GMDXv9.0 Release

[Made in China]

After finishing Deus Ex with the latest Shifter, and feeling burned out on Deus Ex. Probably no more mods in the short term.
Two small things I thought about:
In Paris, if MJ12 helmet removal is implemented - there needs to be a blonde soldier so the conversation with the parents in the restaurant will fit the world. They don't even want to talk to you anymore after giving you information, so it doesn't even matter if you kill/knock out/ghost him.

Probably a lot more trouble than it's worth, but female soldiers?

Modify doors and powerboxes/alarms/cameras so their class will have a InProgress variable, and use lockpicks and multitools to add to that value, and door and electronics security should be subtracted from that value when lockpicking.
Reasoning is that lockpicks and multitools are removed when starting to use them, and if not looking directly at the door they will cancel the use. This becomes especially notable with long-range hacking as the target is so small every nudge to the mouse can cancel the use - and I'm not saying that's bad, I'm just saying there should be a way to resume it.
Possible conflicts:
InProgress != 0 && you return with a nanokey. (InProgress = 0, switch to keychain?)
InProgress != 0 && you have no more lockpicks. (should force the lockpick model anyway)
InProgress != 0 && you use another lockpick. (should not allow lockpick stacking, will just continue current attempt)
InProgress != 0 && you upgraded your security skill. (InProgress value shouldn't change, speed should change to reflect the upgrade)

[Cybernetic pig]

MJ12 troop's helmets appear to have a chin guard: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/deu ... -prefix=en

And that's why they cannot be shot off of heads in GMDX while all other helmet types can. Conveniently works out from a gameplay POV too as MJ12 are meant to be the toughest common enemy type.

Will consider the lockpick/multitooling stuff.

[Made in China]

I have no problem with it gameplay wise, and it's actually a welcome change not seeing heads flying off every second - but don't UNATCO troops' helmets also have chin straps? They might be obscured by their gas masks in some models, but still.
Also, realistically, all military helmets have chin straps, even those weird blue ones the UN Peacekeeping corps wear. It's got a lot to do with spreading the impact across the head, and you can't do that if the helmet isn't fit tightly around it.

Fun fact: Most of the old army helmets (pre-2008) cannot block the impact of 7.62x51 mm rounds (MAG) or 5.56x45 mm rounds with a tungsten core (M4). They did protect against blunt force trauma, ricochets, and fragmentation ammunition such as grenades and flechettes - so they were immensely useful, but not as much as the movies have you believe with them stopping a 0.5'' BMG sniper round.
Modern helmets are polymer based and are comparable to wearing bulletproof glass, although far lighter. However, like bulletproof glass, they can lose their effectiveness after getting shot once.
Body armor is usually done with modular ceramic plates inserted to the vest and it's heavy as you're basically wearing a kitchen countertop, but each plate can stop 3-5 bullets before being declared ineffective.

So, my point being - helmets shouldn't stop heads from popping. Body armor, however, should stop from gibbing.

[Cybernetic pig]

I have no problem with it gameplay wise, and it's actually a welcome change not seeing heads flying off every second - but don't UNATCO troops' helmets also have chin straps? They might be obscured by their gas masks in some models, but still.

Looks like a face mask independent of the helmet.

Modern helmets are polymer based and are comparable to wearing bulletproof glass, although far lighter. However, like bulletproof glass, they can lose their effectiveness after getting shot once.

So, my point being - helmets shouldn't stop heads from popping. Body armor, however, should stop from gibbing.

Hmm, aren't those two sentences conflicting?

Head popping (visually) is scrapped in v9.0 by the way.

[Made in China]

I have no problem with it gameplay wise, and it's actually a welcome change not seeing heads flying off every second - but don't UNATCO troops' helmets also have chin straps? They might be obscured by their gas masks in some models, but still.

Looks like a face mask independent of the helmet.

It's a bit too intricate for simple face mask, so I'm accepting HDTP's vision of it being a gas mask. At least, that's the result I found on Google images - I don't play with HDTP usually.

Modern helmets are polymer based and are comparable to wearing bulletproof glass, although far lighter. However, like bulletproof glass, they can lose their effectiveness after getting shot once.

So, my point being - helmets shouldn't stop heads from popping. Body armor, however, should stop from gibbing.

Hmm, aren't those two sentences conflicting?

Only if head popping is done on the first shot. Ideally helmets should be an object with 1 HP that blocks the first shot and after that it's fair game. Gameplay wise, it's more visually distinct to remove the helmet than to consider it damaged - but you're losing consistency between UNATCO and MJ12. Not that it matters much as MJ12 are the toughest cannon fodder in the game.
Also, I'm not sure a lot people would demand hardcore realism and helmet protection - I'm just saying that helmet removal doesn't have a basis in realism, nor does helmets protecting you regardless of previous abuse they've taken.

[Cybernetic pig]

Also, I'm not sure a lot people would demand hardcore realism and helmet protection - I'm just saying that helmet removal doesn't have a basis in realism, nor does helmets protecting you regardless of previous abuse they've taken.

Much like everything else in DX (and GMDX) it is meant to have variable basis in realism. Sometimes very loose basis, but basis nonetheless.
Don't forget the game is set in 2052 also, so reality can be stretched to some extent, especially to make way for good gameplay or in the name of engine/other limitations.

Also, realistically, all military helmets have chin straps, even those weird blue ones the UN Peacekeeping corps wear. It's got a lot to do with spreading the impact across the head, and you can't do that if the helmet isn't fit tightly around it.

Realistically, sure, yet for DX's only on the MJ12 troop helmet are chin straps visible. The "soldier" skin set (US Military troops you see at the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards and Area 51) in particular does not have chin straps for certain.

[Made in China]

Played some Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. I was especially interested in the cable on The Pit's entrance:
https://portforward.com/games/walkthrou ... all-29.jpg

According to the dev commentary, they put in a script so once you reach a certain point it'll push you to the left or to the right randomly, to prevent climbing and sequence breaking. I figured the same solution could be applied to stacking in the form of object wobbling.
Didn't put much time into the formula, but I guess it should be something along the lines of:
dx(object) = const1 * (length_y(object) / length_x(object)) * sin(const2 / (length_y(object) * mass * (const3 * t + 1/(2*pi))) + phase1) + dx(support)
dy(object) = const1 * (length_x(object) / length_y(object)) * sin(const2 / (length_x(object) * mass * (const3 * t + 1/(2*pi))) + phase2) + dx(support)
if(support != moveable object) dx(support) = 0
if(t > arbitrary number) dx = 0, dy = 0

const1 is the global amplitude modifier.
const2 is the global frequency modifier.
const3 is the timescale modifier.
phase1/2 are determined by random.

The one glaring flaw with it is that with phase != 0, the object will keep moving until infinity. However, inserting a random phase element is necessary so different objects will not have the same movement arc - maybe replace it with (phase / t)? It needs some tinkering.

[Cybernetic pig]

What's wrong with invisible walls

Where would I place these (what would be) wobble triggers that invis walls doesn't already handle? Sure the wobble may be better, but the invis walls are already setup throughout the whole vanilla game (some actor based, some geometry based, devs weren't consistent there).

I do appreciate your effort to help, really I do, but it'd be a notable amount of menial work to implement for little benefit. However, all is not lost. You've inspired me to improve the vanilla wobble (when landing on an object that won't let you stand on it, like NPCs. Very similar formula to yours there). Sensibly and slightly more realistically we want the object to throw you off fast, not DX1's wobble around on the object for ages before luck would have it and you're thrown off in a unblocked direction.

[Made in China]

Well, wobbling fixes two things that are wrong with stacking - the first one is stacking in order to go out-of-bounds, the second one is silly object behavior, such as dropping 10 Zyme vials only to create a perfect tower. And while the first one can be dealt with invisible walls, this is very much immersion breaking as it shows physics inconsistencies between edge cases (and edge of the map) and regular behavior.

And please, don't take any of my suggestions as demands. Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time, and seeing someone improving it drastically allows me to pitch in gameplay mechanics that were only fleshed out years after its time. I know it takes a lot to implement even one of these mechanics, and the decision whether to do it or not is yours, as it's your mod - I'm just trying to think of mechanics that you haven't thought of yet.

Also, stopping JC from tap-dancing on road blocks is great news!

[Cybernetic pig]

Well, wobbling fixes two things that are wrong with stacking - the first one is stacking in order to go out-of-bounds, the second one is silly object behavior, such as dropping 10 Zyme vials only to create a perfect tower. And while the first one can be dealt with invisible walls, this is very much immersion breaking as it shows physics inconsistencies between edge cases (and edge of the map) and regular behavior.

They're more reliable though. They can work mid-air. How would the wobble work if the player decides to speed enhance jump up and over the edge of the map without ever touching the boundary wall to lose their balance on?

As for towers of inventory items...more inspiration. I'll see what I can do about that.

And please, don't take any of my suggestions as demands. Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time, and seeing someone improving it drastically allows me to pitch in gameplay mechanics that were only fleshed out years after its time.

Make all the suggestions you want. I'll always consider them as long as I'm working on it.

Also, stopping JC from tap-dancing on road blocks is great news!

GMDX already does this, no? The vast majority of items can now be stood on by you and other objects without wobbling off, and the little roadbock is one of them. The devs were certainly heavy handed there, with things like wobbling when standing on a rat or pillow.

I've polished this game sparkly clean.

[WildcatPhoenix]

Okay, a few small issues from the Training mission of v.9:

-The text for the Pistol skill still mentions the UMP, although this weapon has been removed.
-This was actually a typo in the vanilla game, but in the Aug screen of the Health menu, it says "No augmentation [cannisters] available!" Canisters should only have one 'n.'
-In the rifle shooting range with Gunther, the second sniper rifle was floating at the top/on the ceiling of the shelf. I don't know if it was like this by default or if it jumped up there after I picked up the other rifle.
-This may have also been a glitch in vanilla DX, but after placing the only LAM in my inventory on the wall as a proximity mine, the player's hand still holds a LAM in it for a half second before holstering.
-On the datacube before the door for the Advanced Movement Training section, the word "receive" is misspelled.
-Perhaps I was doing this wrong, but I could not get the Secondary Weapon or Cycle Ammunition features to work. 'F' key was defaulted to "Center View," and 'C' key was defaulted to "Turn Right." Even after clearing these assigned keys, neither function would work for me.
-I could not complete the 'Crouch, Jump, Mantle' portion of the Advanced Movement Training. I followed the instructions and tried it about 50 times before giving up. The player would get stuck while mantling and fall off without moving forward. (I may have been doing this wrong, but instructions may need to be clearer, as I don't see a new or casual player having the patience to figure this section out).

A couple of other observations:

-I looooooove the 'left click to pull up lockpick or multitool' when highlighting a door or keypad. This saves so much time and frustration and can free up a space or two on the toolbelt for other things.
-I also really enjoyed the new animated bars for bioelectric energy and stamina. Very nice touches!
-I liked the holographic NSF target in the takedown section. I would like to volunteer to rewrite the text on the datacube to be a little more "in character/world," however.

[Cybernetic pig]

It's odd that Jaime Reyes guides you through the training course. I wouldn't have thought that was his field. Having Sam Carter guide you would have probably been more appropriate.

Thanks for the feedback. And yeah, phase 1 testing for v9.0 has begun. Anyone else want in then let me know, or you can wait for phase 2 or full release if you prefer. Each will be more polished, naturally.

-Perhaps I was doing this wrong, but I could not get the Secondary Weapon or Cycle Ammunition features to work. 'F' key was defaulted to "Center View," and 'C' key was defaulted to "Turn Right." Even after clearing these assigned keys, neither function would work for me.

Are you launching the game via the shortcut, or via the .exe in System?

I followed the instructions and tried it about 50 times before giving up. The player would get stuck while mantling and fall off without moving forward. (I may have been doing this wrong, but instructions may need to be clearer, as I don't see a new or casual player having the patience to figure this section out).

This is odd. Mantling is very straightforward and reliable, but some people seem to have trouble with it. A short video of what is going wrong would be great, but that takes some effort to make so I guess I'll just have to get stuck in.

-I also really enjoyed the new animated bars for bioelectric energy and stamina. Very nice touches!

Added in v8.0. Wow, you've not played since v6.2 or whatever it was? Be prepared for considerable Deus Ex advancement.

[WildcatPhoenix]

Are you launching the game via the shortcut, or via the .exe in System?

I launched it from the shortcut in the Start menu. Should I use the System .exe instead?

This is odd. Mantling is very straightforward and reliable, but some people seem to have trouble with it. A short video of what is going wrong would be great, but that takes some effort to make so I guess I'll just have to get stuck in.

I crouched, approached the obstacle, jumped, then pressed 'jump' again. The character started to mantle, but would fall backwards before getting all the way "in" to the empty space. I tried this while touching the wall completely, then tried several times again a little further away. I tried pressing 'forward' while mantling and then without. It just wouldn't work.

Added in v8.0. Wow, you've not played since v6.2 or whatever it was? Be prepared for considerable Deus Ex advancement.

I had issues installing v8.0, for some reason. It would successfully install, but very few of the new features seemed to be implemented. For example, this is the first time I've seen the Perks (which are awesome, btw!). I think there was some kind of conflict with another mod I had installed. I have since cleared them all out and done a fresh install from the baseline DX with Kentie's Launcher. Works like a charm.

[Cybernetic pig]

I launched it from the shortcut in the Start menu. Should I use the System .exe instead?

No. Shortcut is good.

Check the Keyboard/Mouse settings and scroll right to the bottom. There should be a binding for secondary weapons. what is its default bind and does pressing that key work, or whatever key you rebound it to.

I crouched, approached the obstacle, jumped, then pressed 'jump' again. The character started to mantle, but would fall backwards before getting all the way "in" to the empty space. I tried this while touching the wall completely, then tried several times again a little further away. I tried pressing 'forward' while mantling and then without. It just wouldn't work.

Well, let me know how further experience with it goes, if you haven't disabled the option outright.

As for the tutorial cube, all the tutorial writing should be modified where necessary by a writer, which means you. But you haven't took issue with the others aside from a typo so maybe I don't give myself enough credit, but nonetheless I'll send you the un-raw text of each. For now, here is the takedown one:

GMDXText9="TAKEDOWNS|n|nPerform a takedown! To do so, equip a melee weapon, sneak right up behind the hologram and aim for the midsection or the back of the head, then press 'Fire Weapon' (default = Left Mouse Button). |n|nThe Baton or Riot Prod are best suited to this task as a result of their silent and non-lethal nature, though any weapon can be used. |n|nA takedown can only be performed if the target is unaware of your presence."

|n = Linebreak, but you probably know that from working on the MiB mod.

[Made in China]

I think I know why the mantling is cancelled midway. It seems to not execute/terminate early if you aren't looking directly at the object you're mantling, so if you didn't gain enough height to climb it you'll fall beside it.

Tutorial bugs:
Bots don't seem to have limited usage number at first glance, but after the second use they go into their timers will continue to count down past 0 - so number of uses is limited as it should be. But this implementation can result in a memleak and just doesn't look good.

In Gunther's gun ranges, you can peek at the soldiers through the doors and shoot their midesction as it isn't covered - but it is blocked by an invisible wall. It doesn't look good.

On the subject of invisible walls, there's some sort of barrier that doesn't let you go into the ranges past the firing line in the original ranges part of the map, but not in the GMDX one. It's inconsistent.

During demolition training, setting off one LAM near the stack will blow them all up and make you unable to proceed. This is a bit harsh of a punishment for trying and succeeding to balance a LAM on my head.

***After the demolition training, the soldier which gives you extra LAMs doesn't do that if you don't have any LAMs on you, making it impossible to proceed.

Gunther says in one of his Infolink messages "breech" twice. While it is an English word, I think he means "breach" - and there should be no mistakes typical to Gunther in recorded audio messages.

In the vanilla section's "final test", if you try to interact with the bridge's keypad, it automatically selects the multitool even though there is a password for that keypad.

If you blow your legs off during the obstacle course with a LAM (since you get 3 at the door tutorial - or maybe it's tied to ***, as I bypassed it with summon lam) you can get permanently stuck.

Notes:
I feel like there should be a repair bot after during the GMDX section. You can run out of energy for your flashlight pretty easily.

Love the air bubbles effect when you're diving! Are they new? I've never noticed them before.

Love the NSF hologram! It's really creative.

Shouldn't Bob Page speak with you after you've finished your training, including the GMDX one? I understand not moving the "final test" or the intel room as those are directed by Jaime, but Bob Page does his own thing in that room. Plus, it's a bit weird getting congratulated on finishing your training only to have more training to go.