Installation:
Extract the attached zip into your Shadow Empire\shadowscenarios folder (should have NModLiteV#.se1evlib). Start Shadow Empire. From main menu -> modlib picker ensure there is a checkmark next to NMod.
No guarantee on compatibility with any mod that touches the same files.
v2 Design & Changelog:
-Halved Ablative bonus
Even with halved ablative, Charged Gauss still outcompetes Laser in effective firepower. At there's now a reason to bring Liquid Armor against vehicle weapons.
-Fixes unit-energy storage optimization logic
-Doubled Nuclear Engine IP cost
-+1 Nuclear Vehicle Pop Divisor: Automation + Nuclear Engine + Energy Weapon
-+1 Infantry Pop Divisor: Automation + Power Armor
Incorporating automation to improve maintenance/logistical/crew manpower need is already a thing, and Shadow Empire does feature infantry droideka.
-Temporary Envirosuit + Personal Shield gfx (that is, no shielded image, just imagine it) for Motorbike
Still haven't had time for gfx - need to transplant the light tank's sideskirts onto apc & mechqmg, medium tank onto mech arty.
And of course, tonight's highlight...
New Formations Swapped in:
Hat tip to mroyer
Formation Sample (Brigade)
| Pure (Walker, Heavy Walker, Rocket, Missile)
2 points in HQ section
5 points per battalion
| Vanguard Light Armor
1 L. Tank + 1 M. Quad in HQ
3 L. Tank + 3 M. Quad per battalion
| Armored Mechanized Artillery
1 M. Armor + 1 SPG in HQ
3 M. Armor + 3 SPG per battalion
| Combined Walker
1 Walker + 1 Heavy Walker in HQ
3 Walker + 3 Heavy Walker per battalion
| Bastion
2 L. Infantry in HQ
1 L. Infantry + 2 MG Emplacement + 2 Turret Emplacement per battalion.
Along with this, I've increased BP/Customization Point efficiency to 800%, but reduced the BP inefficiency falloff from 100 to 10. The idea is to make it plausible to customize in 3-4 turns fairly early, so that poor President fibol can strap AT guns onto his infantry before the Kaiju eat his capital city, while late game you can't trivially customize multiple times per turn every turn.
Let me know if this needs further adjustment.
v1 Design & Changelog:
| Nukes Disabled
Different from Pymous and Catasteroid's implementation, I've set a techlevel >= 12 requirement for Micro-Nuke RPG, Tactical Nuke Grenade Launcher, Atomic Missile Launcher and ICBM, which is currently impossible to reach.
Whilst a more elegant solution, it leaves most nuke techs pointless and might get undone should Vic add another page to the techtree.
| New Radiation Sources
However, Rads are a cool mechanic and removing them entirely would suck. Luckily, many sci-fi plasma & beam weapons plausibly generate radiation, i.e. from micro-fusion events on impact.
-Plasma and Beam Weapons generate Radiation depending on size, maxing out with 100 Rads from Plasma Missile (half of smallest Atomic Launcher, twice as much as Tactical Nuclear Grenade)
| New Radioactive Resource Sink
Radioactives are the new HiTech
-Plasma & Beam Weapons also cost Radioactives based on size
-Tripled Nuclear Engine Radioactive cost
| Beam Buff
With these changes Beams are now a heavier, more expensive, lower penetration, but equal firepower & multi-attack alternative to Heavy/V Heavy Plasma guns.
-Beam Gun has 6000 firepower, 2 attacks. Cost increased to 20 Rare Metals, 18 High Tech, 4 Radioactives, 100 IP
-Combined Beam has 7500 firepower, 3 attacks. Now costs 30 Rare Metals, 27 High Tech, 5 Radioactives, 125 IP
| Size Adjustments
Actual IRL buggies are small & light, as in can be carried by a few dudes tiny. They're smaller and lighter than even utility trucks like the HMMWV
Almost all IRL SPGs are smaller/lighter than MBTs, same with Assault Guns, MRL etc.
Tank Destroyers were almost always smaller/lighter than the tank chassis they were based off of
MG (or even twin autocannon) turrets are significantly more compact than a 100mm+ gun, and this will result in a smaller fortification for an equal field of fire/protective level.
-Motorbike infantry & Recon buggy to Size 1 (2 after base, same as truck)
-Automated MG to Size 3 (4 after adjustment)
-SPG, Assault Gun, Walker, Rocket Launcher, Size 5 (6 after +1 base, but 1 less than medium tank)
-Tank Destroyer, Heavy Walker to size 7 (8 after +1 base)
-Mobile Shield to Size 8
| Other Changes
I remember reading the reason Light Tanks got nerfed was that 100mm armor at Tech Level 2 was oppressive, but Light Tanks already fall off late game even before being nerfed to 50mm armor.
-100mm armor now TL 3
-100mm armor now allowed for Light Tanks
Couldn't figure out how to trigger increased storage for electric engines, but shocked it wasn't already in the game.
-Energy Storage Optimization increases Ammo Capacity for units with energy weapons, by up to 50% at 100% Optimization
-When Electric Motors are researched, Diesel Engines reduce energy weapons energy consumption by 20%
-Nuclear Engines reduce energy weapons energy consumption by 99%
As technology advances the amount of crew and maintenance personnel needed for a given weight of vehicle decreases. Unfortunately the way manpower rebate is finnicky, meaning minimum divisor increments are 1,2,3 etc
-With Automated Turrets, Robot Soldiers & Industrial Robotization Light Tanks and Mech QMG gain +1 population divisor, or manpower rebate of 50%
-Recon buggies use same rebate as trucks
-Allow Envirosuit and Personal Shield Generator for Jetpack & Motorbike Infantry
-APCs, Mechanized QMG, SPG are also affected by Side Skirt bonus
-Wide Area Shield generators now classified as Automated
-Plasma MG/Quad Plasma now have effectively 100mm penetration
-Heavy Combat Armor, Battledress and Advanced Battledress nerfed to 55/70/85mm respectively
-Heavy Combat Armor costs increased by +1 Machinery
-Battledress costs increased by +1 HiTech
-Heavy Battledress cost increased by +1 HiTech, +1 Radioactive
Heavy Battledress now has its own power source
| AI Choice Rationalization
AI does dumb things like putting HV guns on Assault Gun chassis and Howitzers on TD chassis... just don't allow it, duh
-Disallow HV guns, Laser/Plasma for Assault Guns
-Disallow Howitzers for Tank Destroyer
| Artillery Rebalance:
IRL towed guns are known to be/have been proven quite vulnerable to counterbattery
-Towed guns receive 33% HP malus
IRL the largest SPG (that wasn't a low velocity mortar carrier) was 203mm and the largest towed gun was 240mm.
-300mm Howitzer disallowed for Towed Guns
-240mm Howitzer allowed for SPG
SP and Towed guns operate in 'MRSI mode' once Industrial Robotization and Automated Logistics are researched, with the following effects:
-Combat Rounds reduced to 5
-125% increased Anti-Infantry Bonus
-100% increased AT Bonus
-100% increased Ammo consumption
Though shortening combat rounds has some negative synergy with GR Recon Shells, it provides a raw 12.5% increase in anti-infantry effectiveness, and effectively more during non-ranged attack/defense, where 100%~125% extra firepower in the first 5 turns can be decisive for the rest of the combat. Net ammo consumption should remain the same since 200% ammo per round x 50% rounds = 100% ammo consumption.
Along with Infantry Armor nerfs these changes should make artillery significantly more effective.
| Walker Nerfs
I love Shadow Empire, but "Due to their high stature they are excellent tank killers" is one of the dumbest things Vic has ever said. Realistically walkers could be competitive or even superior to wheeled/tracked AFV on mountainous worlds, you could have quad/hex/octopedal artillery & tank replacement tachikoma... but absolutely not MechWarrior-esque 3 story tall bipeds.
-50% AT Malus for Walkers & Heavy Walkers
-Walkers & Heavy Walkers excluded from Vehicle Armor Optimization
-150mm armor disallowed for Walkers
-200mm armor disallowed for Heavy Walkers
-Added HiTech cost; +1 for Walker/+4 for Heavy Walker
-Heavy Walkers limited to 105mm/Medium weapons
-Walker Optimization bonus halved
Funnily enough -even- with these nerfs walkers are -still- good at fighting in difficult terrain where conventional AFVs are penalized. This just shows you how absurdly overtuned vanilla Walkers are.
| Automated Emplacement Buff
I tried very hard to let MG emplacements use the same twin HMG as Walkers get, but Vic's hardcoded AI kept exploding in protest.
-MG Emplacement x2 Attack Overrule
-MG Emplacement +100% Firepower
-MG Emplacement +25% Anti-Tank Bonus
-Turret Emplacement +25% Anti-Infantry Bonus
-Automated MG & Turrets receive +50% Ammo Capacity
This makes Automated MG/Turret more flexible and better at preventing breakthroughs, increasing synergy with backliner units.
Todo:
-Add vehicle entrenchment (somehow) as 50% of infantry, no instant entrench
-###mm Polymer and Shield Generator
-Graphics for vehicles with shield bubble
-Graphics for APC, Mech QMG, SPG side Skirt
-New Formations: [s]Garrison, Walker, Heavy Walker, Combined Walker, MRL, Missile, Light Armor Vanguard[/s]
-The rest of the mod (story, character feats, stratagems, assets, hex perks)
