It's been fixed. Rigged models and stuff will be posted as a different mod.

sorry, i bought the game on 60% on the july weekend supersale. obviously i can't tell if it's been fixed. how say you?

@Natural Causes:
Golly, that all sounds rather fine. Good luck and more power to your elbow!

@Dragon32, Yeah I'd prefer to take out the Sectoid at least for a small-scale spidery/SC1 Dragoon look. Though I could see a (different) driver for larger versions. Heck, if I can figure out additive animations I'd like to have it as a legs prop or armor for enemy/allied MEC/Sparks. Same with SHIV. But getting the shard-splitting animations of EU Outsiders working for another alien pack has priority over those.

@Natural Causes:
Thanks for the reminder, I knew my memory was a bit shaky. Also, those additional units sound super exciting. Would you remove the cockpit glass (no idea how easy it would be to change the materials) from the Bureau Sectopod? Could be a bit odd seeing its Sectoid driver [cramgaming.com].

@Dragon32, @frizzeldian12,

This is mostly outdated: it compensated for a SLG glitch that made MECs uncommon and because other enemy mods were outpopulating MEC pools. Those aren't issues anymore so it's fine to unsub from this unless you want to add simple MECs for corpse reasons.

Additional units will be released as a separate mod when I have time to finish: Mortar Sectopod (EU mesh), MEC Trooper (EW MecCivies mesh), Enforcer as an Anti-Riot (Stun 1 action) MEC, Strider as an attrition/skirmisher sort of role. I'd like to make something from the Bureau Sectopod and EW Seeker but haven't started learning how to reconstruct the animsets from the individual extracted anims.

Finishing this first unit pack will take a bit and there are remaining design issues and things I want to prototype before release. It'll be a new mod anyhow but no promise for ETA

@frizzeldian12:
2 Near-Vanilla MEC Variants. The Strider (smaller) and Enforcer (standard size).

Only a vague idea how they differ from vanilla baddies. I did use this mod in a campaign which got borked by SLG, think the Strider was lower HP with more movement. The Enforcer I've no recollection of.

Exactly what units does this add to the game

@Dragon32 Indeed! That frees me up to do some more varied work with this mod. If you used the mod as a patch, it's accounted for with the drop of the new DLC--hopefully. Since I was unavailable when the DLC dropped I haven't looked through it much but I'll be using it alongside some EW stuff I've ready for fun times.

I see this in the latest June patch notes [xcom.com]:
Fixed an issue where the Skulljack objective caused MECs to stop appearing in tactical

Does that fix address the changes you've made to the appearance of MECs (or lack of), Natural Causes?

The Mechanized elements of the alien army didn't receive a lot of attention in this game. I will definitely keep an eye out for this mod's future updates. Bringing back the Mechtoid and the classic Sectopod is an amazing idea, and a Sectopod ruler sounds like a lot of fun;).

"A heavy or superheavy unit at a bad time is... a bad time?"

I have nothing witty to say to this, so instead, here's a meme: http://imgur.com/nGPJmdR

Ah, thanks a lot. I was beginning to wonder if some of the mods had screwed things up coz I was halfway through July and hadn't encountered any alien ruler (already dispatched the viper king, dunno where the rest went :/) and the vanilla MECs, but that doesn't seem to be the case. :p

Oh yes, perfectly compatible. I made sure not to touch the XComMissions.ini so there's zero compatibility issues. On Legend it takes a while for force levels to rise. Commander has the fastest enemy progression and Legend the slowest.

Also, vanilla MECs rarely spawn as pod leaders this patch. Mods that add more pod leaders can make them more rare. This mod's initial release is basically a patch for that.

Also, the MEC Breacher is basically a "Super" Heavy Mech (MEC M3) and is a very late-game unit.

Is this compatible with the Advent MEC-Breacher and MEC AutoDoc from A Better Advent mods, or do these outright replace the spawn chances? I'm three months into my legend campaign and all I've seen is MEC Striders, usually 2 per mission. Spawn rate is damn good but it would be more fun if there was a variety of MEC units.

Totally doable if anyoone ever manages to break open the event manager of the game :)

Yeah, pretty much. https://youtu.be/hU8rxUrl1kU?t=25s to ~1 minute is the distilled version of the whole clip. A heavy or superheavy unit at a bad time is... a bad time? So I hope for your suffering in later releases of this mod, in the best way.

(Now I want the mission turn timer to speed up the music like in Mario Bros, though. That would be claustraphobic-sounding genius if someone does.)

:|

:|

:|

This sounds awesome!

For maximum suffering. I see situations like this in my future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU8rxUrl1kU

Heh, most poeple seem to consider bluescreen as being one of the worse ammo types (personally disagree, but *shrug*) - most mods for bluescreen seem to be focused on buffing it.

I think they work alright - they have a big advantage, sure, but it' only on some enemies. I would like a mech that's (partially) immune to it though, so look forwards to those nasties to deal with ;)

Thanks for the thorough reply. Bluescreen rounds seem OP to me in their current form. If you are hoping to increase the number of mech units, l wondered if you considered a bluescreen nerf as part of the mod - (optional for people who like their crutch ammo!)

How would Advent get around Bluescreen rounds? Units that have living tissue mixed with circuits will have resistance and a bit more complexity to hack. That should include most high-level units I add.

For missions, since those can only have one mod active, I reached out to DerBK to make sure it'll be in future updates of his compatibility mod (it will!). As is, each will spawn as often as other mod-added single enemies. If it turns out every replacement entry of OPNx4 gets given equal treatment I'd update for it. When Firaxis eventually have their "bucket" system working sensibly, I'll update for it (it's new but doesn't work yet).

I've got the meshes for SHIVs (+Advent ACV), but they'll be use for more mix & match. Advent doesn't mind making driving/flying torsos straight out of Terminator 2 or WH40k if it works. Getting the animations to add properly may be a long-term project though.

Consider an optional bluescreen rounds nerf?

How does this work with heavily edited pod composition ini from the likes of A Better Advent?

If you are bringing in EU/EW ports... SHIVs then?

Might be worth making a Discussion for future ideas. I'd suggest a small mech, possibly later game with high health/armour mobility but low damage that wrecks cover, though it'd work with the Strider too, just don't want too much punishment too early!

Because Mechs are the future! *subbed* I can never have enough different ways for aliens to punish my victi- *ahem* soldiers.

Mod created. Next are ports and variants of EW meshes. Please comment on what stun and disorient styled abilities you think balances with the Strider (small, early MEC) and Enforcer (just before MEC 2, lighter but same size). These are police-themed designs like the Stun Lancer.

My current thoughts are giving flashbangs to the missle pod, prioritized over shooting if any enemy groups. Stun (1AP or '1/2 turn') chance for Enforcer rifle? Make rifle shots from either never kill a unit but make bleed out and allow 2 lower-damage shots?