Blue Sun Mod 1.3 TAX Addon

[R@S]

The new TAX system is done and need some testing before the next release. Since I'm about to start on some new missions I'd like some help with the testing.

Do not install this if you're in the middle of a game, this is meant for those who have time to test it before the next official release.

What's new:

- The tax system is initiated at the Bank in Puerto Viejo

- The field Radio can be found in the Army Base Safe

- Call the banker on the field radio to set up taxes remotely

- Get the mechanic to join your base and he'll upgrade your cars

- The Outsourcedconfig.ini has changed name to BlueSunMod.ini, all changes should be done in this new file


Installation:

- Copy the files to a working 7.62 + BSM 1.3 installation folder

- Start a new game

Linky:

Blue Sun Mod 1.3 TAX Addon

EDIT: I forgot to tell y'all about the new Random Encounter system, it's present and should also be checked out and tested. I've set the default encounter interval to 6 - 12 hours for testing purposes, you can change the interval yourself in the BlueSunMod.ini if it's too much.

[Dr.Q]

I might try that, my old game with the alternative weaponinfo has become a bit of a joke. Really on CGL 5 i bought a G36C that has the range of a sniper rifle and all the shotguns are as fast pistols. No idea whats supposed to be 'realistic' or balanced about that

There's still bugs with the new class system. I gladly traded away -20 STR for INT 100 on character creation, but when he came alive STR was back at the old value. The bonuses you're handing out on level up may be a touch too much too. At CGL 5 my merc is now a STA 100 fitness monster, along with INT 100 and CAMO 80 and the 38 bonus points into gunfighting.. bank filled with a quarter million or so... especially with the 'alternative' weaponinfo it's like playing one of the old bearpit cheatmods for JA2

[safoolfool]

You don't have to start a new game if you want to use the old weaponinfo file, you just have to rename the alt one something else (like put the alt back in).

Personally I like the alt file so far. It makes combat much faster, which has been fun. I also really like what it did with pistols, bringing the fire time down by a factor of almost four. I find that the lower fire times (all around, pretty much) make running around hipshotting and rough aiming a lot more useful, instead of the rather static "crouch, aimed shot aimed shot aimed shot" the game usually degenerated into for me. I also love the range & dropoff on the shotguns (they work great up to ~40m, and can't do anything past ~55m), combined with their new speed, makes them pretty useful, where before I never touched them

That said, I'm only on CGL 5 myself, and having looked ahead at what the alt file does with ARs and sniper rifles, I think it will break the game pretty badly. For one, bolt action rifles are entirely pointless: sure they have an extra 50-100m of effective range, but I've never seen an enemy more than 150m off and most maps don't even have any spaces more than 250m apart; the difference between 600 and 700m is not worth the difference between taking .3 seconds and 2.5 to shoot. In fact, sniper rifles seem pointless since ARs are perfectly accurate at all the ranges in the game.

The thing I like most, however, is that by bringing most weapons ranges out, they all become viable alternatives in many situations. Usually, in both BE5 and my previous time in 7.62, I just chose the most accurate gun with a reasonable rate of fire (with occasional other considerations, like "I need an MG for supression" or "this is a small map, I should bring SMGs instead). By making SMGs, SBRs, ARs, and sniper rifles all accurate enough in the ranges you encounter most often, my choice of gun depends on much more than just accuracy.

Additionally, even with extended ranges, some guns do better in close even if they're less accurate. For example, the AK-74 SU has an accuracy rating of 55, but it's to-hit % is something like 65% at 50m, 40% at 75m, and 30% at 100m. Then the MP5 has a rating of ~44, but its to-hit is 75% at 50m, 50% at 50m, and 10% at 100m. Now I have a choice based on where I think I'll be fighting: the MP5 is better close in, but the AK74 is better at longer ranges. In the original file it seems like this issue didn't usually come up, if a gun was more accurate, it was more accurate at all ranges.

[R@S]

Originally Posted by Dr.Q

I might try that, my old game with the alternative weaponinfo has become a bit of a joke. Really on CGL 5 i bought a G36C that has the range of a sniper rifle and all the shotguns are as fast pistols. No idea whats supposed to be 'realistic' or balanced about that

The alternative WEAPONINFO is for those wanting to try something different, if you don't like it don't use it. And if you don't like the standard BSM one either, make your own

Originally Posted by Dr.Q

There's still bugs with the new class system. I gladly traded away -20 STR for INT 100 on character creation, but when he came alive STR was back at the old value.

As they say, assumption is the mother of all screw ups, and I surely made one here. I knew that when you visit the doctor and heal your merc, the health skill reverts back to the setting it had in the INI file. I assumed Health was the only parameter that did that, and boyo was I wrong. There are others that do the same and I've removed them from the decrease list to avoid the problem. I might even remove the decrease option all together, but haven't decided yet.

Originally Posted by Dr.Q

The bonuses you're handing out on level up may be a touch too much too. At CGL 5 my merc is now a STA 100 fitness monster, along with INT 100 and CAMO 80 and the 38 bonus points into gunfighting..

You're making a mistake if you think that a 100 point in a skill or parameter is much. The roof is actually 250, and when you get 200 points, that's when you should consider it high. But then again, if you don't like it, turn it off in the BlueSunMod.ini file.

Originally Posted by Dr.Q

bank filled with a quarter million or so... especially with the 'alternative' weaponinfo it's like playing one of the old bearpit cheatmods for JA2

If you think 250k is a lot of money at CGL 5, you need to play a bit more. Once you reach CGL 7 you need ~150k for every sector you capture, the cost of militia to hold it will certainly drain your resources. It takes more than a month to regain that capitol through taxes, so you need a nesting egg before you even consider holding a sector.

[DAn88]

R@S, where can i find the outsourceconfig, for vanilla 7.62?, please help

[Dr.Q]

Originally Posted by R@S

The alternative WEAPONINFO is for those wanting to try something different, if you don't like it don't use it. And if you don't like the standard BSM one either, make your own

Nah, the standard BSM one is pretty good. It's just that the alternative/realistic one is screwed up. Like the shotguns with long stocks are as fast tiny pistols, way too long optimal ranges that don't correspond to the map size, no difference (recoil time) between heavy and light calibers. More bugs are like the SUM pistols have all lost autofire, but you can buy a full auto USP in the shop etc...

Returning to the standard files, there are still a few funny values in the ammoinfo file. Like the plain .223 having way too much penetration. I've already got the more descriptive files out of BE5 to change those things though...

Originally Posted by R@S

As they say, assumption is the mother of all screw ups, and I surely made one here. I knew that when you visit the doctor and heal your merc, the health skill reverts back to the setting it had in the INI file. I assumed Health was the only parameter that did that, and boyo was I wrong. There are others that do the same and I've removed them from the decrease list to avoid the problem. I might even remove the decrease option all together, but haven't decided yet.

Yes, this looks like it needs more testing

Originally Posted by R@S

You're making a mistake if you think that a 100 point in a skill or parameter is much. The roof is actually 250, and when you get 200 points, that's when you should consider it high. But then again, if you don't like it, turn it off in the BlueSunMod.ini file.

The roof is on fire when it hits 255.. the designers didn't intend the skills to go much higher than 100. For ex. with my Stamina 100 fitness monster, it's merely like turning on the corresponding difficulty option... not very exciting.

Originally Posted by R@S

If you think 250k is a lot of money at CGL 5, you need to play a bit more. Once you reach CGL 7 you need ~150k for every sector you capture, the cost of militia to hold it will certainly drain your resources. It takes more than a month to regain that capitol through taxes, so you need a nesting egg before you even consider holding a sector.

Yeah I'll have to get that far - time's never enough but I really enjoy this

[safoolfool]

Originally Posted by R@S

As they say, assumption is the mother of all screw ups, and I surely made one here. I knew that when you visit the doctor and heal your merc, the health skill reverts back to the setting it had in the INI file. I assumed Health was the only parameter that did that, and boyo was I wrong. There are others that do the same and I've removed them from the decrease list to avoid the problem. I might even remove the decrease option all together, but haven't decided yet.

You're making a mistake if you think that a 100 point in a skill or parameter is much. The roof is actually 250, and when you get 200 points, that's when you should consider it high. But then again, if you don't like it, turn it off in the BlueSunMod.ini file.

Hey, I had a question about this. My merc started with 100 shooting and 100 reaction (due to me editing the savegame files), and when I leveled up I put my points into those two, however it never stuck. I could go up to 103 reaction or shooting (1 point each), but next time I checked it they reverted to 100. The thing is, I then decided to edit my save again, and gave myself 125 shooting, and it doesn't revert to 100 (of course, I also haven't added any BSM points to shooting since I edited it to 125). Is there something about the class mod that won't let you spend points above 100, or kicks you back down to 100 when you do? It doesn't seem like it could be the doctor, since I can keep 125 as long as its not from the class points.

[Kyle]

R@S,

I apologize for not having played this release, but I had no idea that it was even released. I fully thought that it would be released on the other Blue Sun Mod thread. Maybe in the future, when an update that's been discussed previously in a thread is released in a brand new thread, that some kind of short announcement regarding it could be made in the old thread.

I'm frustrated that I've lost all of that time to test it out. Well, I have it now, but it won't be till this weekend that I'll be able to really sink some teeth into it.

I'm eager to give it a good run for its money--literally.

[R@S]

Originally Posted by safoolfool

Hey, I had a question about this. My merc started with 100 shooting and 100 reaction (due to me editing the savegame files), and when I leveled up I put my points into those two, however it never stuck. I could go up to 103 reaction or shooting (1 point each), but next time I checked it they reverted to 100. The thing is, I then decided to edit my save again, and gave myself 125 shooting, and it doesn't revert to 100 (of course, I also haven't added any BSM points to shooting since I edited it to 125). Is there something about the class mod that won't let you spend points above 100, or kicks you back down to 100 when you do? It doesn't seem like it could be the doctor, since I can keep 125 as long as its not from the class points.

I never edited any save game file so I can't answer your Q. But I heard that the attributes are stored in more than one location within those files, it could be related to that.

[Nat_Crelk]

Hi everyone !

I encounter a strange trick.

I recently dl BSM tax addon 1.3 and now I play with it.
I'm now on CGL 2 and I've taken the Army Base (near Campecino i think) thanks to Mr Lond!

But when I've finished that mission, I came to my new base and talked to the "Mayor" there.

And surprisingly my CGL came from 2 to 8 in 2sec.

What's the matter ?

Thx

Nat