GMDXv9.0 Release

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Cybernetic pig
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Salk wrote: Said that, I was looking at the comparison screenshots at the official Announcement page and I was wondering why they ever changed the billboards at the basket court. To me, the original ones looked way better. The "Sign him up for the Knicks!" is especially out of place. I seem to remember Daveyboy1978 used to remake HD billboards for DaveW's New Vision but it seems he's retired, unfortunately.
Agreed. I'll see what I can do.
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Salk »

I sincerely hope GMDX will get the recognition it does deserve.

I am not much of a social person but I was wondering if you might have a "Share" link for people who would like to promote GMDX on their Facebook/Twitter pages? So to help spread the word?

9.0 is going to be huge and I can not stop thinking what you could do if you had a skilled team of people help you out with your vision.
Cybernetic pig
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Thanks for the concern, but GMDX will have its legacy. It's been called the "definitive Deus Ex experience" so many times across the web at this point, and that is the design intention, so I really shouldn't need to do much more marketing. Now that a sizable enough amount of people have played it and are being outspoken about it, it will slowly grow in recognition on its own. And that's how I always wanted it to be once I got serious about the mod and made it what it is today.
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kdawg88
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by kdawg88 »

Cybernetic pig wrote:Deceptive marketing, sort of. It's just more of the same of what I've always done. GMDX has been dedicated to improving levels visually for about three and a half years now. Although the website does indicate that. The only reason it's become more of a focus this time around is because mostly every other goal is fulfilled. The intention is to make the game consistently pretty, as stated in the v8.0 level design video last year. Hong Kong was far superior to New York visually speaking. Therefore New York has had far more work done on it than HK.
In fact, a lot of those screenshots shown aren't much different from how they appear in v8.0. Mole people is near identical to v8.0, the basketball court IS identical as it states, the MJ12 hallway just has some nice texture and lighting changes...and of course there's the very different approach to updating the levels. I don't want to lose the original feel, I make a very conscious effort there.

So basically, no, not GMDXv9: Revision. More GMDXv9: Shock Community Patch.
I just don't want to see you get carried away with that side of things. As has been demonstrated before, there's only so much you can do to the visuals before the game starts to feel cluttered and stylistically inconsistent. Hopefully you're already well aware of this.
Made in China
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Made in China »

Finished getting captured by UNATCO.

General bugs:
Gun modification shows right data, but it doesn't match the percentage upgrade. This is inconsistent among all guns, but I've noticed it when I upgraded the sniper rifle's clip - 150% of 5 is 7.5, not 10.

The image of the terrorist leader in Liberty Island (first mission) says he has no hair, but he clearly does have black hair.

Mole People's Tunnel:
Missing texture in a place you have no reason to go to, so it doesn't really matter. Still:
http://imgur.com/a/3Wylp

Lebedev's Airfield:
You can still trigger the convo item bug with the mechanic, and get infinite recoil mods.
http://imgur.com/a/GqDYN

Lebedev's Jet:
Anna has mech augs. Shouldn't her giblets also contain metal scrap in them?
http://imgur.com/OYIABJC

UNATCO's raid (both in the 'Ton and in Battery Park):
Lots of crashes when captured. I suspect it's because you're likely to die by an explosion, combined with the increased amount of NPCs.

Smuggler's Den:
On the second floor, there's an open window that leads to the perimeter. Aside from that, Smuggler's Den is underground - so it shouldn't be open. This is especially a problem since in the first visit you're rewarded for going there.
http://imgur.com/2c2924K
Cybernetic pig
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Kdawg88 wrote:I just don't want to see you get carried away with that side of things. As has been demonstrated before, there's only so much you can do to the visuals before the game starts to feel cluttered and stylistically inconsistent. Hopefully you're already well aware of this.
Yes, I am. Don't worry, if I fuck it up, you'll be able to combine v8.0's maps with v9.0's everything else. I'm also very open to nitpicks (if valid) and will set things straight if brought to my attention.

@MiC: thanks for the reports.
UNATCO's raid (both in the 'Ton and in Battery Park):
Lots of crashes when captured. I suspect it's because you're likely to die by an explosion, combined with the increased amount of NPCs.
This is likely related to the first person death perspective option. In v8.0 it causes occasional crashing when NPCs talk after you die. Fixed in v9.0. Can be avoided for good by switching back to third person death in v8.0.
Made in China
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Made in China »

Reached the catacombs.

General bugs:
Synthetic heart is driving me insane. It's basically always on - I can't turn on the light aug with it also being on, and I cannot turn it off separately. This leads to a ridiculous power drain even when both it and the light aug are fully upgraded. Was that the intended behavior?
EDIT: Actually read the aug description and it is the intended behavior. I think some rebalancing is needed, something that scales with the current aug power drain - like 33% more or something. Currently I see it as completely useless because it drains 95 ENE/min if I want to use the light aug. That being said, I can see it being useful if you mainly use passive augs, but it also makes the active augs completely useless - they cannot last for more than 1.5 minutes if you have full charge and it's upgraded to the max - while the power recirculator just enhances the active augs, while the passive augs remain unaffected.
So yeah. I think it's not balanced well.

I think the new physics engine is making items pass through the walls/floor when they are created - i.e., when you're destroying a container. It happens to me consistently in the second visit to UNATCO HQ, with the cardboard box containing the biocell in the generator, and I've witnessed it happen occasionally in Paris. Now, most of the crates and boxes I hit were empty, which makes me to believe it makes items disappear rather frequently and I just didn't notice it until now.

Hong Kong ATC:
Jock fires prematurely. I suggest splitting him rotating and him taking off to 2 animations, because timing it mid-animation as it is done now is insane.
http://imgur.com/nt68rYJ

Naval Shipyard (outer):
One of the drawers either has a stat mismatch or it's related to the Paris - Catacomb Entrance bug.
http://imgur.com/LUJC9ud

Naval Shipyard (inner):
IS THAT A SECRET THAT I SEE?
http://imgur.com/33xgoKh
(no, no it isn't. and it's a pretty long beam, too - it stretches all the way across the map)

Paris - Crackhouse:
Not a bug, but a bad design decision - you have to take damage, albeit minimal with the Environmental Resistance aug and the HEV suit in order to get through the radiation room.

Paris - Catacomb Entrance:
The middle board barring the secret entrance to the catacombs is invulnerable from the inner side.

Future patch notes:
Currently I have combat strength and fully upgraded low tech skill. My DTS does 78 damage per hit. Every headshot decapitates and gibs, so I can see why you think the gore is over the top - I feel like I'm playing ISIS Simulator. Also, it happens with the crossbow as well - so it really needs to be weapon specific.

We need an option to stop picking up the pistol and the combat knife, and instead just pick up the ammo. Being 1x1, they always fit in the inventory grid if it isn't full - and throwing them away after every corpse becomes tedious. This isn't a problem with other common weapons, such as the assault rifles - as they're bigger, and you probably won't have space for them in the inventory, or you can arrange what items you do have to not allow picking them up.
Last edited by Made in China on Tue Sep 06, 2016 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jaedar
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Jaedar »

Yeah that massive beam threw me off too.

Also had forgotten how annoyed I was at the forced damage in paris.
Made in China wrote:
We need an option to stop picking up the pistol and the combat knife, and instead just pick up the ammo. Being 1x1, they always fit in the inventory grid if it isn't full - and throwing them away after every corpse becomes tedious. This isn't a problem with other common weapons, such as the assault rifles - as they're bigger, and you probably won't have space for them in the inventory, or you can arrange what items you do have to not allow picking them up.
I've been pondering suggesting this as well, especially if CyberP ever goes ahead and makes ammo take inventory space, buuuut I don't see a reasonable gui solution to this. Would be a neat feature though, those combat knives are the bane of my existence.
"Delays are temporary; mediocrity is forever."
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Cybernetic pig
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Combat knives have a solution in v9.0.

The forced radiation damage in Paris is vanilla and I don't intend to change it.

The beam does not look to offer a secret, nor does it take any special effort to reach. Nonetheless it does provide scouting + sniping opportunity as it is a good overlook of the ship. And you can jump down on to the ship from it too.
Made in China
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Made in China »

New item clipping:
http://imgur.com/a/TIoKB
I have no insight aside from it being the fault of the new physics engine - it didn't happen in the original.
Maybe the new item is spawn (without clipping) in a random point inside the container, and starts spinning due to the new physics engine - but the center of rotation is the center of the container rather than the item?

Regarding the radiation room, mandatory damage is a bad design choice - there's no way around that, even for a game that was made in 2000. I understand the need to preserve the original design, but I also think that the current state of things is that it sticks out like a sore thumb because GMDX improved on the design of the original so much. At the very least, there need to be a couple of medkits after opening the gate, but before going through the radiation room to allow for players to run and tank the damage.

The beam isn't a good scouting spot - it doesn't have any cover, and enemies can see you from that distance. Some of them even pack sniper rifles. Since there are vertical beams at regular intervals on it and the passage is thin, I'd say it was just aesthetic - but it's viewed from the wrong perspective, since you generally don't look at it from the ship, but from the vent entrance.
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Made in China wrote: The beam isn't a good scouting spot - it doesn't have any cover, and enemies can see you from that distance. Some of them even pack sniper rifles. Since there are vertical beams at regular intervals on it and the passage is thin, I'd say it was just aesthetic - but it's viewed from the wrong perspective, since you generally don't look at it from the ship, but from the vent entrance.
Good points. I guess it does tempt the player simply because it is a new path you can take, and while it can be used to your advantage it can also be a notable time waster, and you are indeed vulnerable up there if you get spotted before taking anyone out.
I'll move it up, it can be purely aesthetic.

About the radiation, I'm not against the concept of forcing the player to take damage. Many games force you to take damage. Many turn- based RPGs encounters are based entirely around it for example, as when the enemy takes their turn you can do nothing but wait. Generally you do want the player to be able to avoid it if skilled, but the exception here and there is fine in my book. If the player gets to this point and has 5hp and no medkits, then they'll have to reload a save back in the graveyard and not do such a shitty job next time. Yet the chances of that even happening are slim because Deus Ex is not a particularly challenging game, even with GMDX + hardcore mode. I don't think I've ever seen someone complain they got to that point and couldn't proceed, vanilla or GMDX.
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Made in China »

Reached Vandenberg and taking a break. Will finish Deus Ex this week.

General:
NPCs cannot enter new areas - it's been a while, but I think it's since they are using the old node graph.
This is easy to recreate in the 'Ton during the raid, as enemies won't be able to use the ramp.

Flight controls should have the option of reversing up/down. For me, at least, controlling the GEP in ATGM mode is unnatural - if only I had a joystick.

Paris - Cathedral:
The wine cellar's hidden entrance (the panel that sticks out) doesn't work - however, the panel inside the cellar does work. Kind of weird. Anyway, it forces you to break into the wine cellar through the hatch outside.

Morgan Everett:
The faucet in his secret shower doesn't work. I'm not sure if it's supposed to open something, so I might be wrong about that.
Also, I do not see Everett ever crawling through a vent to reach his secret spy station, complete with his own fold-out bed. It might be his lackey's room, though - so maybe there need to be some hints to it not being Everett's room? Currently, it doesn't really mash well when you think about it.

EDIT: Schedule cleared up. Now at Area 51.

General:
Passive augs added after Synthetic Heart do not receive a boost.

Is there a way to have an always-on laser, or at least default it to being on? It's not that big of a deal, and it doesn't break realism - some modern rifles have their IR pointer connected to the safety (such as the TAR-21).
This comes up because of mantling, which will be alleviated in the next version but will still exist - every time you mantle, you holster your weapon, leading to resetting the laser state. So if you do a lot of jumping and gunning, it gets kind of annoying.

Vandenberg - Underground Tunnel:
Even though wall climbing spiderbots will be introduced in 9.0, levitating spoderbots exist in 8.0!
http://imgur.com/XNaqMYv

Sub Base - Above Sea Level:
There's a ledge you can get on to with the speed aug, but you can't get down from without taking damage due to it being nerfed.
http://imgur.com/7fXvA3S
Also, its railing is a ladder, because it was implemented in vanilla and that was before mantling.
http://imgur.com/fO6xBi3
This should really be changed - the rewards aren't worth it, it's an ugly hack, and moving on the horizontal ladder is awkward.

The karkian aquarium's ceiling is too thin - the karkian is clipping because of its massive body.
http://imgur.com/Ufp08FK

Sub base - Underwater:
Texture without collision.
http://imgur.com/SvDXhfq

Question about Tong's Compound - there's an electricity panel in the killswitch disabling room, what does it connect to?

SECOND EDIT: Done with the game. Done the Helios ending and didn't explore Sector 4 much.

General:
In the goal screen, "going through the bunker doors" main objective remains there even if you bypassed it through the vent.

Sector 3:
The door behind the jumpscare gray is unlocked, but it doesn't open.

There were a couple of invulnerable doors. One of which is a cabinet door in the room with the medbot, and it actually destroyed it by going through it. Weird pathing.

You can get stuck without dying - exit through the window of the medbot room onto the pipe, sprint jump to the pipe next to it, and drop between the two pipes going down. You're now stuck. It seems really nitpicky because people shouldn't do it, but you can make it better just by pushing the pipes closer to the wall.

Sector 4:
Getting crushed and killed by the door works! However, it doesn't deal any real damage, so the HUD still displays your previous health. Dealing max damage to every body part is the most fitting solution, I think.
Cybernetic pig
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Thanks for the reports. Will go over and fix where appropriate.
Made in China
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Re: GMDXv9.0 Announced

Post by Made in China »

Small report after going on a murder spree and seeing what I'm reminded of:
NPCs can still do damage while they're doing their death animation, leading to some unexplained damage when taking a DTS to someone's face.

Radiation damage is overused while toxic gas damage is underused. Since they're pretty much a different flavor of the same thing, I think there should be some changes in arbitrary locations.

The master computer perk that doubles money hacked from ATMs doesn't seem to work?

Anyway, that's it - I'm done playing GMDX for the moment, it's time to try out some other mods I've neglected through the years. I hope I didn't pollute the thread that much - there's no GMDX section and I didn't want it lost somewhere.
Impressions so far - since I focused on exploring and didn't find any glaring issues with the world, I'd say it's pretty well done. I have to agree with everyone else, this is definitely the definitive way to play Deus Ex - especially when 9.0 comes around with all of the extra features. This makes Deus Ex conform to 2016 AAA standards of design and beyond, although it's a bit weird that there are no new weapons introduced after UNATCO HQ.
I played on medium difficulty, and ended up with a half-upgraded GEP gun, a fully upgraded sniper rifle, a fully upgraded crossbow. These are all first-stage weapons, and they do make the gameplay a bit monotonous after using them that long - although the GEP gun had a pleasant surprise with the guided-missile mode.
Also, since I've had the ultimate lockpick on me (the DTS) I've never dropped below 10 lockpicks and 5 multitools on the last level. Considering the constant upgrade in material hardness, it was kind of odd to see a 40% damage requirement in the last level.
I've also had a ton of skillpoints remaining - something around 3500 I blew on things like medicine (which was actually made far more viable, I didn't even realize), but I'm guessing it's necessary for Hardcore mode. At the end, I mastered computers, security, electronics, low-tech weapons and rifles, and got quite a few perks.
In terms of augs, I've bitched about those enough. I skipped one of the subdermal slots hoping that EMP protection will show up as I didn't want to cheat my stealth sections with radar transparency/cloak, but instead had only 2 flavors of ballistic protection. With that in mind and the Synthetic Heart aug, everything I had was completely functionally upgraded and I had like 5 upgrade canisters to spare. I think that's about right. I've also ran into a few aug canisters, and I kind of got bummed I couldn't use them because they were "go the extra mile" kind of aug cans - and they are a bit of surprise until you do get them, so unless you save scum you don't know if what you're getting is totally awesome or completely worthless. I think going the Shifter route and allowing aug cans to be upgrade cans for the same aug is the right way to go, and removing some of the later basically-a-gift upgrade cans.

That's it. I think it's balanced, considering Hardcore mode.

P.S. - Tong's power box in the killswitch disabling room?
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