[MOD](A9) Cybernetic Storm - Balances and Fix (v3.5 - 19MAR15)

[kingtyris]

A few bugs to report:
1. Create Nanotech exoskeleton bill appears on the bionics workbench, rather than the nano workbench.
2. Nanotech apparel has two listings on the stockpile configuration menu, although only the first contains any items.

Love your mod, I'll let you know if I find anymore bugs.

[Undecided]

Not sure if these have been reported yet, but some minor balancing observations:

Nanotech helmets seem to occasionally appear on pirate raids. Specifically, pirate raids -- the kind that are normally low-tech with simple armored vests, melee weapons, and basic firearms. Might want to check on that.

the pirate faction isn't a "low tech" faction. they carry good vanilla equipment.

further, if you want to talk about economy balance, you should acknowledge the vanilla game has a problem here too thanks to melee changes.

the pirate faction brings massive profits in vanilla right now due to the faction often being comprised of more than 1/2 melee fighters, which leads to lots of plasteel/silver/uranium weapons, and a ton of power shields. they sell for a lot to the trader.

in alpha 8, not every pirate would have armor vests and good range weapons. but now, every single melee user 100% has a power shield (replaces armor vest slot). and sells for a lot more than a vanilla armor vest to boot... that is guaranteed loads of cash in your pocket. plus they seem to really love plasteel melee weapons. and you know that is profit.

the oversight comes in when the combat trader doesn't have enough cash to buy all your junk melee weapons and shields. then your game gets cluttered with a ton of useless storage you can't find a seller for.

The helmet thing does seem quite odd... from raids I end up picking up at least twice as many helmets as armor, on average. This is most notable with pirate faction raids, as they have nano helmets -- but never, or almost never, do they have any nano armor, suits, greaves, weapons, etc.

I suspect it's probably due to something relating to helmets being cheaper, therefore able to be rolled on the spawn loot tables, whereas armor or advanced guns being too expensive. If it really is related to AI spawn tables, it's probably not fixable short of making armor and helmets cost the same.

On a related note, I've also noticed raids from high tech factions (commandos, etc) only ever use nano armor and helmets, but never cyber armor and helmets. Just mentioning it seems it seems related to the spawn tables issues with the pirates.

[10001110]

Not sure if these have been reported yet, but some minor balancing observations:

I'd strongly recommend increasing the costs or maybe upkeep of the nanoponics bay, since right now it outstrips pretty much any other export for cash. Maybe add at least one rare material to its construction cost (a few units gold or plasteel?) and bump up the electricity usage, or something, just to push this big source of income closer to the end-game.

We also have to think about the fact that a good number of players will also use other mods that tap on the same steel, plasteel, power, cloth and real estate. I do. When it gets profitable, it doesn't matter, either i have way too much loot to sell with tons more scattered across the map, or my sculptor is already churning out masterworks, my colony will be safe and rich either way. 
Honestly, i don't even have to worry about manufacturing any of the mod's weapons and armor. By the time i can actually afford it, i'll already have tons of mod loot. Increasing any material requirements will not serve any purpose. It just means we can skip a good part of the mod content (manufacturing) and focus on something else.
How is that fair to the modder?

If anything, nanomite costs should be cut down to half, and nanomites added as requirement to other items, spread it across the board. This will balance the mod in harder difficulties, and make it actually possible to manufacture weapons and armor, before loot drops make it redundant.
If anyone plays easy and think it's easy, well. Easy is easy. That's what it means. There is also the case with that ultra-lucky mountain map, with everything right there ripe for the picking... that doesn't count.

[Vascar]

This maybe a bug or me being just a derp but I can't seem to give my colonist any prosthetic from this mod.
Here is my mod list/config file:

Code Select Expand

<activeMods>
    <li>Core</li>
    <li>EdBModOrder</li>
    <li>EdBInterface</li>
    <li>Priorityhaul</li>
    <li>VeinMiner</li>
    <li>More Designators</li>
    <li>EdBPrepareCarefully</li>
    <li>CrashLanding</li>
    <li>ED-Core</li>
    <li>ED-DeepStrike</li>
    <li>ED-Embrasures</li>
    <li>ED-Plants24H</li>
    <li>ED-Shields</li>
    <li>ED-Vehicles</li>
    <li>ED-VisibleRadius</li>
    <li>ED-WirelessPower</li>
    <li>M&amp;Co. Common</li>
    <li>M&amp;Co. MMS</li>
    <li>AlphaMuffalo1.6</li>
    <li>Apothecarius</li>
    <li>CyberneticStorm</li>
    <li>DoorControl</li>
    <li>FireExtinguisher</li>
    <li>FlameThrower</li>
    <li>FlareGun</li>
    <li>Floorspikes</li>
    <li>GlitterTech</li>
    <li>Icons</li>
    <li>Industrialisation</li>
    <li>JaffaKree</li>
    <li>LT_RedistHeat</li>
    <li>MAI</li>
    <li>Mending</li>
    <li>Mechanical-Defence-2-Update-4</li>
    <li>Miscellaneous</li>
    <li>Meteorite</li>
    <li>Modular Tables</li>
    <li>MP5</li>
    <li>NonLethals</li>
    <li>PowerSwitch</li>
    <li>PrisonImprovements</li>
    <li>RailGun</li>
    <li>ShapedCharge</li>
    <li>TargetPractise</li>
    <li>Teleportation</li>
    <li>Thingamajigs</li>
    <li>Turret Collection</li>
    <li>Turret Collection Overkill</li>
  </activeMods>

[TCESylver]

Ive noticed that when one of my colonist tries to make a nano weapon it uses up all the materials but creates no weapon.

Is there a chance of failing or is it a bug?

[shhfiftyfive]

Not sure if these have been reported yet, but some minor balancing observations:

I'd strongly recommend increasing the costs or maybe upkeep of the nanoponics bay, since right now it outstrips pretty much any other export for cash. Maybe add at least one rare material to its construction cost (a few units gold or plasteel?) and bump up the electricity usage, or something, just to push this big source of income closer to the end-game.

We also have to think about the fact that a good number of players will also use other mods that tap on the same steel, plasteel, power, cloth and real estate. I do. When it gets profitable, it doesn't matter, either i have way too much loot to sell with tons more scattered across the map, or my sculptor is already churning out masterworks, my colony will be safe and rich either way. 
Honestly, i don't even have to worry about manufacturing any of the mod's weapons and armor. By the time i can actually afford it, i'll already have tons of mod loot. Increasing any material requirements will not serve any purpose. It just means we can skip a good part of the mod content (manufacturing) and focus on something else.
How is that fair to the modder?

If anything, nanomite costs should be cut down to half, and nanomites added as requirement to other items, spread it across the board. This will balance the mod in harder difficulties, and make it actually possible to manufacture weapons and armor, before loot drops make it redundant.
If anyone plays easy and think it's easy, well. Easy is easy. That's what it means. There is also the case with that ultra-lucky mountain map, with everything right there ripe for the picking... that doesn't count.

the vanilla game has some serious undesirable progression/balance issues. many elements are not even given a chance to make it into the life cycle of your game.

basically, you get up a defense and food supply. then you increase the number of turrets and spam build a ton of hydroponics. game over.

long before you get into a bunch of other parts of the game. at no point in the game's progression does things like colonist gear ever matter (except the very beginning when your turrets aren't up yet, but you can't improve that the either). turrets trump the gear progression.

also since the vanilla economy is so slow, you will have a safe colony with tons of food and turrets long before you get enough money together to get cool stuff like bionics and power armor. the game progression is in a sad state right now.

i was hoping tynan would make some changes to make that end game gear more of a thing. like wearing it would counter the high expectations debuff or something. and i am hoping that enemy raids and turret rooms isn't all this game amounts to, because that gets bland.

[mrzjadacz]

Traders are heavili unbalanced. Cybernetic and nano weapon are ridiculously cheap. And I saw it:

[attachment deleted due to age]

[Boboid]

Yeah those guns aren't supposed to be in the traders. Those are the weapons that the turrets actually use.

Swear that was fixed in an earlier version..

[kaiserslash]

Hey elStrages, just wondering if you cared if I created a compatibility patch for your mod and Combat Realism.  For the most part, you don't need to mess with DLL's to fix from what I'm seeing, you just need to mess with the XML's a little bit.  I'm working on it now, but asked the creator of Combat Realism if he'd post the fix when I'm done, then I realized I should ask you too since I'm also messing with your mod.

[mrzjadacz]

When I have implant which has damage, for example 10, and I install other thing, which too has damage, for example 16, how much damage I have? If my colonist use meele weapon, does he has WeaponDamage + ImplantDamage, or not?

[JagenXI]

Hey elStrange, just thought I would share an interesting thing I found, seems I cant fully bionic a colonist I removed his jaw and nose just to be sure I have screenshots:
So heres the part im trying to install

and the missing bill


Too be honest there are a bunch of missing bills that i had parts for, a nose, heart, kidnies, liver, lungs, implants?

Could be a conflict with ZA now that I look at it, but I wasnt sure. Bionic arms, legs and eyes still work, just nothing else it seems.

[JagenXI]

Ive noticed that when one of my colonist tries to make a nano weapon it uses up all the materials but creates no weapon.

Is there a chance of failing or is it a bug?

Actually this is a problem from an old version of CS, just update to 3.45 on page 1 and this should be resolved.

[JagenXI]

Not sure if these have been reported yet, but some minor balancing observations:

Nanotech helmets seem to occasionally appear on pirate raids. Specifically, pirate raids -- the kind that are normally low-tech with simple armored vests, melee weapons, and basic firearms. Might want to check on that.

One other thing: nanoweave seems much too profitable. A nanoweave parka, for example, can sell for up to 1/4th what a grand, marble statue can (~$1000 per parka on average, with max skills). But unlike statues they have an infinitely renewable resource supply, and take far less pawn work to produce.

Since nanoponics bays only require very common resources -- steel and power -- you can start spamming them by early to mid game and produce huge amounts to tailor into clothes then export as a cash crop. Since they require nothing rare to build, you can make them in huge numbers to easily offset the slow growth rare.

I'd strongly recommend increasing the costs or maybe upkeep of the nanoponics bay, since right now it outstrips pretty much any other export for cash. Maybe add at least one rare material to its construction cost (a few units gold or plasteel?) and bump up the electricity usage, or something, just to push this big source of income closer to the end-game.

While I agree that a cost for the basin itself is in need of a balance adding plasteel to the cost is not out of the question since everything made with nanothread costs plasteel, increasing the power consumption is ludicris, if you look at any other basin the consumption is about the same, you need a ton of them just to keep a steady flow of thread, and you have to balance the needs of your tailor vs the rest of the mod, if you want to spam parkas made of nano thread thats your choice I save mine for nano steel and other parts of this mod, and if you want to talk balance, I spame plasteel and steel knives and still make a killing so economy in general is bad, not just nanoweave

[Ryusho]

Hey elStrange, just thought I would share an interesting thing I found, seems I cant fully bionic a colonist I removed his jaw and nose just to be sure I have screenshots:
So heres the part im trying to install

and the missing bill


Too be honest there are a bunch of missing bills that i had parts for, a nose, heart, kidnies, liver, lungs, implants?

Could be a conflict with ZA now that I look at it, but I wasnt sure. Bionic arms, legs and eyes still work, just nothing else it seems.

Out of Curriosityy I was trying to look to figure out if I had that issue, but the images are far too small to see what they are.

Though I will say, I installed a wooden denture to help a colonist not starve, but I can't replace and remove it, to replace it with a Bionic jaw now?

[rditto48801]

I just possibly ran into the issue with getting no nanothread.
I saw my nanoponics were replanted, but saw/found no nanothread.
With troubleshooting and looking over older autosaves, I saw they were loosing health and dying off before they could be harvested, still having 0.6 days of growth remaining when they hit 0 health.

Even after re-downloading and reinstalling the mod to be on the safe side, despite seeing no change in file name/version/size, the plants still drop to zero health right before they are fully grown. They were 0.5 days closer to being fully grown after the mod reinstall, dying at 0.1 days growth left.

Of note, I think there was a heat wave for 2-3 days after I built the nanoponics, so I wonder if the AC of my hydroponics cave might have gotten overwhelmed and had the plants go out of their optimal growth temp for to long.

With that said, is this just bad luck with events on my part, or of the nanothread plants still dying to fast in some circumstances?