as well? (if you see this wombat, is it alright if I use content from that mod for this mod?)

You are free to use and modify any content I made.

Unsure about using Eskwaad's work. I know he definitely did not want it modified for Blood Oil but that was 6-7 years ago. 

Welcome to gr.net!

[Rocky]

I love it when Ghost Recon still drives people to mould it to their own preferences, very cool.

Regarding permissions, to keep it correct, you should really e-mail the address in the source mods readme file for permission. If you get no reply after 7 days, or if there is no contact e-mail in the readme it would be difficult to say after so many years that it would be a problem.

Welcome to GR.net

[Jack Wachter]

Wombat, thank you for the permissions on using your content. It's greatly appreciated.

As for using the CIA SAD guys, I'm probably going to scrap that and look at something else to avoid any issues there. I'll look through other skins and see what I can find.

 

Rocky, most of the content I'm using atm is from mods listed on the "Sharing is Caring" thread granting permissions. Should I still be emailing the content makers there, or is this more for mods without express permissions from documentation and/or that thread?

[Rocky]

11 hours ago, Jack Wachter said:

Rocky, most of the content I'm using atm is from mods listed on the "Sharing is Caring" thread granting permissions. Should I still be emailing the content makers there, or is this more for mods without express permissions from documentation and/or that thread?

For mods that are absent from that thread.

[Jack Wachter]

Sounds good. Currently making some adjustments and such. As for skins, I really like Mr Moon's skins (particularly his Ghost skins in the CAPD2: Ghost Legacy game). They aren't covered in the Sharing is Caring thread, but this post seems to suggest that the skins in this download are free to use. Am I correct or no? I've already sent a PM to be safe and to see if there are any updated versions I should be aware of.

As for other adjustments I'm making, all the flashbang settings have been adjusted to those found in Burner's flashbangs in regards to damage and blast radius. Flashbangs should hopefully now do no damage at all. As for the compass, I've put in Not a Game's compass and sent a PM to Doc Calliban asking for permission to use it. Also, I want to adjust the MP team vs team kit restrictions to have the AI backup use unsuppressed weapons and more scoped weapons for balance. What do I need to adjust to make this happen?

[wombat50]

Make or edit a .kil file with notepad or text editor of your choice. 
.kil files are found in the Kits folder. 

[Jack Wachter]

What in the .kil file determines which kit AI backup will use?

[wombat50]

I think it is the first entry in each class but you'll have to test to be sure. Could look in notepad to see the first kit for each class of the .kil file to be tested and then see if that is true ingame. 

For example the asl class in no_restrictions.kil from Origmiss:     

<Actor Name="mp_plt1_asl.atr">
        <Kit Name="rifleman-01.kit"/>  (M16 with 203 grenade launcher)
        <Kit Name="rifleman-02.kit"/>

Edited December 28, 2017 by wombat50

[Jack Wachter]

Ok, that's what I thought. I made some simple adjustments and have them as additional restriction files so that the originals are left intact.

Also made a video with some testing of the mod.

 

[Jack Wachter]

Got another video here. Mod is mostly where I want it right now outside of playing around with MP kit files to get the new skins working. Still not set on a name, currently calling it "Cloak-and-Dagger." Feel free to suggest any other ideas.

From video description:

Quote

Another video. Did some rearranging of the skins and I think I found what I like. Regular Characters: some skins by MrMoon for his CAPD2_Adjustment Mod. I've asked for permission to use these skins since no clear permissions exist, so I might have to remove these later. I'm pretty happy with these skins, but I would like more variations in camo pattern to make them fit the environments better (minor issue). Specialists for SP are split into two 6-man teams: a winter team using the skins from Frostbite and then the other team uses skins from Serpentine Dream Theory. Each 6-man team consists of 4 assault (rifleman and demo combined, 2 use rifleman skin while the other 2 use demo skin), 1 support, and 1 sniper. I am using callsigns for their names, totally up for suggestions on what I should use.

 

[Jack Wachter]

Well, this mod is mostly finished and ready for release. Got a lot of missions added to it (9MS mod, Tactical Net, Serpentine Dream Theory, GRS Map Pack V3, Wet Sun) that should add plenty of variety other than HU's randomized missions (which sometimes don't feel realistic and/or buggy). As for permissions, everything is good (either personal permissions or Sharing is Caring) except for the main Ghost skins (some of MrMoon's skins for CAPD2 Adjustment Mod). I sent MrMoon a PM almost a week ago, still no reply. Will have been 7 days since I sent it on Wednesday. From what I gathered reading through the forums, he seems to be friendly with people using his content and I know he has personal stuff going on, so no idea on when/if I'll get a reply. Worse case scenario, I simply remove those skins (won't be hard to do).

Current Size: 1.67 GB

7zip File Size: 362 MB

Anticipated Release Date: Wednesday or Thursday this week

So, where's the best place to host the download from? And for the detailed feature list, here's the Read Me file.

Quote

Heroes Unleashed Addon: Cloak-and-Dagger
Version: 1.0
Author - Jack Wachter (jackwachter09@gmail.com)

See "Credits.txt" for credits related to mod content

__Installation
Install the "HU Addon - Cloak-and-Dagger" folder into the "Mods" folder.

__Activation Order
Desert Siege
Island Thunder
Heroes Unleashed
Cloak-and-Dagger

__Introduction
Cloak-and-Dagger is an expansion to Heroes Unleashed v1.0.0 Beta 9. This mod is designed to enhance gameplay even further than it already has been. The main features include a
greatly increased weapon selection (for SP), new skins, and a few balancing features that significantly change gameplay(primarily noticeable in CQB). Missions from other mods
have been incorporated here to give you more options for SP and MP.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Use Certain Mod Features

__Enable Frostbite skins and Serpentine Dream Theory skins for coop/solo
Set kit restriction to "Joint Task Force (coop/solo)"
Note: AI backup won't use these skins

__Enable Frostbite skins with AI backup
(Recommended for COOP) Set kit restriction to "Winter AI backup" for normal Heroes Unleashed kit setup (suppressed weapons, uneven scope distribution among teams)
(Recommended for Team vs Team or COOP) Set kit restriction to "Winter AI backup modified" for balanced AI kit setup (unsuppressed weapons, even scope distribution among teams)
Note: all teams use the same set of skins, so be sure to use your map and check your targets (keep in mind that each platoon works off a different kit selection)

__Enable Serpentine Dream Theory skins with AI backup
(Recommended for COOP) Set kit restriction to "SDT AI backup" for normal Heroes Unleashed kit setup (suppressed weapons, uneven scope distribution among teams)
(Recommended for Team vs Team or COOP) Set kit restriction to "SDT AI backup modified" for balanced AI kit setup (unsuppressed weapons, even scope distribution among teams)
Note: all teams use the same set of skins, so be sure to use your map and check your targets (keep in mind that each platoon works off a different kit selection)

__Play other missions and campaigns not included (can't guarantee there won't be conflicts that cause issues)
Change the activation order to the following:
Desert Siege
Island Thunder
(insert mission packs and campaigns here)
Heroes Unleashed
Cloak-and-Dagger

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mod Contents and Adjustments

__General gameplay and balancing
Heavy Body Armor (from Heroes Unleashed extra mods)
Semi-automatic firerates increased for most weapons (now viable in close quarters and for suppressing fire)
Kits from different units in HU compiled, increasing weapon selection significantly
Ammo increased on most weapons in SP (reloadable rocket launchers get more ammo, but non-reloadable don't get more ammo, multiplayer ammo the same)
MP kit ammo increase
HK416 and HK417 with shortdot scope max zoom changed from 10x to 4x (shortdot scope is actually 1.1-4x, now these guns aren't mini sniper rifles)
Some new weapon sounds
Compass from Not A Game used because E and W are reversed like the in-game pointer (aids in calling out targets in COOP, don't have to open command map to call direction)
Realistic Wound Textures used
Action Icons used
Flashbang settings adjusted so they do no damage (settings same as Burner's flashbangs)
New flashbang explosion textures (from Burner's Flashbangs)
Black menus from Heroes Unleashed used
New MP kit restrictions have AI backup weapons adjusted for Team vs Team balance (all weapons loud, even distribution of scopes among teams) and new skins

__Playable characters
Regular SP characters and MP Ghosts now have skins from CAPD2_Adjustment_Mod (MrMoon's skins) except for some ghillie suit snipers with legacy camo
6 Specialists in winter camo (from Frostbite)
6 Specialists in Serpentine Dream Theory skins
MP Ghosts sniper has legacy camo
Frostbite and Serpentine Dream Theory skins available in MP (use Joint Task Force kit restriction)
Kit restrictions from 9MS included
All playable SP characters have 250 in all stats, including specialists
Specialists rifleman equipped with both rifleman kits and demolitions kits
All player characters (SP and MP) have max level body armor (not much point to anything short of a rifle plate except for very, very specific missions)

__Mission additions and modifications
Some map tagging issues fixed (thanks wombat)
Added missions get "000 - " prefix added to make them appear first
GRS Map Pack 3 added for extra killhouse with different weather and missions (briefing for killhouse clearing missions modified)
Wet Sun mission added
Tactical Net missions added (removed unlock requirement for missions)
Serpentine Dream Theory missions added
9MS mod with missions added (see extra resources for full briefings of missions)
Custom SP campaign (Operation Blue Glow, Tactical Net, and Serpentine Dream Theory combined with custom heroes all with Serpentine Dream Theory skins)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mod Permissions

Feel free to make expansions or tweak this for your own personal use. Be sure to give credit where it's due (most of the content isn't mine, I mainly just compiled and tweaked it)

 

[wombat50]

Wow! Nicely Done. 

[Jack Wachter]

Thanks. I've actually added a few more things. Some more kit restrictions for MP, one of which is designed for an upcoming event with Ghost Recon Hideout, a TvT Last Man Standing competition. But yeah, these kit restrictions should be fun.

Event Mk1 (the one designed for the competition, made 3 versions for different skins even though the event is only using USMC vs Vympel)

Rifleman: unsuppressed scoped rifles, suppressed pistols

Support: unsuppressed non-scoped machine gun, binoculars/range finder

Sniper: unsuppressed bolt action rifle, suppressed pistol

 

Not designed for use with AI backup, but it still works beautifully. The weapon setups end up dividing responsibility in a way that should make communication a possibly deciding factor.

 

Oh, and a sniper battle restriction. Same setup as the snipers in Event Mk1, but with all the sniper skins (not marksman skins). About the snipers though, I may have messed with a certain thing by Hana_JP. Both SP and MP. I swear there's a sniper in the last 2 pics.

Will make new thread when released with download link.