Infestation: OVERRUN - massive G2 mod

[Aoslare]

Infestation: OVERRUN

This is a giant mod that overhauls creations, skills, equipment, general progression, and other game mechanics.  It adds some entirely new content, including quests and items.  And it includes some Quality of Life features, like increased walking speed.  (See bottom of post for download link.  Also, you can scroll down in this thread to see the rest of the "Shanti's Guidance" codex section.)

 

Creations and items that used to be lackluster now do cool, unique things.

 

In Infestation: Overrun, you can mix and match creations of different types without any sacrifices.  Rotdhizons fearlessly clearing the way for fire-spitting Roamers and poisonous Artilas, maybe, supported by blood-stirring Vlish and nimble Stalkthorns.

 

 

High Leadership can increase joinable NPC levels, too, creating another option for party building.

 

Some spells and abilities do new things when raised to high skill levels.

 

Some items are used in completely different ways.  Almost every unique item has been augmented or altered to be unique and useful.  There are new mechanics and shifted balance for shields, armor, missile weapons, wands and rods, and Feisty Slap of Pain.  In Infestation: Overrun, everything has a use!

 

Enemies have some new tricks up their sleeves, too.  The difficulty level hasn't gone up overall, but the variety of challenges definitely has.

 

Speaking of difficulty, additional tweaks have been made to Veteran and Torment, tightening up exploits and pushing you get good use out of low- and mid-tier creations and spells, rather than jumping straight to tier 4 creations and Airshock.  Torment is a serious challenge.

 

QoL improvements include things from my QoL mod, like increased walking speed; more informative tooltips; and other helpful information-sharing from the game interface.

 

New content includes game-spanning quests, items, and even a new NPC.

 

 

 

G2 is a pretty great game on its own.  This mod is intended to offer a new experience for a second playthrough.  And, you do need to start a new game for many of these changes to take effect.

 

(For a more exhaustive list of changes, check out the in-game Codex.  Shanti also summarizes most of them as you go through the first zone.)

 

Bon appetit!

 

Installation Instructions

1) Close the game.  Locate your G2 "Scripts" folder.  Sample path might look something like:

        C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Geneforge 2 - Infestation\Geneforge 2 Infestation Files\Scripts

2) Back up the folder.

3) Download and unzip the attached file.

4) Copy all text files into the Scripts folder, replacing the existing copies.

5) Use at your own risk 🙂 This is why you're backing things up first!  Also, don't bug Spiderweb, they aren't responsible for this.

6) Please do not release altered versions of this mod, or copy and paste pieces of it into your own mod.  In part for to reduce confusion for people using mods, and in part because, frankly, this took a lot of work.

 

(If you prefer, in step 2, you can copy the entire "Geneforge 2 - Infestation" directory.  This way you can keep the base version of the game available to play.  Just be careful about which copy of the app you open!)

 

Note: This version (v1.01) is a sort of public beta.  The mod is "complete," and has been tested for bugs, but there are probably things I missed.  I'm going to have to update all the files when Spiderweb releases v1.02 of Geneforge 2, anyway, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to get some extra feedback and bug-squishing before that happens.  Feedback, questions, and reports of possible bugs are appreciated!  When v1.02 is released, you will need to re-install the updated version of the mod (it'll probably take me ~24 hours from the update to get it out) -- you won't have to restart your playthrough, though.

 

 

Version History

v1.01 - Initial release

 

G2 Overrun Mod v1_01.zip

[Mechalibur]

I played an early version of the mod and I'd just like to say that there's a lot of great stuff here and I definitely recommend trying it out on a second playthrough of Infestation! Being able to use any combination of creation types that you want without hurting your overall build is a very welcome addition to the game.

[Jawaj]

1 hour ago, Mechalibur said:

Being able to use any combination of creation types that you want without hurting your overall build is a very welcome addition to the game.

How does this work though? Does shaping skill still determine their levels?

[Aoslare]

You effectively have one Shaping stat that governs all creation types, instead of three different ones.  (Battle and Magic are set to equal Fire whenever you enter a friendly town, and any items that affect shaping skill affect all three.)

[ultra112]

Wow barely a month after release, we are seeing multiple mods for infestation already, keep it going guys

[alhoon]

Absolutely massive. A thunderous applaud!!!! 

 

You made my week, not my day, my week. 
Having worked on other mods, I have an inkling of the massive amount of work this would have taken. I fail to express how thankful I am. You did the community a great service! 

Edited April 25 by alhoon

[alhoon]

 

 

7 hours ago, Slawbug said:

6) Please do not release altered versions of this mod, or copy and paste pieces of it into your own mod.  In part for to reduce confusion for people using mods, and in part because, frankly, this took a lot of work.

 

You say we should not release altered versions of this mod. Could we do submods for this? 

 

 

If not, could I send you, personally, a mod I have done to "park creations" in Eastern Medab instead of killing them, so you could perhaps include it in your next update? 

Edited April 25 by alhoon

[Aoslare]

Thanks for the kind words alhoon.

  

5 hours ago, alhoon said:

You say we should not release altered versions of this mod. Could we do submods for this?

 

Short answer: no.

 

This seems like a bad idea.  This just isn't a simple mod where each change is self-contained to one place.  There's real potential for unexpected issues with conflicts over things like SDFs; it would be time-consuming to test; and it would add complications any time updates happen.  The fact that you are asking this as soon as you see the mod, without having used it or looked at it, does not add confidence.

[alhoon]

2 hours ago, Slawbug said:

The fact that you are asking this as soon as you see the mod, without having used it or looked at it, does not add confidence.

Your answer is of course acceptable. I would just say though that I while I didn't use the mod (yet), I took a look here and there, but didn't want to look at the mod deeply because I see there are quests and I want to avoid spoilers. 

 

The reason I asked if submods are allowed is because this seems (by size and previews) an well polished work of art. If I had to choose between using your mod or my mods... I would pick your mod.   

But there will most probably be a few things here and there that I would probably want to add (like parking Creations to a handler, a couple of quests to give some followers extra abilities, a different ending etc.) 

 

Still, it is your mod and an absolute beast at it, so of course we will do as you ask.
I can't congratulate you enough over this and of course I will respect your wishes. I just hope that once it is completed, you would rethink about permissions. 

[alhoon]

17 hours ago, Slawbug said:

This mod is intended to offer a new experience for a second playthrough.  And, you do need to start a new game for many of these changes to take effect.

 

I am half-way through my first playthrough. 
Do you suggest I finish my game, pre-Overrun, or do you think I should restart with your mod? I have finished Original GF2 with the Awakened  and unaligned. So, when you suggest "second playthrough" do you mean... second playthrough of Infestation or of the story altogether? 

Some of the changes you present are very intriguing and the more-quests is always a plus for me... 

 

EDIT: I think I will finish this run and then try Overrun with a Guardian. We will see if I manage to resist. 

 

EDIT2: Not that I have not praised this awesome effort already, but another thing: This mega-mod is a dream come true. I have been in this forum for how many years now, I have always tried to "promote modding" with mods big and small, hoping, dreaming of a mod that had half of what this mod promises. 

This is a dream come true! Just thinking of the amount of dedication, hours of testing and coding, days of testing and coding that would be needed to bring to the game Slarty's vision is leaving me in awe. IN AWE! 

Edited April 25 by alhoon

[l33tmaan]

This is fantastic. I love the Geneforge games, but I also have a love for more complex RPGs. It's nice to see someone take the time to focus on G2 now that Jeff's done with it and will probably move onto something else soon. This is just in time for my Shaper Barzite/Taker playthrough. Thanks!

 

EDIT: Woah, the shaper is blue now. Was it always like that?

DOUBLE EDIT: Oh boy. With a warning like this, you really know how to treat a fellow, huh? You're not joking about being weaker...

Edited April 26 by l33tmaan

[Aoslare]

Hahaha, awesome!  Yeah, Torment specifically is extra hard here.  Sounds like you can handle it, but there are some tips in the Codex if you need any.

 

And yup, the one cosmetic change here was blue shaper, shiny armor guardian, and sepia tone agent.

[l33tmaan]

1 hour ago, Slawbug said:

And yup, the one cosmetic change here was blue shaper, shiny armor guardian, and sepia tone agent.

Oh, yeah, right. No cosmetic changes here. Nope.

 

[Randomizer]

Torment starts you in a hole. Lots of easy experience goes away.

 

"Holes are bad."  - Thoefinn on "Ghosts"

[l33tmaan]

9 minutes ago, Randomizer said:

Torment starts you in a hole. Lots of easy experience goes away.

 

"Holes are bad."  - Thoefinn on "Ghosts"

Not walking into Drypeak with any mechanics or leadership is probably the worst part. I'm passing up so much loot!!

[Aoslare]

Reminder for anyone else reading: this only happens on Torment.

 

Getting to level 3 is definitely a little bit of a puzzle.  Then you start making some pretty good incremental progress.

[alhoon]

7 hours ago, l33tmaan said:

Oh, yeah, right. No cosmetic changes here. Nope.

 

 

This forum needs a double-like feature... 

Things like this make it harder to resist the pull of this beautiful, beautiful piece of work. 

 

  

6 hours ago, Slawbug said:

Reminder for anyone else reading: this only happens on Torment.

 

Out of curiosity (I only play on normal): 

What are the changes in Tricky difficulty? 

I assume Normal is still Normal, without any difficulty adjustments, right? 

 

Edited April 26 by alhoon

[Aoslare]

I guess I should make some of this codex info accessible without having to install the mod.  So, here you go!  (There's further specifics in other codex entries.)

 

[alhoon]

Ornks have a niche? Really? 

 

Wands are equipable? I.e. I can't have a wand on my bag to heal from my quickslots and a weapon for bonuses? Or they can be used as wands normally from the pack and equipped? I don't mind either way, I just think this needs a bit of clarification from someone that doesn't have the mod. 

 

Regardless, this is very useful information. Perhaps link the post to the first post? 

[utelektr]

I'm excited to try this! I think I'll play a shaper. 

Quote

Canisters reduce health permanently

That's... kinda rough. 

[Aoslare]

On Veteran and Torment only.

 

The reduction is also fairly tiny.  The goal there was just to create somekind of trade-off so that there's actually a reason to think "is this canister worth using?" rather than blindly using all of them.

[Randomizer]

Game bug - Game crashes in Magus Complex when you look in Library area and use get items near Wild Adventures book for some reason.

[Aoslare]

@Randomizer

I can't duplicate this, and double-checking the relevant files, I can't find anything wrong.  Is there any message in the console before it crashes?  If not, can you send me the save where this happens?

 

Also, is this a fresh game begun with the mod installed, or is this an old save loaded with the mod?

 

EDIT: Also, if you're actually seeing "Wild Adventures" with that text then let me know -- if so, something has gone wrong with your files, because that's not possible with the mod installed.

[Randomizer]

Edit. Okay,  crashed when moving the cursor over the book in inventory screen.. I know to check reproducibility. 

 

No message before happening. Fresh game with just Overrun version. I guessed name since I had the other named books in the zone.

Save0-Wild Advenuture.zip

Edited April 27 by Randomizer
Checked wrong version of game.

[Aoslare]

Weird.  That doesn't happen for me at all.  And the only difference from the base game item is text changes.

 

Are you by any chance using an updated version of the beta testing app?  I'm wondering if that has any difference from the release version.

[Randomizer]

I'm using Overrun v101 on the v101 game version. I had some problems installing it since the first time I downloaded it, the files got corrupted.

[Paul the second]

@Slawbug is there any legal reason for not putting this mod say on Github? 

Asking because without logging into an account on this forum it says the zip file of the mod was unavailable until I logged in. 

Double checked that the zip is all just text files so putting this on Github would alleviate any suspicion of malicious content or the such. Make it also easier to acquire

[Aoslare]

3 hours ago, Randomizer said:

I'm using Overrun v101 on the v101 game version. I had some problems installing it since the first time I downloaded it, the files got corrupted.

 

Then I'm guessing your files got corrupted again.  It should take 30 seconds to redownload and reinstall, can you try that?

[Randomizer]

Downloaded a new Overrun, replaced all the files, grabber a save from outside the zone, went back, clicked to get items:

 

Still crashes!

[Aoslare]

@Randomizer

 

I downloaded your save, plugged it in, and loaded it up.  I don't get crashes hitting get item, hovering over the book, or picking up the book.  Or doing anything else.

 

Whatever is going on is specific to your installation, somehow.  My only other thought is to reinstall G2 entirely -- if you had file corruption on the mod previously, maybe you have file corruption in some other component of G2 unrelated to the mod?

[MJgreg86]

@Slawbug

SPECTACULAR!!! ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!!!! 💯👍I can't wait to even start ASAP! Very much appreciated! 

Edited April 28 by MJgreg86

[Aoslare]

Update on Randomizer's bug report: apparently, the Mac version of Infestation uses smaller string variables than the PC version, for some reason.  This is unfortunate.  What this means:

 

- PC users - there is no issue for you.

- Mac users - for now, just don't pick up the book in the Magus Complex library that is called "Wild Adventure" in the base game.  It's not a quest item, all it does it get sold for 17 coins, so you can just ignore it.  I've checked and this issue should not affect anything else in the game.  I will adjust the text in v1.02 when that comes out.

[MaddyE]

19 hours ago, Aoslare said:

On Veteran and Torment only.

 

The reduction is also fairly tiny.  The goal there was just to create somekind of trade-off so that there's actually a reason to think "is this canister worth using?" rather than blindly using all of them.

 

If it's 1:1, you're switching XP spend to boost Endurance instead of on that stat or ability.  To my mind, the whole point of canister use is to replace XP spend.

 

For skills like spells or shaping, yes, I can see the END cost being a good idea, but (speaking personally) I would always use a stat or ability-boost canister (especially for weak sections), but not necessarily a spell or shaping canister (some are immediate candidates for the Purifying Blade).  I often don't even both training or learning shaping or spells outside my 'speciality'.

[Aoslare]

It's not 1:1.  As the in-game text says, and as stated above in this thread, it's -1 Health (not Endurance) for the first canister, -2 for the second, etc., capping at -6 for canisters 6 and beyond.

 

Endurance:

Increases Health by (5 + Level/2) per pt

Before class multiplier: 1.5 (Guardian) or 1.3 (Agent) or 1.0 (Shaper)

 

This means that at endgame, let's say level 20, one point of Endurance is worth 2.5 canisters for a Shaper, 3 for an Agent, or nearly 4 for a Guardian.  (And that's after the first 5 canisters, which are even cheaper.)

[MaddyE]

7 minutes ago, Aoslare said:

It's not 1:1.  As the in-game text says, and as stated above in this thread, it's -1 Health (not Endurance) for the first canister, -2 for the second, etc., capping at -6 for canisters 6 and beyond.

 

Endurance:

Increases Health by (5 + Level/2) per pt

Before class multiplier: 1.5 (Guardian) or 1.3 (Agent) or 1.0 (Shaper)

 

This means that at endgame, let's say level 20, one point of Endurance is worth 2.5 canisters for a Shaper, 3 for an Agent, or nearly 4 for a Guardian.  (And that's after the first 5 canisters, which are even cheaper.)

 

Ah - my mistake.  Health is way better than Endurance - which is what I was reading it as!  I'll need to do another run before I use the mod just to firm up my strategy, especially when charging up the Puresteel Blade.

[l33tmaan]

HAH! Finally I have hit level 3!! I had to sneak and scrap and scrounge up all the iron I could for XP, but getting saltweed from Sharon's finally put me over the edge and I can get Zora now. What a gamechanger. I dumped all 10 of my first skill points into Leadership and Mechanics so this never happens again.

I can't wait for my 90 lb Shaper to guzzle every canister he comes across! I am sure this will have no ramifications later on.

[earanhart]

Question, having not installed yet because in the middle of Torment solo "pacifist" run: 

Did you change the Battle and Magic Shaping canisters to now be Fire/All Shaping, or are those now purely Purifying Blade fodder?

[Aoslare]

Yup, those have switched to Fire Shaping ( = All Shaping ), you got it.

[Spidweb]

I'll definitely look at this. Seems really cool! If you fix any extra bugs, please drop me a note? I'm putting out a patch soon.

[Aoslare]

Bug found (mod bug, not base game bug) - Purifying Blade was still gaining 2 levels at a time (like in the base game) instead of 1.  Fixed in Overrun v1.02 (out shortly after base game v1.02 is out).