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SW:RC Rebalance
AUTHOR: Lord Zapharos (www.lordzapharos.com)
DATE: 16 June 2021
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LICENSE AND CREDITS:
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

You are free to share and transform this work (commercially or otherwise) provided you give proper
credit to Lord Zapharos, provide a link to this license, and indicate if changes were made.



DESCRIPTION:
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SW:RC has solid and fast-paced gameplay, but suffers from unsatisfying weapon balance, unrealistic
"bullet sponge" enemies, and numerous lore inconsistencies. This mod balances the brutal, punishing
nature of Hard Mode with more satisfying and realistic gameplay to better reflect the established
Star Wars atmosphere and lore.

THIS MOD IS INTENDED TO BE PLAYED ON HARD MODE. Although you can still play on lower difficulties,
I did not balance this mod around them and said difficulties may be easier or harder than intended.


ENEMY CHANGES:

* Geonosian warriors are easier to kill due to their lack of proper armor (as shown in movies).
  Speed and lethal melee attacks are what make these foes dangerous, instead of undue "tankiness".

* Geonosian Elite beam weapons can and WILL wipe out your entire squad in just a few seconds, but
  these enemies are just as fragile as regular warriors. Kill them quickly before they kill you!

* Battle Droids are much easier and more satisfying to destroy, but can take down any squad member
  (including yourself) with just three well-targeted blaster hits. Rushing into a horde of these
  enemies is no longer a survivable tactic.

* Super Battle Droids are no longer ridiculous "bullet sponge" mini-bosses and now properly reflect
  the more modest "tankiness" shown in the movies. However, their weapons are also much deadlier to
  bring them in line with established lore.

* Destroyer Droids (Droidekas) are balanced around their movie depictions: their shields are VERY
  powerful and regenerate whenever there is a break in fire, while their weapons will rip apart any
  exposed squadmates extremely quickly. You will need ample cover, concentrated fire, and also some
  EC detonators to bring these foes down.

* Spider Droids are better protected against small-arms fire, making the anti-armor and sniper
  attachments pivotal in bringing them down.

* Trandoshans are less resistant against blaster fire, but are deadlier overall.

* Scavenger Droids no longer do ridiculous damage with their lasers and are instead more deadly
  when they "latch on", to better match the intended purpose of these droids within the game lore.


WEAPON CHANGES:

* The pistol now has more ammunition, but deals the least damage of any weapon in your arsenal and
  is significantly less accurate. This reflects the deficiencies of real life sidearms and serves
  to punish careless ammo usage.

* The DC-17 blaster rifle is now MUCH more accurate, has better stopping power, and is more lethal,
  thereby reflecting its role as the "primary weapon" used in the Clone Wars. In real-life, rifles
  are almost unilaterally better than pistols for most combat situations.

* Aiming down the sights GREATLY increases the damage of your pistol and DC-17, yielding a more
  moderate boost for the sniper attachment. This mechanic encourages you to behave more like clones
  in the movies, who are *usually* portrayed aiming down the sights as is necessary in real life,
  and requires you to make the tactical decision between maximum maneuverability or maximum damage.

* The anti-armor attachment is now much deadlier than that of thermal detonators to help balance
  its relative ammo scarcity and also to make it more important when fighting spider droids.

* The pistol, DC-17 blaster rifle, and anti-armor attachment have higher overall ammo capacities.

* The sniper attachment does significantly more damage, but has reduced ammunition capacity.

* Ammo pickups only replenish a fraction of your maximum ammo capacity. Pickups for the sniper and
  anti-armor attachments are especially smaller to offset their increased damage.

* Gunship laser turrets will shred through droids like tissue paper, as depicted in the movies.


GAMEPLAY CHANGES:

* Tutorial-level enemies are just as deadly as "real" enemies and are fully capable of killing you.

* Your squadmates and other clone allies now deal the same damage as you, but are equally fragile
  against all enemy types.


This mod should be compatible with ANY mod unless that mod also changes the "Properties.u" file. In
particular, this mod IS compatible with the various widescreen HUD fixes.



INSTALLATION:
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1. Back up your existing "GameData\Properties\Properties.u" file (you can copy it to the desktop,
   rename it to "Properties.u.BAK", or otherwise put it wherever you want). IF YOU DO NOT BACK UP
   THIS FILE FIRST, YOU CANNOT UNINSTALL THIS MOD WITHOUT REINSTALLING THE ENTIRE GAME!

2. Copy the "GameData" folder from this directory to your main Star Wars: Republic Commando folder
   (this is usually found in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\Star Wars Republic Commando").
   Overwrite the existing file "Properties.u" when prompted.

To uninstall, just replace the "GameData\Properties\Properties.u" with the original file you backed
up (you DID back it up, right?).



DISCLAIMERS:
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IF YOU FAIL TO BACK UP YOUR ORIGINAL GAME FILES BEFORE INSTALLING THIS MOD, IT WILL BE *IMPOSSIBLE*
TO UNINSTALL THIS MOD WITHOUT REINSTALLING YOUR ENTIRE GAME. MAKE SURE TO BACK UP YOUR FILES FIRST!
