[1.0](WIP) What The Hack?! - Mechanoid hacking

[rawrfisher]

Your mod made a noticable impact on misc robots lol.  Can load mech parts onto the robots from misc robots and I think they can even be hacked lol

[Madman666]

Woooow, yeah, damn, this is heaps better, than anything to do with AI cores. I am really looking forward to what upgrades and abilities you will add. I will also try to help with a table sprite, once i get home, though no promises - i am not exactly brilliant at it

[InventorRaccoon]

Suggestion for a more specific mechanoid upgrade: add a shield belt to Scythers.

[rawrfisher]

Would have to be a custom sheild belt.  Vanilla one is worthless against anything high power or rapid fire
Maybe not super high capacity but around 300 or so or tie it to some form of battery system

[Roolo]

Your mod made a noticable impact on misc robots lol.  Can load mech parts onto the robots from misc robots and I think they can even be hacked lol

Hmm interesting. Maybe too much compatibility? Let me know if this results in any things getting broken. As long as that's not the case, I'm fine with it.

Woooow, yeah, damn, this is heaps better, than anything to do with AI cores. I am really looking forward to what upgrades and abilities you will add. I will also try to help with a table sprite, once i get home, though no promises - i am not exactly brilliant at it

I really appreciate that you're willing to help with the sprite! Try to make sure it's somewhat consistent with the existing sprites. I recommend looking at the new hacking table sprite created by malistaticy for inspiration. It captures the essense of the mod:

If you want to go for something that's a bit easier, you can also try to draw the repair module upgrade sprite (the sprite you see when the item is on the ground, and not yet installed). Would also really help me! You can reach me at Discord at any time when you have questions while you're drawing (just search for Roolo).

Suggestion for a more specific mechanoid upgrade: add a shield belt to Scythers.

How do you do that, reading my mind This was exactly one of the upgrades I had planned. It'll work not only for scythers, but for any mech without a ranged weapon, so also for some non-vanilla mechs.

Would have to be a custom sheild belt.  Vanilla one is worthless against anything high power or rapid fire
Maybe not super high capacity but around 300 or so or tie it to some form of battery system

I have to disagree with this one. Mitigating at least 100-150 damage like the vanilla shield belts is already enough to completely save a scyther from getting downed or killed. Increasing it further would only make things very overpowered and unbalanced.

The idea of the modifications is not to create overpowered god-like machines, but to add more variety within the mechs you have and to make them more interesting. Of course you do get benefits by installing the upgrades, but they always come at some cost (more power consumption/movement penalty/part consumption etc.). The benefits should outweigh the costs, but you do have to make some choices, for instance by specialising some mechs.

Also, take in mind that I do like symmetry in my mods. So you'll likely see some of the upgrades being used by enemy hacked mechs too in the future, in which case you're probably glad I'm not implementing 300+ damage shields.

[Madman666]

Thats a really nice sprite by @malistaticy! I'll try to cook up something of similar quality and style, but honestly dunno if i can measure up, so its a bit early thanking me just yet. Lets see what i can do first.

[rawrfisher]

I have to disagree roolo.
It don't matter the capacity you get enough things slamming into it the shield is gonna go down quite fast.  300 is far more reasonable then you think.  Now if I had said 1000 I could see your point That is a bit excessive but even medium raids can break a 300 capacity shield in a matter of seconds using just vanilla weapons.  The mechs from the gunners mod which I use can deal 50 damage a shot and close up to a centipede with a mini gun or charge blaster can break a 300 shield in 1 volley sometimes.  Imagine what would happen to a shield with 150 capacity against a group of enemies with sub machine guns focusing it. 
I know we will not agree on this since we play entirely different types of games on here.

I'll leave that random wall of vomit up but my point is large groups can take out a shield fast if its capacity is in the range you mentioned.  I do agree a 300 would be excessive against smaller raids or for someone playing medium.  Personally I play merciless mode and have some odd bug that heavily inflates my colony wealth.  Looking forward to a debate on this since it will definitely be more entertaining then my normal routine.

[Umbreon117]

I have to disagree roolo.
It don't matter the capacity you get enough things slamming into it the shield is gonna go down quite fast.  300 is far more reasonable then you think.  Now if I had said 1000 I could see your point That is a bit excessive but even medium raids can break a 300 capacity shield in a matter of seconds using just vanilla weapons.  The mechs from the gunners mod which I use can deal 50 damage a shot and close up to a centipede with a mini gun or charge blaster can break a 300 shield in 1 volley sometimes.  Imagine what would happen to a shield with 150 capacity against a group of enemies with sub machine guns focusing it. 
I know we will not agree on this since we play entirely different types of games on here.

I'll leave that random wall of vomit up but my point is large groups can take out a shield fast if its capacity is in the range you mentioned.  I do agree a 300 would be excessive against smaller raids or for someone playing medium.  Personally I play merciless mode and have some odd bug that heavily inflates my colony wealth.  Looking forward to a debate on this since it will definitely be more entertaining then my normal routine.

Those are large raids though. However, maybe having an "upgrade" that costs a good amount more resources than the normal shield belt would be useful?...You could also have a mech only shield belt, since I imagine that the mechs could power a better shield, considering they have a power core unlike us puny humans.

[rawrfisher]

Those are large raids though. However, maybe having an "upgrade" that costs a good amount more resources than the normal shield belt would be useful?...You could also have a mech only shield belt, since I imagine that the mechs could power a better shield, considering they have a power core unlike us puny humans.

That would be a valid option.  Having researchable tiers of shield belt upgrades would be reasonable.   My examples would also be more tword endgame as umbreon pointed out.  Early on it don't really make sense for the large capacity since raids are almost never that big.

[Madman666]

Ugh, as i thought i suck at spriting. All I managed for now is this:



Probably looks too out of style though...

Yup, its atrocious, no matter how you look at it. I'll polish it some more.

[rawrfisher]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1472926333&searchtext=

Could you add support for the mechs from this mod?

I can load em with parts but not hack them even with the researchs available

[Roolo]

Those are large raids though. However, maybe having an "upgrade" that costs a good amount more resources than the normal shield belt would be useful?...You could also have a mech only shield belt, since I imagine that the mechs could power a better shield, considering they have a power core unlike us puny humans.

That would be a valid option.  Having researchable tiers of shield belt upgrades would be reasonable.   My examples would also be more tword endgame as umbreon pointed out.  Early on it don't really make sense for the large capacity since raids are almost never that big.

It would be a valid option but i'd rather go for more variety than for multiple levels of the same thing. One great way to upscale to late game is to just to hack more mechs. It might even be a better idea to have more cheap mechs than a few expensive ones. So plenty of options for the late gamers IMO. It's a nice idea but my time is limited and I have to make choices.

Ugh, as i thought i suck at spriting. All I managed for now is this:



Probably looks too out of style though...

Yup, its atrocious, no matter how you look at it. I'll polish it some more.

It's a good first attempt and has a nice retro look. But indeed it doesn't fit exactly with the other sprites. I do really like the concept of it though. I certainly wouldn't call it atrocious. But the different parts look a bit like different sprites coming from different sources which makes it a bit incoherent. You can also try to create a repair module sprite if you want something easier by the way. Anyhow, I really appreciate your effort. It's already useful as it is as a source of inspiration.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1472926333&searchtext=

Could you add support for the mechs from this mod?

I can load em with parts but not hack them even with the researchs available

Yes, I'll definitely do that. Thanks for reporting.

[rawrfisher]

Ugh, as i thought i suck at spriting. All I managed for now is this:



Probably looks too out of style though...

Yup, its atrocious, no matter how you look at it. I'll polish it some more.

Could you upload that as a retexture of the high tech research bench? Vanilla sux lol

As for the mod.  Theres 1 mech in it that i swear is able to take out 200 tribles on its own lol. Tho its cost in parts the way you have it set will be insanely high

[Madman666]

It's a good first attempt and has a nice retro look. But indeed it doesn't fit exactly with the other sprites. I do really like the concept of it though. I certainly wouldn't call it atrocious. But the different parts look a bit like different sprites coming from different sources which makes it a bit incoherent. You can also try to create a repair module sprite if you want something easier by the way. Anyhow, I really appreciate your effort. It's already useful as it is as a source of inspiration.

Welp, i ll try to rework it part by part, so it might look a bit better. I am kind of slow though, so if someone offers a better version by that time, thats fine as well. Might use it for something else. Will try making the module, once i am done with the table (or if i admit i suck at it and give up eventually ).

Could you upload that as a retexture of the high tech research bench? Vanilla sux lol

I really don't like how it looks for now, so i won't be making side and back versions of it, until i decide it looks at least somewhat adequate. Once i am done - i might post it as a png, so you can replace vanilla research bench with it. I don't find that bench unattractive enough to varrant a waste of effort to replace it though.

[rawrfisher]

I'm used to a 1x3 version of the bench from the hi tech facilities mod but its not compatible with the current unstable
As for how misc robots plays with this mod the haulers chase my builder bot around trying to load it with parts lol