H&D Deluxe; the ultimate mod; Mission overhauls

[p.jakub88]

Holy crap!!
I just found a VERY strange anomaly!

Tell me, when a German runs out of ammo, does he become a civilian?

I was fooling around in Germany 5, making donuts with my halftrack, running everyone over, and the sniper on the hill shooting at me.

The panzer IV chasing me shows up, I dodge him, and he parks his tank. By that time, the sniper was out of ammo, and he started running over to me. The panzer turned it's cannon to face and blew him.

Well, NilsZ made some changes to the game source code altering the enemy AI behavior as far as i know.

For test purpose i placed a single German soldier in the Ardenes 1 mission in front of my men. I armed him with pistol with only one bullet. When he ran out of bullets, he just stood there with his gun pointed at me. However, when i checked the tactical map his status was changed from hostile to civilian (from red to blue circle). Looks like NilsZ resolved the problem with enemies having no ammo by turning them to non-hostile NPC. Seems a good idea - kind of the "surrender mechanics" from H&D 2. I didn't know that NilsZ added this feature to the game.

The situation you encountered in the Germany 5 mission is true then. You ask how it is possible? The only logical explanation: the sniper behavior when out of ammo was similar to the behavior of i.e. the scientist from the Prague 1 mission - which we needed to escort. Did you use the voice command "Follow Me" while being close to the enemy sniper? That would explain why the tank gunner suddenly turned hostile towards the sniper. Similar situation happened with the forced-laborers in my modified Italy 2 mission. As soon as they moved, the enemies started to shoot at them.

See pictures below. On one of the pictures you could see, that the enemy soldier actually followed me when out of ammo after i ordered him to "Follow me".

[mr.47]

I love this feature.

[p.jakub88]

I love this feature.

Me too, however the side effect is, that the enemies start shooting to their former colleagues after their "surrender". Unless this deliberately work as a kind of mobile, instant firing squad that punishes for "Third Reich" treason. This would fit better for the Japanese in WW2 and their "Bushido codex".

Of course, this is only my opinion. I am always amazed of NilsZ and his progress in editing H&D Deluxe source code. His solution for adding silenced firearms left me speechless. This single feature aside is better, than my whole H&D Deluxe Ultimate Mod to be fair. Gameplay mechanics changes impress me the most to be honest. As far as i like better looking models for H&D Deluxe weapons and vehicles - the gameplay is the most important factor.

[NilsZ]

lol, now after some months you found that new feature? xD

Problem is that I couldn't find how to delete the ATTACK command after the enemy surrenders. Thats why they are still aiming at you.
I simply hated that fucking pistol cheat, it made me really angry.

[p.jakub88]

Problem is that I couldn't find how to delete the ATTACK command after the enemy surrenders. Thats why they are still aiming at you.
I simply hated that fucking pistol cheat, it made me really angry.

I am OK with enemies aiming at the player after surrender. You did your best. The pistol cheat was indeed really annoying. I am glad that you got rid off it.

I only talked about the fact, that their former colleagues become hostile towards them as soon as they "surrender" and move. Other than that, it is a nice gameplay feature. I realize, that this is probably a hardcoded behavior for "Enemy group" ID 2 to follow player voice commands. If you don't use "Follow me" command they will remain on position. I checked that today.

[p.jakub88]

OK people. So let's go back to the Danube 3 mission topic.

I managed to further improve the custom Panzer IV tank model imported from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Spearhead.

I placed additional collisions volumes, so both the driver and tank gunner are well protected against small arms fire. I tested this in the Ardenes 1 mission and despite several confirmed hits my crew was safe unless hit by an anti-tank weapon.

I edited the Summer and Winter custom Panzer IV models and the special one used in the Danube 3 mission (with adjusted gunner's seat).

Please download the models.mod.rar archive uploaded below.

[Myron]

Nope, I was down on the road, the sniper just barely started coming down the hill. Too far away for me to tell him to follow me.

EDIT: I think the sounds of the explosions got him to move, hence the panzer shooting him.

[p.jakub88]

Nope, I was down on the road, the sniper just barely started coming down the hill. Too far away for me to tell him to follow me.

EDIT: I think the sounds of the explosions got him to move, hence the panzer shooting him.

OK. Now i understand.

I could make the sniper "deaf", but this will look a bit unrealistic, when he won't react to sounds next to him (like weapons shots and explosions).

Better to leave him as he is now.

Like someone wise wrote on WW2 propaganda poster: "Stay alert! The enemy could hear you!"

[NilsZ]

This behaviour is correct. Only civilians that have program GUARD are neutral. If they do anything else they will be shot by enemies.
So a surrendered enemy with ATTACK program will be attacked by his former friends.
I could change Listen to off and delete all programs if an enemy surrenders.

[p.jakub88]

This behaviour is correct. Only civilians that have program GUARD are neutral. If they do anything else they will be shot by enemies.
So a surrendered enemy with ATTACK program will be attacked by his former friends.
I could change Listen to off and delete all programs if an enemy surrenders.

Thanks for the explanation NilsZ!

You could try to improve the "surrender mechanics" if you like.

[Myron]

This behaviour is correct. Only civilians that have program GUARD are neutral. If they do anything else they will be shot by enemies.
So a surrendered enemy with ATTACK program will be attacked by his former friends.
I could change Listen to off and delete all programs if an enemy surrenders.

Ah, is that what makes the difference between the civilians in Italy 2 and 3 and the civilians in Prague 1?

[p.jakub88]

This behaviour is correct. Only civilians that have program GUARD are neutral. If they do anything else they will be shot by enemies.
So a surrendered enemy with ATTACK program will be attacked by his former friends.
I could change Listen to off and delete all programs if an enemy surrenders.

Ah, is that what makes the difference between the civilians in Italy 2 and 3 and the civilians in Prague 1?

Not exactly. The civilians from Italy 2 and Italy 3 missions are different than those from the Prague 1 mission in terms of their AI settings.

In Prague 1 mission you have civilians treated by German soldiers AI as enemies - due to the fact, that those particular civilians belong to the "Enemy group" 1, while the civilians from the Italy 2 and Italy 3 mission belong to the "Enemy group" 2.

From the player point of view: Enemy group 1 and Enemy group 2 are non hostile to the player by default and vice versa, while Enemy group 0 used in enemy soldiers and SAS soldiers AI settings is self-explanatory.

One more thing: the civilians from the Italy 2 and Italy 3 missions have the "Listen" parameter disabled by default, so you cannot order them to "Follow me". For the other hand the "scientist" from the Prague 1 mission has the "Listen" parameter enabled by default.

[p.jakub88]

OK, so i tested my latest Danube 3 mission update today.

Unfortunately, even with the edited iron lock visual in 3ds Max i still wasn't able to blow it up using tank shots despite numerous confirmed hits.

So I changed the iron lock resistance to damage from ID 7 to ID 2. Then i tested the mission again and i was able to destroy the iron lock with 2 tank shots aimed at the middle of it.

By the way: thank you NilsZ for your "killthemall" cheat - it was really useful for quick Danube 3 mission testing.

Please download the updated Danube 3 mission attached below. Any feedback will be appreciated!

[NilsZ]

Ah, is that what makes the difference between the civilians in Italy 2 and 3 and the civilians in Prague 1?

yes, its defined in the source code.
I made new cheats that can change the recognition of friends and enemies:
hippie - everyone will be a friend, the war is finally over
riot - everyone will attack other humans, except players

[p.jakub88]

Following the recent NilsZ feedback about my edited Danube 4 mission from the H&D Deluxe Ultimate Mod i changed the following things in it:

-> adjusted collision volumes on some of the trees;

-> decreased the view and shot distance of some MG gunners to make it more realistic;

-> removed the "captured partisans" (the whole scene didn't work as intended after i checked it in HDD editor and in-game)

-> added backup weapons to MG gunners, so they could defend themself when flanked or attacked from behind;

-> increased ammo capacity of enemy machine-guns.

Please download the updated Danube 4 mission attached below.