Options.INI

Updated 04 November 2015

This page has not yet been fully updated to reflect changes in v1.06 in Arulco Vacations

The JA2_Options.INI file controls the overall environment of gameplay. It is a very important control file. It determines many of the general characteristics of all the other control files, and also determines which of the many different options available will be used in game-play. It has a commanding influence on the Queen's forces as well as each individual character.

Arulco Vacations is made with the following settings as default:

Difficulty = Experienced

NCTH (New Chance To Hit) System = Yes

Skill Traits = New

Game Style = Sci-Fi

Inventory / Attachments = New / New

Progress Speed of Item Choices = Normal

Available Arsenal = Tons of Guns

Character Backgrounds = Yes

Enemies Drop All Items = Yes

Food System = No

Bobby Ray's Quality = Awesome

Bobby Ray's Quantity = Awesome

Improved Interrupt System = Yes

Inventory Manipulation Costs AP = Yes

Max Squad Size = 10

If you use different settings then your experience will definitely be different than mine. Let me know how it works for you.

A full compliment of 10 I.M.P.s are available by default  -- 7 male and 3 female from the standard v1.13 voice sets that are normally included but not activated. You, of course, can take any number of I.M.P.s, or none, if you so desire.

Additionally, Arulco Vacations has modified the numbers of combatants possible, modified the Queen's reinforcement and order-giving abilities, counter-attacks are on everywhere, and the Army is set to reinforce (full Action Points on arrival), chase and attack. It uses the full suppression system, also -- and that is a big factor in combat, and one I feel is both necessary and well-done. My gut feeling is that the NCTH System absolutely needs the full suppression system. Near misses have to count for something, and that something is suppression.

Arulco Vacations does not use the Dirt System, but there are gun cleaning kits available if you so choose to go that route.

The Food System is likewise not on by default but nothing has been done to cripple it so it can be used if you want it. It has been left at the default settings. In v1.04 I have included a lot of food on the maps that have been modded for Arulco Vacations. Hopefully they stay fresh in the refrigerators . . . if not, look for the canned goods under the sinks and in the cabinets.

There are many small, medium and large tweaks done to this file, and I will be detailing all of them as time goes by. Basically, I am heavy-handed in the .INI file -- which has a huge impact on the game, and why ALL the parts of Arulco Vacations should be used together. It is also why the new maps I'm making are crucial -- using the original maps are like battling in a parking lot compared to battling in the jungle of my maps.

I know there's a lot of criticism of the NCTH system, and I confess it frustrates me at times. But it is very playable. I find the OCTH system (Old Chance To Hit) makes combat way too easy and unrealistic.

A couple notes:

I have tweaked the Queen's pool of reinforcements to get the right mix for this overall Tweak -- with different weapons and weapon progression than the vanilla v1.13 it is imperative the Queen doesn't have too many or too few soldiers for the new setup. This .INI reduces the number of troops she can find as replacements. However, the Composition file tweak increases the number she has at the start, and increases the numbers she wants stationed at each site.

So you see, she has her problems also. She will have to make decisions regarding which site to deploy full numbers of troops, and which sites will have to make do with lesser numbers. Hopefully that increases re-playability as she should respond to your current strategy, and so all your decisions will have an effect on her decisions on troop placement. As well, her troop placement priorities have been heavily modified from the vanilla v1.13.

Remember also that the Queen is always going to be in reactive mode; a day late & dollar short of what she wants even though her forces vastly outnumber your small band of mercenaries. This doesn't mean she can't swamp you and end the game quickly -- that is always a possibility, yo. It means that you can know what she will do if you do a particular thing . . . and you can devise a strategy to combat that.

You will find that hit-and-run and raid tactics have a much more important role in Arulco Vacations than in the vanilla v1.13 or any of the mods I've seen. I have adjusted the Morale and Reputation settings to accommodate this style of warfare. The vanilla settings just don't allow you to do more than dabble in such tactics without having your Mercs quit on you, and others refuse to be employed. Note that even with the new settings you will have to kill enemy soldiers, or at least inflict heavy damage, with each Merc you send on a raid or hit-and-run action. Otherwise your Mercs will still lose morale, and your reputation with other Mercs will suffer. However, do not be afraid to use the Discretion is the Better Part of Valor routine if need be (i.e. run away instead of getting killed). As Stella says: "It won't mean anything when you're dead." As long as you win more than you lose you will be fine.

One setting in the .INI file I left alone initially but have changed is the option to make the NPCs super-strong. The rationale is to give the game a bit of role-playing, but that isn't role-playing it's PacMan  -- just like assuming all civilians & militia are less-than-human meatshields, excuse me, less-than-your-PC. I will be getting rid of the less-thans and the more-thans. There's no role-play involved if you shoot the General 4 times in the face and he laughs at you as he mows down your front line, or you toss a frag grenade between his legs and he doesn't even notice you've blown his balls off. What? Is he on PCP? Where's the role-play? Role-play is about the story and the setting -- and all the characters are made from the same cloth. At least, in my book they are.

The General, and many of the other NPCs, have inappropriate weapons and gear for the situation they find themselves in. That is another aspect of linear game philosophy -- these NPCs are only there as end-of-level treasure chests and not as if they are actually part of a continuing story. Their Gear Kits have been changed to reflect their position and situation. All the named NPCs have gotten skills and traits appropriate to their role in the story. That way they don't need artificial constructs to be what they are supposed to be, and the story playing out in the gamer's imagination isn't interrupted by gamey and unrealistic situations. That's role-play -- in my opinion, anyway.

Which brings up another point: all of these tweaks are heavily inter-connected and inter-dependent. Morale is tweaked heavily in the Facility Types file. Using Facilities will affect morale much more than in vanilla v1.13 -- some good, some bad, some could go either way.

In fact, some have ambient effects so just being in the sector will affect morale. This includes your Mercs getting drunk on their own dime if there's a bar or liquor store, or the residents of the neighbourhood getting upset at your presence (which also can affect Town & Global Loyalty), to name just two. Yes, Arulco is a much more reactive place now. And you thought you were going on a vacation! Ha!

On the other hand -- you do get much more starting cash, and creating your I.M.P. is not a drain on your resources at all. Go ahead and create 2 . . . I do. On the other hand, since I have enhanced and enlarged all the Gear Kits of every named character in the game, the RPCs from A.I.M. & M.E.R.C. are much more expensive -- if you purchase their equipment.

Adding some variety to the selection process I set the .INI file to randomize the hired help a little bit -- just a little, yo. They keep their vanilla level of experience, but their stats are randomized 5 points up or down, and their pay is also randomized. The pay scale is probably the biggest tweak there. Oh, and there are no more pistol-only Gear Kits except for those who are gunfighters or not primarily combat soldiers. Mercenaries who are combat soldiers now have Gear Kits that reflect their expertise and experience.

There will be no skimpy Gear Kits in Arulco Vacations. Everyone is now prepared for war as soon as they hit the landing zone.

The maximum number of Player Mercs is set at the maximum -- 32. The same with the maximum number of vehicles -- 6. The maximum number of Enemies, Militia and Civilians in Tactical is set at 40 for each. The maximum number of Creatures is set at the default of 32. The maximum strategic Enemy group size is set at the default of 20.

Enemy Drops are externalized, and the Game Options should be set by the Player in the Opening Screen as Enemies Drop All Items as mentioned above. Militia and Civilians will also drop all equipment when they die.

All 10 voice sets are active by default in Arulco Vacations - 7 male and 3 female (5 male and 5 female with the new Female Voice Pack Add-On). That means you can create 10 I.M.P.s if you want, and if you set the I.M.P. Game Option in the beginning screen to 10. The 7 male and 3 female voice sets are the ones included in the game. I have not modded them. Of the 7 male sets, the first 3 are full sets, the 4th is a partial set, and the last 3 are in Russian. A note here: one of the original female I.M.P. portraits is in use for the Commander Shepard RPC.Replacing it as an I.M.P. portrait is the Wildfire Ira as I.M.P. portrait.

The number of points available for distribution in the creation of I.M.P.s have been left at the default. However, the cost of creating your I.M.P. has been drastically reduced to $3. Yes, that's right: $3. The price does not increase if you create more than 1 I.M.P.. Enjoy!

I.M.P.s created with Expert Traits will get different Items in the creation process than those without Expert traits.

The M.E.R.C. email announcing the availability of that website will arrive on Day 1, and all of those mercenaries will be available for hire immediately -- except John Kulba, of course, who will be available 1 week after you rescue him. None of the A.I.M. mercenaries will be on assignment. Every mercenary in the game is available for you to hire. This is a vacation for the Player, after all.

If you recruit Slay he is not restricted in the amount of time he can be with you.

Speck is recruitable, as are the Metavirans, Elio, Juan and Wahan. Miguel, Carlos and Dimitri will be recruitable when you have liberated Omerta and have solved the "Deliver Food Quest".

Character Skills will be shown on the recruitment pages if you hover the mouse cursor over the character's portrait. All mercenaries are subject to a straight randomization of stats upward or downward of 5 points. All salaries are randomized to be up to 30% higher or lower than the default.

Your starting cash in Experienced Mode is $100,000. Use it well. You will need every penny. Mine income is the Default, as is the mercenary salary increase when they advance a level.

You can sell items 'to the Locals' using the left mouse Button in the Sector Inventory screen. The selling price is Dynamic, and lowers as the game progresses.

The Basic Cost of Training Militia is $750, double for Regulars, and Triple for Elites. the Basic Upkeep of Militia has been increased to $11/Green, $22/Regular, $33/Elite, $17/Mobile Green, $33/Mobile Regular, $50/Mobile Elite.

Helicopter costs have been kept at the Default. Skyrider will return to base automatically, is not free, and gets paid after landing at Base.

The Game will Autosave every 12 Hours.

An OOPS on my part in v1.03 (and likely in future versions) -- the Speedup Factor for everybody on screen is set to 0.33 (very fast) because I am using an old computer that needs as much help as it can get. You can set it to whatever you need to for your computer. The instructions are on the Downloads page.

The New Item Gear Interface is, of course, set to ON. I have re-designed every Gear Kit. Enjoy!

Female Enemies are restricted to Elites Only. This is a bit of intuitive role-play regarding the Queen's preferences considering how she treats Elliott.

The Thin Progress Bar is enabled so you can see a little more of the actual map during Tactical.

Enemy Item Drops are automatically revealed after Combat.

Your Mercs will not change stance automatically after combat -- just in case combat starts up again because of Enemy Reinforcements arriving or Zombies rising. They also will not change stance when arriving at a target location so that you save AP in case you want to continue the same stance next turn. Walking with weapon raised is enabled.

Alternative Weapon Holding is set to the behaviour that allows several aim levels to be treated as "alternative weapon holding", based on total aiming levels allowed for the gun. The number of alternative aim levels is always lesser than standard aim levels, and they are displayed. All the other Alternate Weapon options for resting, readying & aiming have been left at the Defaults.

Manual Scope Modes are enabled so you can toggle between them. Spotter options are left at the Defaults. Using a scope to aim costs extra AP. Extra Aiming Levels are enabled, Dynamic Aiming Limits are enabled, and Aim Levels Depend On Distance is enabled. The Minimum Range Compatibility Option is enabled, and uses the Default settings for enabled.

Tracer Fire uses the the Tracer Bump + v1.13 Autofire Penalty Reduction, with every bullet a Tracer, a Bump of 20 per tracer, Minimum Range of 10, and the Default cap on Maximum Tracer Chance To Hit Bonus.

The Autofire To Hit Bonus Multiplier is left at the Default.

Zombies are set to "5" out of "100" (1 in 20 as noted above) -- a very low setting of occurrence. The intent is for them to be rare so that they do not overwhelm the entire storyline, and the game does not become a Zombie Apocalypse. However, even at this low setting there will be times that Zombies will be a nuisance.

Enemy and Militia Reinforcements arrive on scene with full Action Points. You will not be able to gun them down in a canned hunt situation. Therefore, make sure you protect your flanks and rear. This is war -- all's fair.

Using the Hot Key Combo of Shift-F will unload all weapons and detach all attachments. Shift-N and CTRL-Shift-N will enable the intelligent Goggle Swap for all Mercs in the sector.

Characters will ask if they should flag a mine when they find one, and they will speak their default lines when they find one. Mercs won't speak or stop when they find an item in Tactical Turn-based Mode.

Grid-based exit of a Sector in Turn-based Mode is set to On.

Tactical Militia Command is set to On.

The Enhanced Description Box is set to be On in both Tactical and Strategic.

The new Targeting Cursors for Burst and Autofire are both On. The Default number of bullets in Autofire for all weapons is set to 1 -- but that is modified by the character's ability to control that action so only expert characters will be able to refine Autofire to that degree.

The Chance to Hit Readout is dependent on the character's Experience Level, Wisdom, Marksmanship and Sniper Skill. In other words, the accuracy of the reading is entirely dependent on the skills of the character -- and most often will be inaccurate. The Hide Bullet Count Intensity setting is at 50 -- a character will guess the number of bullets remaining in their weapon dependent upon their Wisdom, Dexterity and Experience Level.

The Gear Face Graphics are set to the first icon style -- you can, of course, set them to whichever icon style you prefer. Camouflaged Portraits are set to On.

The Health of an Enemy or Creature is set to show up as Text when you hover the Mouse Cursor over that Enemy or Creature. When you hover over your Mercs you will see the Health Bar, Suppression Shock Level, AP Counter and Current Cover (as a colour indicator using their name). Enemy and Player Hit Count Indicators are the Default. Damage absorbed by armour will be shown. Pressing the ALT Key when the NCTH Cursor is on an Enemy will show armour, weapons and head items in a dynamic version depending on distance away from the target.

Additional Mouse Keys and Scrolling Wheel are activated for use.

Alternate Aiming Levels for Targets and Aimed Burst are Enabled. The Aimed Burst/Autofire Penalty is set at the Default.

Damageable Gun Suppressor is set to True, and therefore depends on the Reliability Factor of the item.

Lazy Civilians are not enabled -- I have found that if enabled they usually find themselves standing in the middle of a crossfire, which is Not A Good Thing (tm). This setting lets them run away. Civilians will avoid mines set by the Player. Militia will flag mines when they find them.

There will be smoke after explosions, and both explosive attachments & special explosive attachments are enabled.

The chance for a Merc to say an annoying phrase is set to 10 (out of 100), but they still say it nearly every time, I think. Very annoying, that.

The Player and the Militia each will see what the other sees.

The New AI Tactical is enabled.

The Shot In Head Penalty is increased from 3 to 4. The Shot In Head Multiplier is the Default.

The Shoot Unseen Target Penalty is the Default.

I have given an Action point bonus to Player Mercs of +5. Enemies in Experienced get +3, Expert +4, and Insane +5.

Enemy Chance To hit Bonuses have been enabled. Regulars get +1, Admins (my Men-In-Black) get +3, Elite get +5. Civilians, having been given regular body types in Arulco Vacations, and so can fight, are the base of +0. (for v1.05 it will be +1, +2, +3 respectively)

Enemy Equipment Quality Modifiers for Coolness Factor are: Regulars +0, Admins (Men-In-Black) +1, Elites +2. (for v1.05 it will be -1, +0, +1 respectively)

No Damage Resistance Modifiers have been enabled for Enemy Regulars, Admins or Elites. However, named Enemy characters have been given Backgrounds and Skills so may have those related modifiers just as your player Mercs do.

The Enemy & Militia Trait System is 100% Enabled -- however, these settings are mostly ignored because Enemy & Militia Traits are being controlled through the Profile XML files. 20 Enemy & Militia of each type except Elite Enemy (which is set at 17 instead of 20) have 3 Traits defined in their respective profiles. Only random generated Enemy & Militia over and above the 20 (& 17) will use the default Trait System. That means randomization will occur only when reinforcements cause the Enemy or Militia numbers to increase past the number defined in the Profiles. Having Traits puts the Enemy and Militia on a more equal footing with your I.M.P.s and Mercs. Note that I.M.P.s are allowed 4 Traits (+1 from the Default) in the creation process. Having Traits also enables better AI management of Enemy & Militia combatants, and enables the AI to have more options in battle -- making it a more competent foe.

AI Snipers are restricted to Elites. Minimum Range that a weapon must have for an Enemy to act as a Sniper is 60. The chance of that Enemy with a weapon that has a range of 60 or greater acting as a Sniper is 50%. the chance that an Enemy with a Sniper Rifle acts as a Sniper is 99%.

All the points needed to advance in Levels are at the Defaults except for Health and Wisdom -- which have both been reduced from 50 to 35. Enjoy!

Real Time Sneaking is enabled, as is Quiet Real Time Sneak and No Autofocus Change During Real Time Sneak. This is to fully allow real time sneaking without distractions and interruptions.

Militia will never become hostile to you. Don't abuse it. I set it at this so that when Militia stupidly run into the middle of a crossfire and die, the rest don't turn against you.

I set Offense to +25% and Defense to +50% for your Mercs in Auto-Resolve Battles. I never use Auto-Resolve, but if I did I am sure I would be more competent than the AI . . .

Enemy Ambushes are enabled, and are set to the Default occurrence.

As noted elsewhere on this site, the option to make special NPCs tougher is not enabled. Instead, all NPCs have been given Backgrounds, Skills and Traits where before they had none. That makes them stronger just the same as it makes your I.M.P.s and Mercs (and Militia & Enemy) stronger. This deepens the role-play aspect of the game without resorting to gamey AI cheats.

The Queen's Assassins are enabled, and they will disguise themselves as Militia. The Minimum Progress for Assassins to appear is 20. the minimum Militia necessary for an Assassin to appear is 9. The probability of an Assassin showing up when you have maximum Militia in a Sector is 11.1%

As noted elsewhere on this site, Base Tactical Sight Range has been increased from 13 to 15. Brightness Modifiers have been left at their defaults. Tunnel vision is enabled. Cover Tree Effectiveness is raised from 50 to 60. For v1.05 it is raised to 61.

Everybody can jump through windows and climb over walls . . .

The Enhanced Close Combat System is enabled.

Award points for completing Quests is set to 111%.

Soldiers will always wear a helmet, vest and leggings -- however, the armour tables have been modified to include Load Bearing Gear and Improved Load Bearing Gear. So, for example, soldiers might have utility vests instead of flak jackets, a hat instead of a helmet, and an equipment pouch instead of leg protectors. As well, as mentioned elsewhere on the blog, the Arulcan Army does not have a lot of armour, and what they do have is mostly low-tech. Red Shirts will be outfitted primarily with non-armoured Tropical Combat Uniforms and Flak Jackets, White Shirts will have S.W.A.T. & Kevlar armour, and the Elite will have a variety of armour up to and including Battle Dress Uniforms and Twaron (but not Spectra or Dyneema) The one caveat here is that on maps I haven't yet modified there may be soldiers specifically outfitted with other gear by the past mapmakers.

Collective Interrupts are enabled, all Interrupts will be a bit more frequent, but Instant Interrupts Upon Spotting is disabled.

The Robot will not have to expend Action Points to ready its weapon.

The Enemy will automatically raise their weapon when they see you.

Energy costs for manipulating weapons and for weapon recoil are left at the default.

All Named NPCs decide their own actions, and are not tied to whatever faction they belong to.

Mercs can access the inventory of other Mercs in the Tactical Screen by using the hand cursor.

Wearing Backpacks lowers the number of Action points a character has available.

Cover System Effectiveness has been left at the default settings except for the effective cover solid objects provide. That has been increased from 15% to 60%. This provides more realistic cover.

As mentioned above, the Suppression System has been fully enabled (raised from 75% to 100%). The Suppression Tolerance has also been raised from 18 to 21, and the Explosion Suppression Effectiveness is raised from 90% to 100% (for v1.05 it is 111%). Other Suppression settings have been left at the default.

The Chance of Rain has been decreased from 40% to 33%, the Minimum Length lowered from 60 minutes to 1 minute, and the Maximum Length raised from 300 minutes to 900 minutes. The Max Raindrops has been decreased from 80 to 10 -- this is purely a visual effect and the lowered raindrops setting is less CPU-intensive and friendlier to older computers. The Delay during a Lightning Strike has been increased from 5 to 6 to allow the Player a little extra time to view the screen, and the Chance of Lightning decreased from 35% to 33%. Other weather effect settings have been left at the default.

The Tactical Weapon Overheating System has been left at the default of Not Enabled.

The Tactical Poison System has been left at the Default.

The Tactical Food System has been left at the Default (though not advised to be enabled in the initial Preference Screen upon starting a new game).

The Tactical Fortification System has been left at the default.

The Game Progress Weight System has been modified so that Progress Points from Kills, Sector Control, Mine Income, and Explored Sectors are equally important, and each accounts for only 25% of the total. The Alternate Method of Determining Progress has been disabled. All other Progress System settings have been left at the default.

The Strategic Event Settings have been left at the default -- meaning the Queen will be very aggressive and send massive counter-attacks to all cities you control.

The Mine Shutdown Event has been left at the default of Random.

Militia and Enemy Reinforcements between sectors is on and can happen from any adjacent sector anywhere in the country. The Minimum Delay in Turns before Enemy Reinforcements can arrive has been increased from 0 to 3, the additional Random Delay has been increased from 5 to 6, the Minimum Number of Enemy Troops Arriving after the Delay has been decreased from 8 to 3, and the Random Number of Additional Enemy Troops decreased from 8 to 7. The Minimum Delay in Turns before Militia Reinforcements arrive has been increased from 0 to 2, the additional Random Delay has been increased from 5 to 6, the Minimum Number of Militia Troops Arriving after the Delay has been decreased from 6 to 2, and the Random Number of Additional Militia Troops increased from 6 to 8.

Permanent Item Removal from Sector is enabled.

The Vehicle Inventory Setting is enabled, and the Humvee can travel off-road in certain types of terrain.

The Luck factor is left at the default -- luck being just as important as skill in Autoresolve battles.

No Enemy Detection without Recon is enabled.

Facility Event Rarity is more common by 24%, but Facility Danger rate is left at the default.

The Weapon Dirt System is enabled (but not advised to turn on in the initial game preference screen). Only Mercs with the Technician/Engineer Trait can do Advanced Repairs. Repairing a weapon also cleans it (if the dirt system is turned on by the Player). The dirt increase per shot has been lowered by 43%.

Skyrider will drop your Mercs as a group at the location of your choice.

All the Terrorists will appear . . . (and in Arulco Vacations they co-operate and have help).

All Weapon Caches are enabled . . . (and in Arulco Vacations the Smugglers are part of Tony's Faction -- attacking them or stealing from them is the same as if done to Tony himself).

 The Cover System Stance Effectiveness is raised from 10% to 20% for v1.05. That means going prone will now give you 20% view reduction/cover.

The Enemy Investigate (Town) Sectors is enabled for v1.05. The Reassign Pending Reinforcements remains disabled. These two settings as they are set for v1.05 make it more difficult to hold a newly occupied town sector. Troops stationed in adjacent sectors will send 'scouts' to investigate why they've lost contact with the troops stationed there, and reinforcements sent to aid them will not be reassigned elsewhere when you've won the initial battle(s).

Next, when I get back to editing this page . . . the prisoner system . . .

There are a lot of other tweaks in this file that I will document when I have the time . . . many of them you will notice immediately upon playing.