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Deus Ex GMDX: Deus Ex Advancement Mod v9 Released!

Carrion

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I finally found the time to finish my playthrough. In short, it's a truly excellent mod.

To get the obvious out of the way, Deus Ex has never looked this good. The improvements made to the levels are pretty much seamless, and it's a shame that there aren't any decent HD character models available to put them on a par with the environments. Obviously the characters in DX never looked particularly good, but now they stick out a little bit more. Still, this is pretty much a textbook example on how you should do a graphics mod, staying faithful to the style of the original and only making improvements where necessary.

As for the gameplay changes, the improved AI and gunplay are what I appreciate the most. The AI alone would probably make this the best DX mod out there, the changes are that good and important. The downside is that it kind of makes you more aware of the few bullshit things that DX had, like enemies being able to instantly pinpoint your location after getting shot — the vanilla AI was so lacking in many areas that you were willing to let most of that stuff slide, but since GMDX's enemies are so much smarter, it does piss you off a little when you hit someone with a sniper rifle from a hundred yards away, and a second later the same guy takes you out with a headshot. Oh well, you can't have everything.

The changes to the skill system and the augs are for the most part really good, as well as many of the more subtle improvements like your health having a bigger impact on your abilities. I'm a bit on the fence about some of the changes (the stamina system is a bit superfluous to me, whereas Energy Transference just feels slightly out of place), but overall there's not a lot to complain about. I mostly picked augs that I've rarely used (I didn't pick Regeneration or Cloak, for instance), and I found the vast majority of them useful, especially Environmental Resistance. One thing that could've been scrapped entirely is the hunger system, which is not a bad idea per se, but it's a bit of a bummer that you can't even pop a vial of zyme or have a drink with the triad leaders because you happened to eat some soy food three hours earlier. I don't think it adds anything to the game in its current state.

The Hardcore Mode is a nice addition that made this playthrough a bit different from all the ones that came before it. It does change the nature of the game a bit, as the save system heavily encourages you to use specific routes, but it does provide a unique challenge and most of the time works reasonably well. There were some places where I felt the save points were a bit too far apart (in Paris, for example, you might spend quite a while cleaning out the greasel basement and running back and forth through the building only to be shot the moment you climb up to the street, and you might have to do it several times before figuring out where the next save point is), whereas in other levels you can abuse the autosaves as much as you want to, but those kinds of things are to be expected in a game that was never designed for such a system and has so much variety when it comes to level layouts.

For a while I thought greasels were total assholes, but I was wrong. They're actually pretty likeable creatures compared to grays who are just gigantic dicks in every possible way.
 

Ash

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Thanks for the quick review.

The AI alone would probably make this the best DX mod out there, the changes are that good and important.
To get the obvious out of the way, Deus Ex has never looked this good.

:salute:

The following two features discussed are both optional, btw:

the stamina system is a bit superfluous to me

-Running away in Deus Ex (and most real time games that allow it) is a catch-all tactic. Goldfish AI means there's easily no consequences for doing it. And that's OK, as stealth needs to be viable and running away when caught is a very valid option. However, the stamina system simply makes the act of running away more engaging and not so straightforward.
-It increases the value of the swimming/athletics skill, aqualung aug and a bunch of other things considerably, attaining some semblance of balance there.
-It makes movement around the game world in combat and stealth more tactical. It's another variable to manage and results in some interesting turn of events if not done so, much like the pseudo-realistic health system. The stealth and combat gameplay engages the brain on a slightly deeper level, which I personally appreciate as shooting heads or sneaking behind enemies and whacking them in the back can be a bit straightforward at times. It also impacts environmental-based challenges, like hazards or platforming.
-It's pseudo-realistic. It's simulationist. More Deus Ex/Immersive Sim-like goodness.

Only downside is, it can momentarily interrupt casual exploration in civilian areas, but this is worth the trade. and of course it can be disabled via the option menu, but I don't recommend that (the option to disable was only added for purists that fail to see any or all of the above, really. this was a compromise, but the stamina system is something people often bring up without seeing its value).

Also, if you upgrade athletics to advanced or master the system does pretty much become redundant. Maybe I'll address that in a patch.

I mostly picked augs that I've rarely used (I didn't pick Regeneration or Cloak, for instance), and I found the vast majority of them useful, especially Environmental Resistance. One thing that could've been scrapped entirely is the hunger system, which is not a bad idea per se, but it's a bit of a bummer that you can't even pop a vial of zyme or have a drink with the triad leaders because you happened to eat some soy food three hours earlier. I don't think it adds anything to the game in its current state.

Hunger system is a hardcore mode exclusive feature. Indeed it's not very meaningful or deep at all, but it does hold specific value nonetheless: it cuts down on the number of food items (free healing) available in this mode, and also prevents the player scarfing down food all over the place (by using left click interactivity) as if you were a food-crazed Bioshock protagonist. Left click interactivity acts as a shortcut, letting you use pickups in the world without having to put them in your inventory first.
Additionally, the system adds very minor yet still relevant choice over which food items you should prioritise eating (e.g soy vs candybar, which rival each other through their differences).
Because it is not a extensive system it can easily appear superfluous, but it has its value.

But yeah, for a more pure experience, easy-medium-hard-realistic has you covered.
 
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Carrion

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Also, if you upgrade athletics to advanced or master the system does pretty much become redundant. Maybe I'll address that in a patch.
I upgraded Athletics to Trained*, and fatigue never really came into play. I like that the system is there, it's just that in Deus Ex you rarely have to run for long distances, and with Aqualung on level 2 I was able to dive as deep as I wanted to. To be fair, a low-key fatigue system is probably the way to go here, and I'd expect the system to be more important to characters that prefer to go in guns blazing and/or do not have Aqualung at all.

Hunger system is a hardcore mode exclusive feature. Indeed it's not very meaningful or deep at all, but it does hold specific value nonetheless: it cuts down on the number of food items (free healing) available in this mode, and also prevents the player scarfing down food all over the place (by using left click interactivity) as if you were a food-crazed Bioshock protagonist. Left click interactivity acts as a shortcut, letting you use pickups in the world without having to put them in your inventory first.
Additionally, the system adds very minor yet still relevant choice over which food items you should prioritise eating (e.g soy vs candybar, which rival each other through their differences).
Because it is not a extensive system it can easily appear superfluous, but it has its value.
I can see the reasoning behind it and even agree with it, it's the execution that bugs me. Then again, I can't really think of a solution either — if you, say, made it a time-based system, it'd become easily exploitable, and every other solution would probably have its own problems as well. If I hand to improve it in some way, I guess I'd lower the maximum amount of food you can eat but "reset" your hunger level more frequently to prevent situation like I described earlier. I'd also keep drugs and cigarettes separate from the actual food items, for those of us who want to LARP a chain smoker JC.

In the end, these are very minor gripes that only stand out because the rest of the design is so solid.

* Yes, I put points into Swimming. Another victory for GMDX.
 

Jaedar

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Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
To get the obvious out of the way, Deus Ex has never looked this good.
I actually went "oohhh woooow" at one point, the skyline from the versalife building, it even has people visible walking in the street below. Most modern games don't even have that :M

Goldfish AI means there's easily no consequences for doing it.
Doesn't GMDX add some npc boost every time an alarm sounds in a level? I seem to recall we discussed it at some point, but maybe it was theoretical.
 
Joined
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Hard choice... Aqualung or Env. Resistance?:M

Aqualung: Lets you ignore putting Athletics anywhere past trained and still explore everything. Not really a huge deal (powerful augs are better than skill points), and if you take energy transference then trained Athletics + Dragon Tooth is also a suitable replacement

Env Resistence: The radiation protection really isn't that amazing since you can always find a way around. There are a few radiation paths that offer skill points or items like weapon mods and stuff, but you can dash in and out quick with a hazard suit if you care. The protection against toxin is probably quite nice though, Tranq dart enemies are fucking assholes on realistic/hardcore.

None: You can instead take both regen/Energy shield, which is what I tried most recently. I don't think Energy Shield is really that good though, the damage types it works against usually don't come up enough unless you are neglecting the Spy Drone/ABS slot and have no way to deal with all of the rocket-launching bots. Also it comes pretty late. I don't think you can double up on Recirculator/Synth Heart, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

So I'd say Environmental Resistance.
 

Carrion

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I took them both, and they were probably two of my most used active augs. Aqualung is really useful in several places, especially due to how rare rebreathers are, and with a single upgrade it becomes powerful enough that you can save up your aug upgrade canisters for other stuff. Environmental Resistance is indeed a life-saver against enemies with crossbows, but it also makes greasels much less of a threat.

I you had to pick just one, I'd go for Aqualung for its usefulness in exploration (you can always avoid getting poisoned by being careful), but neither is a bad choice.
 

Jaedar

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I think energy shield is quite strong, even if it doesn't come up often. I guess spy drone makes it redundant, but iirc spydrone is a massive energy drain, and with more useful augs in gmdx that might actually matter.

By the time you get es, there are pretty much only spiderbots and plasma rifles to protect you from, and both are rare. And fire, but again, rare.

Can you even get both regen and es? I don't remember seeing a second canister of that type(I know it exists in vanilla, but don't remember where).
 

T. Reich

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not even close
I didn't feel that poison is that dangerous, really (realistic difficulty), unless you went full retard and got hit several times with it.
Even then, there's a cheap medkit perk that allows you to remove poison by applying a medkit to torso. Good shit.

Most radiation areas found in the game can be quickly explored for their benefits by combining an enviro-suit + speed aug + some regen aug (realistic difficulty).
However, I found 2 irradiated areas that were absolutely impassable with that set-up - a storage area in sub base with UC, and a shed in the area with nuclear missile. I would die in a couple seconds there - not enough time to do anything meaningful there.

Aqualang aug is definitely a solid choice - plenty of water exploration to be had, and the aug allows to do it comfortably. lvl2 aqualung + lvl2 athletics = ez water anywhere.
 
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Can you even get both regen and es? I don't remember seeing a second canister of that type(I know it exists in vanilla, but don't remember where).

Definitely, but late. Somewhere around Vandenberg/Ocean lab I think.

Of course, if you don't even want to raise ES until the end game (which is fairly reasonable I think), getting it late is fine. Level 1 augs aren't that great anyway, better off getting a bunch of other augs maxed ASAP.

I didn't feel that poison is that dangerous, really (realistic difficulty), unless you went full retard and got hit several times with it.
Even then, there's a cheap medkit perk that allows you to remove poison by applying a medkit to torso. Good shit.

It's mostly an issue of getting hit mid battle and not having time to remove the poison since you're currently dodging rockets or dumping ammo into something with an HP pool. Death can come quite quickly when your head or torso has been worn down to 40-60% HP and you get a tranq dart that ignores normal damage reduction.
 

.Pixote.

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May 6, 2012
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I found a serious issue with the Underwater Facility. Using the cloak transparency skill to sneak past the greasels and karkians in the cavern area (where you battle Walton Simons), I lock picked the door and moved into the corridor beyond, naturally I closed the cavern door behind me so the wildlife wouldn't screw me...anyway after a bit of adventuring in the facility below, and taking the opportunity to save by moving through the loading areas I returned to the cavern door to take on Simons. But the door wouldn't open, it didn't even respond to my efforts...I had used up my 10 autosaves and was basically screwed. No choice but to restart the level. I have been making backups of my saves in case shit went down somewhere in the game, so no big loss, but this could be a game breaker. Maybe the door requires the proper key to open it to avoid this.

Just a small issue regarding Simons. I was hoping the greasels and karkians were going to tear that bastard apart in the cavern, but alas no. Using my active vision enhancement I could see both Simons and the greasels and karkians just running around ignoring one another. Their only interest was in killing JC, not each other.
 

Ash

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They will tear him apart if they see him.

The bug: yeah happens for some people in 9.0.2. Will be fixed next patch. I take it you didn't have the problem on your second attempt?
 
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Finally started your mod. Great work Ash, this might just end up being first big mod with loads of changes that I actually love. One annoyance, however. I'm getting framerate drops in Battery Park. Down to 45 on DX10 renderer and 50 on DX9. First I thought this was because I overdid it with AA (8xSGSSAA) but even on simple 4xMSAA framerate remains identical. Can't figure out what's causing this, if you have any idea it would be appreciated.
 

Ash

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Precache textures is probably your best bet, if you don't mind the increase in load times.
 

.Pixote.

Augur
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They will tear him apart if they see him.

The bug: yeah happens for some people in 9.0.2. Will be fixed next patch. I take it you didn't have the problem on your second attempt?

I didn't close the door on the second attempt, getting locked out twice wasn't an option I was willing to risk. By the way I'm playing on Hard Core, with the lack of saves I played it safe.

Question: What are Walton Simon's stats...the man is practically indestructible. He took an explosive box thrown into his torso and three LAMS, with half a dozen plasma rifle rounds to the face and was still running around. I couldn't kill the man, so had to reload and sneak the back to the surface base with my tail between my legs.

Later at Area 51 I placed the larger explosive box beside him and exploded it with no effect, as well as pepped him with poison darts, it was another case of running away and avoiding him completely. This mod is pure sex...
 

Carrion

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Question: What are Walton Simon's stats...the man is practically indestructible. He took an explosive box thrown into his torso and three LAMS, with half a dozen plasma rifle rounds to the face and was still running around. I couldn't kill the man, so had to reload and sneak the back to the surface base with my tail between my legs.

Later at Area 51 I placed the larger explosive box beside him and exploded it with no effect, as well as pepped him with poison darts, it was another case of running away and avoiding him completely. This mod is pure sex...
Sounds weird, as I killed him in a few seconds with the assault shotgun on Hardcore.
 

Ash

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Only one change to Simon's resistances:

//
// Damage type table for Walton Simons:
//
// Shot - 100%
// Sabot - 100%
// Exploded - 100% //GMDX: 60% (or 40% resistance)
// TearGas - 10%
// PoisonGas - 10%
// Poison - 10%
// PoisonEffect - 10%
// HalonGas - 10%
// Radiation - 10%
// Shocked - 10%
// Stunned - 0%
// KnockedOut - 0%
// Flamed - 0%
// Burned - 0%
// NanoVirus - 0%
// EMP - 0%
//

Tranq darts are near-useless even vanilla, at 10%

In addition to 40% resistance to explosives (his new energy shield he has), he also has notably more health on Hardcore mode, over other modes.
 

---

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What's the code for Smuggler's mirror?
I can't find it anywhere, and it's different from vanilla's one.
 
Self-Ejected

unfairlight

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I played through the game with GMDX v8.0, but one pet peeve of mine was that there was very little ammo for the pistol. Has that been remedied for v9.0?
Maybe I'm just fucking retarded and confused it with Shifter (unrelated but fuck Shifter. Shifter is an okay mod, but for whatever God damn reason unless you use HDTP or whatever that graphics mod was called the game will be about 0 FPS for a second or two since it's looking for assets that don't exist and eventually just decides to use the normal assets when it can't find them), but I think that was a major issue for me for v8.0.
Regardless there's a lot of good work in GMDX and I really liked it. It's by far the best overhaul mod for the game and it's far better than that shit, Revision. Those dickheads would release it paid if that was an option, Steam only MODS? What the fuck? (Turns out that it's no longer Steam only but that's still a pretty shitty thing to do.)
 
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Ash

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---

What's the code for Smuggler's mirror?
I can't find it anywhere, and it's different from vanilla's one.

It's not and never was a code you could find legitimately in-game.

You've been outed as a dirty cheat.

:shunthenonbeliever:

since you're a cheat, just look at the mirror or keypad, use the console and type 'OpenSesame' (unless on hardcore, where there are anti-cheat measures).
 
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Ash

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I played through the game with GMDX v8.0, but one pet peeve of mine was that there was very little ammo for the pistol. Has that been remedied for v9.0?

There's a little more ammo across the board in v9.0, and also better scaling per chosen difficulty level (easier difficulties = more ammo. Near enough vanilla counts). If you're trying to use one gun the whole game that isn't going to work, though. Through ammo restriction it forces diversity, as well as encourages players to get creative with non-gun alternatives, and deepens resource manangement. Nonetheless there's still more than enough ammo to gun everyone down and beyond, you just have to use more than one weapon like any good shooter/ARPG.

Also shifter went full retard with ammo counts, giving you insane amounts. So yeah, not a good point of reference.

Also recall that GMDX features a new 10mm ammo type: armor piercing. So default 10mm had to be reduced a touch to accommodate.
 
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---

Arcane
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---

What's the code for Smuggler's mirror?
I can't find it anywhere, and it's different from vanilla's one.

It's not and never was a code you could find legitimately in-game.

You've been outed as a dirty cheat.

:shunthenonbeliever:

since you're a cheat, just look at the mirror or keypad, use the console and type 'OpenSesame' (unless on hardcore, where there are anti-cheat measures).
I read the code in a topic of another forum, the first time I played the game:M

Anyway, I'm playing on hardcore mode, so I think I'll waste some multitools:MI thought you added the code in-game.
 

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