Octopus Overlords

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 1:15 pm Say who what now?! What camera mod do you speak of? Would definitely be interested in anything that helps with the unwieldy-ish camera.

from the Wasteland 2 Nexus:
Free Camera Mod
This mod tweaks the game camera as follows:
When zooming out, the camera now angles a little bit so you can see further forward
When zooming in, you can now zoom past the previous limit and get an over the shoulder view of the WasteLand.

Free Combat Camera Mod
This little hack stops the camera from automatically jerking around during combat. It will now stay put unless you move it manually, and you can now also move it when it's not your turn. If you want to zoom in on an enemy before you eviscerate them, or have a constant view of the battlefield like the tactical god you are, well, now you can!

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 1:15 pm

Dave Allen wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 10:06 amThe only mods I'm using are the camera mod and these cool portraits.

Say who what now?! What camera mod do you speak of? Would definitely be interested in anything that helps with the unwieldy-ish camera.

Here's a mod which combines both the camera mods mentioned above. While you're at it, I suggest you also grab the Sweetfx Texture Sharpening mod and here's a decent portraits pack if you'd like a wider variety of Ranger portraits to choose from.

Excellent! Thanks, guys!

I should get started in this game myself considering how much I liked Fallout...

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:21 am I should get started in this game myself considering how much I liked Fallout...

Yep. It's VERY similar. That was the first game it reminded me of when I started playing. But with better UI and graphics obviously.

I guess it got love in the game media, but it should have gotten more IMO. Great freaking game. 87 Metacritic for the Director's Cut version, and 81 for the first version.

Though it may be better to think of it more like Fallout Tactics. Since it's more of a squad. Though you can play it "solo" and only add NPCs you run into. Instead of starting with a squad.

TheMix wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:52 pm Wait until you have enemies run half way across the map, through a bunch of your other guys, to beat on the character at the back.

I just had this happen to me in Highpoint ("boss" battle if you will). The lady with a jackhammer for an arm did that. I mean, ran from excellent cover just in the middle of my mercs like a lunatic, randomly running around and slapping some of them in the face and then running to another and kicking them in the shin. I was like What. The. Fuck?! is she doing?!

I get that you're a melee only fighter with that arm and all, and sure, you want to show it off and instill fear into the hearts of your enemies, but there are other options than suicide! I will say I'm not a huge fan of how much you get penalized in hit % when enemies are close. I think they overdid it there.

I PROMISE I will not miss you in real life if you are standing 9ft away from me and I'm using a sniper rifle. Promise!!!

I W3 I have a melee character that basically does the same thing. She runs straight into the mess, hammers the biggest group with an AoE if it's ready, stunning most of them and then tanks whatever retaliation comes her way. She has the most health and the best armor and evasion. It's tactics!

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:55 am Though it may be better to think of it more like Fallout Tactics. Since it's more of a squad. Though you can play it "solo" and only add NPCs you run into. Instead of starting with a squad.

I am one of those guys who never played Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, but did dig Fallout Tactics. Heck, I did write a guide on it.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:32 pm

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:55 am Though it may be better to think of it more like Fallout Tactics. Since it's more of a squad. Though you can play it "solo" and only add NPCs you run into. Instead of starting with a squad.

I am one of those guys who never played Fallout 1 and Fallout 2

Oh my. You REALLY should correct that!

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:46 pm

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:32 pm

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:55 am Though it may be better to think of it more like Fallout Tactics. Since it's more of a squad. Though you can play it "solo" and only add NPCs you run into. Instead of starting with a squad.

I am one of those guys who never played Fallout 1 and Fallout 2

Oh my. You REALLY should correct that!

Yeah. You've missed out on the rite-of-passage of having your companion shoot you in the back. Repeatedly.

It's worth mentioning that the Fallout series was born when Brian Fargo, who made Wasteland, wanted to make Wasteland 2 but couldn't get the rights back from EA. Instead he tweaked the setting and rules and made Fallout.

As an aside, Fallout was originally intended to be a GURPS game using the tabletop rules. Steve Jackson had a cow when he saw the level of violence and yanked those rules, so they then tweaked what they had to become the SPECIAL system, which is very similar to GURPS.

One of these days, man. One of these days. I actually own FO1 and FO2 on jewelcase, that's how long I've had them, combined with Battlechess series, of all things.

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:46 pm

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:32 pm

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:55 am Though it may be better to think of it more like Fallout Tactics. Since it's more of a squad. Though you can play it "solo" and only add NPCs you run into. Instead of starting with a squad.

I am one of those guys who never played Fallout 1 and Fallout 2

Oh my. You REALLY should correct that!

For me I think it would be impossible to go back. I tried replaying JA2 a couple of years back and I just couldn't stand it. At one point it was my number one game of all time, but nostalgia can only make up for so much. I think the Fallout games would be in the same category.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:11 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:46 pm

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:32 pm

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:55 am Though it may be better to think of it more like Fallout Tactics. Since it's more of a squad. Though you can play it "solo" and only add NPCs you run into. Instead of starting with a squad.

I am one of those guys who never played Fallout 1 and Fallout 2

Oh my. You REALLY should correct that!

For me I think it would be impossible to go back. I tried replaying JA2 a couple of years back and I just couldn't stand it. At one point it was my number one game of all time, but nostalgia can only make up for so much. I think the Fallout games would be in the same category.

I hear ya. Normally I can't go back either (tried original X-Com - nope, tried Jagged Alliance nope, some of my favorite Might and Magics), EXCEPT for the Fallouts. There are of course tons of mods that make things much easier for the modern gamer, but the game REALLY holds up as it is. I had no trouble finishing 1 (not only no trouble, enjoyed it immensely), and the only reason I didn't finish 2 was that I modded it (kind of by accident) with something that I guess put everything back into the game that they edited out. So it added a lot of playtime to an already long game, and by the end, it was just this ridiculous slog. IMO, they edited out those parts for good reason.

Okay, as promised, started up a new game. I added some QOL mods, but no gameplay or balance mods. I chose one doc / pistolero, one faceman (barter) stabber, one mechanic / energy shooter, and one sniper/gunsmith. I did add a ton of portraits and I added a ton of portraits then changed the character customization to fit the portrait. Got all the way up to the toad, did that, but I am pretty much out of ammo at this point. I'm heading back with nice load of scrap to trade for more ammo. Lots of ammo.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:26 pm Okay, as promised, started up a new game. I added some QOL mods, but no gameplay or balance mods. I chose one doc / pistolero, one faceman (barter) stabber, one mechanic / energy shooter, and one sniper/gunsmith. I did add a ton of portraits and I added a ton of portraits then changed the character customization to fit the portrait. Got all the way up to the toad, did that, but I am pretty much out of ammo at this point. I'm heading back with nice load of scrap to trade for more ammo. Lots of ammo.

For your second playthrough, I think you should go to the dark side, become your own faction, and take out those condescending Rangers! And give us an AAR with pics mkaythanks. I am seriously curious how fleshed out that storyline is. Maybe that's when you use the save editor to really beef yourself up and just go hardcore rogue.

Why is the game so stingy with ammo? Initially the group is not that good with accuracy, so it goes through ammo quite hard. I already have every one a machete or such, but only Faceman (the barterer) is any good with a bladed weapon. I'm in middle of Ag Center and already out of ammo popping pods. Right now none of my 4 members have ANY ammo. And I'm playing on EASY!

EDIT: Savegame editor doesn't seem to be working.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:31 am EDIT: Savegame editor doesn't seem to be working.

Evidently, the save game editor I posted earlier in the thread is incompatible with the Director's Cut version of the game. So try using the Wasteland 2 Ranger Editor Director's Cut version instead.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:31 am Why is the game so stingy with ammo? Initially the group is not that good with accuracy, so it goes through ammo quite hard. I already have every one a machete or such, but only Faceman (the barterer) is any good with a bladed weapon. I'm in middle of Ag Center and already out of ammo popping pods. Right now none of my 4 members have ANY ammo. And I'm playing on EASY!

EDIT: Savegame editor doesn't seem to be working.

I am transforming one of my chars from "assault" to "blunt weapons" because of this very issue. I found a very decent club type weapon early that does amazing damage, so I will probably just turn her into a brawler. She's a BIG girl, too.

I think I'm stuck in Ag Center. Not only was the other settlement screaming for help, I can't get through all the darn locked doors. Either I need a lockpicker... or I need to go back to Citadel and hire Angela to brute force the door. ARGH. Some doors I can shoot to pieces, but many doors won't budge. Gah.

I may have to start over. At least I'm not that far into the game, considering how many locked doors I had to deal with.

Hypothetically I can just edit the skills to give myself some lockpicking, eh?

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:42 pm I think I'm stuck in Ag Center. Not only was the other settlement screaming for help, I can't get through all the darn locked doors. Either I need a lockpicker... or I need to go back to Citadel and hire Angela to brute force the door. ARGH. Some doors I can shoot to pieces, but many doors won't budge. Gah.

I may have to start over. At least I'm not that far into the game, considering how many locked doors I had to deal with.

Hypothetically I can just edit the skills to give myself some lockpicking, eh?

Yeah, you definitely need either lockpicking or brute force at least as far as I've gotten in the game, and preferably both (though brute force has been used a lot more). I've probably used both those skills at least a dozen times.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:42 pm I think I'm stuck in Ag Center. Not only was the other settlement screaming for help, I can't get through all the darn locked doors. Either I need a lockpicker... or I need to go back to Citadel and hire Angela to brute force the door. ARGH. Some doors I can shoot to pieces, but many doors won't budge. Gah.

I may have to start over. At least I'm not that far into the game, considering how many locked doors I had to deal with.

Hypothetically I can just edit the skills to give myself some lockpicking, eh?

You should be able to edit in either the skill directly, or simply give yourself some skill points (which may be the simpler approach) to spend to pick it up.

I'm a little confused by your initial statement. You are aware that you can only do one of those two, right? Either the Ag Center or Highpool. You won't be able to do both. And, yes, whichever one you don't pick will scream for help and curse your name. But at least you don't have to feel like you didn't go fast enough. You never had a chance to save both of them.

Also, if you are shooting doors, it's no wonder that you are out of ammo.

Is GreenGoo still around? I know he was attempting to replay this a while back. Have not seen him post here in a while though (since my return).

Around? I believe so. But he stopped coming here a long time ago.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:42 pm I think I'm stuck in Ag Center. Not only was the other settlement screaming for help, I can't get through all the darn locked doors. Either I need a lockpicker... or I need to go back to Citadel and hire Angela to brute force the door. ARGH. Some doors I can shoot to pieces, but many doors won't budge. Gah.

I may have to start over. At least I'm not that far into the game, considering how many locked doors I had to deal with.

Hypothetically I can just edit the skills to give myself some lockpicking, eh?

Hiring Angela helps immensely with the Ag Center. She has a huge number of hit points at that stage of the game. So use her when going down the poisoned hallways. Remember you can hit space and make one character operate solo, away from the rest of the group. She's also capable of brute-forcing the door to fan control in the eastern passageway. The western hallway's easier if you bring your group and have a techie (Computer Science or Mechanical Repair, I forget which) fix the robot which can then ram the vines.

If you're low on health, you can head outside to the world map and walk back and forth to an Oasis or Ranger Center and you'll notice that you heal as you travel, similar to the way you could recover in the original Wasteland. It takes time, but if you're low on healing items it definitely helps. If you do have healing items, don't hold back on using them because doing so also provides useful experience for your field medic.

Remember, melee weapons are your friend in the Ag Center. Angela's huge wrench allows her to take down a lot of the beginning enemies fairly easily, without using any ammo. From what I recall, I made sure to always spec a ranger or two heavily into melee to help her out. Working in conjunction with Angela means they can clobber most enemies in the Ag Center with melee alone. I remember using more bullets to shoot down the infection pods (and save scumming when I missed one) than I ever did in combat. That was also part of the strategy for Wasteland 1 as I recall, where it was highly efficient to use brawling to save on ammo/money.

Worst case, if you find yourself running out of ammo or medkits, you can try save scumming when opening containers (i.e. Quicksave before opening the container, then if you don't get the ammo you require or something even better than ammo, just quickload and open it again). Also don't forget to use the relevant key to light up characters and all items you can interact with (I think it's "z" by default). You'll find it's surprisingly useful in the Ag Center.

Rather than spending a bunch of time on the World map, it may be faster to just head back to base and heal for free. Depends on where you are and how far down you are.

The way I survived the ammo shortages was by never doubling up on ammo types. One guy gets pistols, one guy gets shotguns, one guy gets ARs, one guy gets SMGs, one guy gets energy weapons, one guy gets sniper rifles, one guy gets heavy weapons. That way I spread out my ammo usage between all the different ammo types rather than just eating through 5.56 or whatever.

I just found out there is a beautiful manual and map included in the documentation folder where the game is installed. HIGHLY recommend checking that out!

Mine is here, for reference:

F:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Wasteland%202%20Director's%20Cut/Build/Documentation/Map.pdf

I actually Kickstarted at a high enough level for the original that I got a physical deluxe copy with a cloth map, manual, etc. Never opened it and sold it on eBay about 2 years ago. I already had a digital copy, so... I remember the guy asking me if there were ANY blemishes on the box (I had pictures showing that it still had the plastic wrap around it) and he asked me to take additional, closer pics.

NickAragua wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 9:00 pm The way I survived the ammo shortages was by never doubling up on ammo types. One guy gets pistols, one guy gets shotguns, one guy gets ARs, one guy gets SMGs, one guy gets energy weapons, one guy gets sniper rifles, one guy gets heavy weapons. That way I spread out my ammo usage between all the different ammo types rather than just eating through 5.56 or whatever.

This.

I just breezed through all the RMS (Red Skorpian Militia) outside the prison. I might raise the difficulty level soon.
In contrast - at the actual Prison - I 'd, and had to reload a savegame for only the second time in tin man mode.

Angela is also tops in weaponsmithing. I just added all her skill points to it, pillaged my weapons cache storage locker at Ranger Citadel and resold the parts to Melson for $6000+

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:52 pm Yeah. You've missed out on the rite-of-passage of having your companion shoot you in the back. Repeatedly.

One of my guys actually has a perk to deal with that:

Yeah, I solved Ag Center with a little judicious editing (not too much) and have just cleared the other town of Wreckers, but it's a bit too late for them. I've also cleared the Wrecker stronghold, but decided I should head back to Citadel to get to know all the staff hiding inside.

It's amazing what a weapon change can do, and how can they give you weapons that are like lightyears ahead of what you *should* have without blinking an eye. Found a wandering merchant with weapons east of Ag Center, and she had some SWEET weapons. Not quite as nice as the ones back in the citadel, of course. The problem is affording them. A pistol can do rinky-dink like 7 damage, or do 30-40 damage with a single shot. A hunting rifle with a scope vs. a m24 sniper rifle... night and day difference.

I made my way to the Rail Nomad's Camp and I can see this is one of those "you're either with us or against us" kinda mission. Either join the Topedkans or the Achisons kinda thing. Though I guess with typical Wasteland type morality system there probably is a way to neogitate my way out of it.

....with Mr. Boom Boom the shotgun.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 11:08 am I made my way to the Rail Nomad's Camp and I can see this is one of those "you're either with us or against us" kinda mission. Either join the Topedkans or the Achisons kinda thing. Though I guess with typical Wasteland type morality system there probably is a way to neogitate my way out of it.

I think there is a "get them back together" option. But, honestly, it may be more effort than it's worth. Plus, you probably won't get as much loot.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:21 pm

Spoiler:

I found the trapped bicycle, but none of my guys have the skill to disarm it somehow?! EDIT: Turns out none of my guys have "demolition" skill.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 6:30 pm

Spoiler:

Went to visit the Atkissons and visited everybody. Their camp is in much worse shape. Killed all the rail thieves, all four camps. AND emptied the place of toads and wolves. Was definitely thinking about the peaceful resolution, as the Atkisson chief basically said "bring me back my daughter and I'll resolve this peacefully."

Did disarm the bomb, and turned the generator back on. Was going to talk peacefully to the Topekans, but they attacked me on sight. Apparently messing with their generator, even if you kill the one guy who came to check on it, is enough to turn them hostile. Or something went funny with the game logic. Before I headed inside Topekans are neutral.

Had to defend myself and my team, which means killing everyone who whot at me. They called Ranger HQ claiming we're genociding them. Well, if you keep coming at me with a blade I'll have to put you down. Nabbed the golden spike and gave it to the Atchisons, and they did get Jessie back. So that's that.

I can't even give the CD-i to the Quarex guy. As soon as I get inside he shows hostile. Fortunately he had his back turned so I was able to get out without initiating combat.

Not the preferred solution, but a solution nonetheless. *sigh*

Now, off to Prison, then Darwin...

I have a save at the Topekan chief you can play the peaceful resolution out, if you want to see it.

I lost my damn goat.

That is all.

@Dave Allen -- thanks, but not necessary.

Went to Prison, and actually paid the $100 just to see inside. Didn't have any problem killing anyone inside the caves or even before that. Walked all the way up hill, to the highway, found the base with the huge 20mm cannons guarding the front. WTF... Didn't bother them. Went back out and through the "farm" and back out "Happy Valley", as I need to dump the loot.