[Squad] Aquamarines v1.0.0

[Arfy]

(I am currently omitting custom Mech sprites at the moment until I find the reason to do them and the time to do so.)

Download: (v1.0.0) https://www.dropbox.com/s/efe6jgaagmlsa ... 1.zip?dl=0

I'm open to constructive criticism.

[Djinn]

Took it upon myself (with Arfy's permission) to add some sprites to these fiercely powerful aquatic titans!

Unofficial download link here!

[narD]

It's nice mod

but, I find a little bug about Water Launcher's Intense upgrade.

If using Water Launcher to vek spawning space(I meaning Intense place). then vek spawning tile become to water tile.

In code(weapons.lua : 497 line)

if not Board:IsPawnSpace(p2) then
local damagepush = SpaceDamage(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4], 0, (dir+1)%4)
if self.Intense == true then
damagepush.iDamage = 2
if Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) then
damagepush.iDamage = DAMAGE_ZERO
end
if not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) and not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) then -- 497 line

damagepush.iTerrain = TERRAIN_WATER
end
damagepush.sAnimation = "Splash"
ret:AddBounce(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4], 3)
end


if not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) and not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) then -- 497 line
=> if not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) and not Board:IsSpawning(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir+1)%4]) then -- 497 line.

if not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir-1)%4]) and not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir-1)%4]) then -- 511 line
=>if not Board:IsBuilding(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir-1)%4]) and not Board:IsSpawning(p2 + DIR_VECTORS[(dir-1)%4]) then -511 line

maybe change like that, then will fixed.
also need change 511 line, too.

[narD]

my play video

https://youtu.be/1afa6mhuiBU

[Robert Scythe]

Loved Djinn's sprites but these guys are way too powerful. No challenge. Don't know how to balance them but the idea is really cool.

[Robert Scythe]

Hey, Arfy. So a few suggestions I have to make these guys just a little less OP'd.

1. The Water Launcher should treat fliers the way it does massive enemies as they should be their weakness.
2. The Water Magnet should consider any unit in a water tile that it chooses to send the target to as blocking, forcing it to send it to another or not at all. This seems non-intuitive the way it is now, especially when it pulls the target to itself and has it drown underneath it.
3. Perhaps the Flood Launcher should not have a damage upgrade, instead a use upgrade for 1 core and a default of only one use.
4. Not much of a balance idea but the brute and science weapons should be switched. Doesn't make sense for the science mech to be the big damage dealer.

Don't know if that would be enough but I played a perfect 4 Island Hard while yawning, drunk and sleepy without any problem at all and I couldn't possibly be THAT good a player. Thanks for your creative output, really enjoying your mod squads!

[Everglass]

Hey, new to Into the Breach and the modding scene here and I just want to start off by saying that I've been really impressed by the level of craftsmanship and creativity of the mods that have been posted here. I don't really know coding much but I investigated the files a bit and can tell that it must have took quite a bit of work in order to bring your concepts to light.

I just completed Into the Breach recently and had found myself craving for more content. And after just a couple of searches online, I was delighted to find that the game already had quite a few high quality mods that had been posted by the community. And upon seeing the Aquamarines (being the first mod at top of the master mod list due to being alphabetically ordered), as well as the gorgeous sprite work done by Djinn, my modding appetite had me salivating.

It's funny because Into the Breach had a ton of really interesting themed squads that you could use, many of them elemental. But with only eight of them, it felt that there where so much untapped potential that was unused. So to find a water themed squad that really captured that feeling of playing one was amazing, and they are truly amazing to watch in action. But for me, what I love about Into the Breach the most, is the fact that every conflict becomes a dilemma, a problem, a puzzle to solve in order to reach the most favorable outcome and I draw a majority of my entertainment from overcoming these problems. The Aquamarines, though a spectacle to behold, simply solves these puzzles too easily, overcoming conflicts too fast.

Now, I'm not saying you should change them in any way. In fact, I believe you perfectly captured the theme and feeling you where going for. However, Into the Breach is a game that has been finely refined and balanced to it's difficulty, and it would be generous of you if you extended the mod to include a version that preserves that balance. Though, due to the squad's power revolving around the use of water tiles, a mechanic which can have synergies that vary greatly, insta killing grounded units, completely useless vs air, and only mildly usefully against bosses (being only able to cancel their attack), it can be difficult to find that balance.

So, I decided to do some tweaks myself to see if I couldn't reign in a bit of their power, and I would say, I was able to get them in a place that felt like it was in line with the balance of the base game. Now, I'm not a stranger to doing personal tweaks to someone else's mod, but I usually don't come to them about it as it can often feel cheap personalizing their hard work. I only do so now because I noticed Robert Scythe wanting something quite similar and I would really like to hear his opinions on the modifications, so with your permission, I'd like share it. But I also was hoping you'd get a chance to look over the changes yourself and that they'd somehow inspire you into creating a version of your own that is catered to retaining the game's difficulty, so that other like minded individuals are given the opportunity to enjoy your mod without having to feel like they have to compromise on the game's balance.

[Arfy]

(review)

Thanks for leaving this review and for the kind words!

I do admit that this squad is extremely powerful and really does require balancing; however that can be said about a lot of my older (unreleased) squads as well - this was made during a time where I had little care about balance (still do today, but I do put some consideration into it). One day I will revisit my older squads and polish them up, but as of right now I am occupied with creating new squads rather than revisiting my older ones (I am not trying to deflect your criticism at all; it is just that I prefer not to look at my past squads and ideas).

You have my permission to upload your tweaked version of this squad (within this reply section); although I'd highly recommend you PM Robert Scythe about it as well.

[Everglass]

Link to unofficial rebalance of the Aquamarines

Didn't really change anything mechanically, mostly just wrestled with their numbers in an attempt to have them more in line with the base game's metrics. The only thing I would wish that could be changed would be the Flood Mech having a passive immunity to being water logged. I did my best to retain the core feeling of the squad, and for a squad that is based around creating water tiles, I feel pretty good on their current balance. They still retaining plenty of their power for attempting hard runs. It mostly speaks to the power of Water Magnet, being able to float over water tiles and drag high treat targets to there deaths. But I wanted to ensure that the mechs also still retained enough power that they could stand alone out side of their squad, of course, they are still several times stronger when paired together.

Edit: Added a damage upgrade for the Water Launcher for two cores.

Edit2: Fixed an error when targeting a boss with damage upgrade.

Edit3: Increased core requirement for the damage cap upgrade for the hydraulic blaster to 2 and gave a 1 point damage upgrade to the water magnet for 3 cores. This should give the squad a bit more places to spend reactor cores in the late game.

[tosx]

Just wanted to say I played a 4-island Hard game with the revised squad and they generally felt very balanced, as well as a lot of fun!

I liked the look of this squad initially but hadn't tried them because they looked so strong; the rebalanced version let me really enjoy the amazing work Arfy has done without feeling too guilty

Some maps were trivial but the lack of artillery damage (stupid diggers!) and very limited ability to move/kill swarms of enemies made for a lot of challenge on plenty of others.

Code-wise, the only weird things I noticed were related to the Water Magnet, with it showing bump damage even when an enemy was going to get sucked away to water, and showing multiple somewhat confusing arrows to different water tiles. But after using it a few times I knew how it worked and that no longer mattered.

Great job, both of you!