Volitions Advocate on 20/9/2020 at 15:14
I don't know if this game is still on anybody's mind around here or not, but I still play it constantly. I don't htink it fits into the Immersive Sim shaped receptacle, but some of the elements are definitely there, so in my mind, peeps around here should know what's going on.
The System Shock games were kept alive for decades because of the work of the community members here, and now there's a group of people who have managed to start the same thing with Alien Isolation.
There have been a couple of mods available for awhile but a dude named Matt Filer developed a tool called openCAGE (with the CA stylized with the creative assembly logo) that you can use to screw with every single AI subroutine of the alien in the game, as well as mess around with in game parameters, and do other things like swap in game assets and textures. It's a complex tool I haven't quite got the hang of yet, but it's really awesome, and some fun mods have popped up around it that seem to have been developed from within the game's speedrunning community.
Figured I'd compile a list of mods I knew about so that you all can try the game out again in its post community mod glory.
Unpredictable Alien Mod
(
https://www.moddb.com/mods/unpredictable-alien-mod)
I dont' know exactly what the mod does, but I assume it mostly neuters the AI director that keep the alien on a leash in your general vicinity. I always play with this mod installed, It changes the game's experience somewhat, I think most of the time it does make things easier, because the Alien doesn't have some sort of 6th sense regarding where you generally are hanging about at any given moment, but it also lets the Alien do what it will. Meaning it tends to ignore some scripted patrols and will cross lines into rooms that are usually save because the game's scripting normally tells it where it can't go. Also I think it randomly decides to mute the aliens actvities, as it can sneak up on you silently sometimes now or if you're not constantly checking your motion tracker, you could open a door to a big set of drooley teeth, which is a bit of a surprise.
Agressive Alien Mod
(
https://www.moddb.com/mods/agressive-alien)
Basically the opposite of the last one. It tightens the leash and allows the alien to become active in prowling and hunting mode without any provocation. Basically a "Harder than Nightmare" mode
MotherVR
(
https://github.com/Nibre/MotherVR/releases)
Drop a .dll file into your game directory and you can play the game in vr. While This mod isn't on par with a 1st party VR experience it is almost there. Unlike VorpX or something, it's not just a code injection for mouse emulation. It makes the VR experience native to the game itself, even though it has bugs. You can freely look around the environment and reposition yourself in 3d space (which you can't do with VorpX), but it does not have hand tracking even though in the latest version (beta 0.80) it adds support for vive wands and oculus touch controllers. The hand positions aren't tracked but you can use the controllers as a classic controller. I find using version beta 0.60 the best option here. the only thing it is lacking compared to beta 0.80 is the VR controller support and an ingame menu to set options rather than having to use launch pararmeters on the game. (like -steamvr for instance). I play it standing using an Xbox One controller. Not the typical VR experience but I find it works very well. Mission 10, after Waits ejects Project KG348 into space and Amanda is scrambling to find the airlock with the lab spinning out of control is the most visceral VR experience I've ever had in a game. THat moment is cool enough as it is on a flat screen, but in VR, you have to work on fighting the vertigo of the spinning starfield outside the window and the slight cant the camera tilts to makes it a very difficult moment to keep control of yourself. I think I've developed some prety tough VR legs the last couple of years, but that moment was hard for me, in a good way.
OpenCAGE Mod tools
(
https://github.com/MattFiler/OpenCAGE)
The remainder of the mods I'm going to post, I'm pretty sure were all built with these tools.
Everything I said at the top of this post, and he boasts that in future releases, editing scripts and swapping in new models will be possible. Check it out. It's expansive in what you can tweak.
Links to the following mods are hosted on a speedrunner's Discord. I didn't ask permission if I could linkdirectly, so I'll handout the discord link at the bottom of the post. I've lifted the descriptions directly from the discord server.
Alien Congregation Mod:
Quote:
Alien: Congregation is a multiple aliens mod for the campaign portion of Alien: Isolation. The mod makes the following changes to the base game:
• New main menu background video, music, and title.
• Two aliens at all times in Mission 4: one on the ground and one confined to the vents.
• Three aliens in Mission 5: two pre-1702 code and a third from the scripted drop.
• Five aliens at all times in Mission 6.
• Two aliens in Mission 7.
• Two aliens in the Gemini portion of Mission 10.
• Three aliens in the KG348 portion of Mission 10.
• Three aliens at all times in the nest portion of Mission 14.
• Three aliens at all times in Mission 16.
• Four aliens in Mission 17.
• Four aliens in the first area of Mission 18.
I'm playing this one in VR right now with the unpredictable mod. It's awesome
UltraGraphics Mod:
I couldn't find a helpful description so i just lifted this from the streamer who uses it all the time:
Quote:
UPDATED: So before questions come up tonight here is all my graphical tweaks for tonight in case you want to make your AI look the same. Just tested the nest and it looks super atmospheric holy shit xD So the first modification is to just change the ENGINE_SETTINGS.xml file, here is mine, just replace yours in the DATA folder of AI (make sure to make a safety copy first). The second modification is by using reshade, reshade is a post-processing injector that allows you to basically add filters. You can download it here (
https://reshade.me/) just follow the installation instruction. Once installed put that ini file where the AI.exe file lies. Make sure to load all the filter in reshade then open the menu in reshade with the 'Home' key, click on Home in the menu and where it says DefaultPreset click on it and select the AlienIsolationPreset.ini file you are gucci. If you still have questions please drop them in #techsupport
some may not like it ^ It seems to turn everything up to 12 on the dial. specular, emmissions, colour hue, everything looks shiny.
(
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/722576922227376239/722609953533198396/AI_2020-05-11_00-24-22.png)
(
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/722576922227376239/722610004032749588/AI_2020-05-11_00-33-44.png)
(
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/722576922227376239/722609890539077732/AI_2020-05-11_00-33-02.png)
^unsure if these are viewable without access to the discord server. FYI
Kitty Isolation Mod:
Quote:
Kitty Mod is an ultra-hard Alien: Isolation mod intended to be unrelentingly difficult, primarily created to provide Alien: Isolation speedrunners with the ultimate challenge. While Kitty Mod can be enjoyed by casual players as well, many of the changes are speedrun-oriented, either to skip long, tedious sections of the game, or to render common speedrun tactics and exploits useless. There are also numerous inside jokes present throughout the mod that may not make sense to those outside of the speedrunning community. Nevertheless, if the ultimate Alien: Isolation challenge is what you're after, Kitty Mod is for you.
Outlined below are the changes Kitty Mod makes to the base game:
[7:58 PM]
Player Attributes:
• Scrap stack limit increased to 250.
• Medkits restore 100% of Amanda's health regardless of blueprint version.
• Smoke bombs, noisemakers and flashbangs yield two items upon crafting.
• Pipe bombs, molotovs, EMPs and medkits require 5 less scrap to craft.
• Noisemakers, flashbangs and smoke bombs require 5 additional scrap to craft.
• Medkit stack limit deceased to 4.
• Revolver ammo stack limit decreased to 36.
• Shotgun ammo stack limit decreased to 12.
• Flamethrower fuel stack limit decreased to 250.
• Boltgun ammo stack limit decreased to 8.
• Stun baton charge stack limit decreased to 4.
[7:58 PM]
Weapon Attributes:
• Revolver shots stun the alien similar to the shotgun.
• Shotgun does slightly less damage to androids.
• Flamethower fuel consumption rate is decreased.
• Boltgun shots penetrate enemies and inflict damage on enemies behind them.
[7:58 PM]
Enemy Attributes:
• Alien has hypersensitive hearing and vision and will immediately notice Amanda, even at extreme distances.
• Alien movement speed increased, both in the vents and on the ground.
• Alien moves towards Amanda faster if the player turns their back to it.
• Alien drop rate significantly increased.
• Alien no longer walks while searching for Amanda or being threatened with the flamethrower, but instead runs.
• Alien is much more likely to initiate a "hold breath" QTE when Amanda hides in a locker.
• Alien health doubled.
• Alien regenerates health significantly faster.
• Androids have hypersensitive hearing and vision and will immediately notice Amanda, even at extreme distances.
• Androids no longer walk but instead run.
• Androids are much more likely to initiate a "hold breath" QTE when Amanda hides in a locker.
• Androids have slightly less health.
• Humans have hypersensitive hearing and vision and will immediately notice Amanda, even at extreme distances.
• Humans have significantly increased fire rates when shooting.
• Humans start to become hostile at much greater distances.
• Humans of the security and riot guard classes have additional health.
• Humans are much more likely to initiate a "hold breath" QTE when Amanda hides in a locker.
[7:58 PM]
Mission Attributes:
• Enemy placement has been altered in several missions.
• Additional enemies have been added to some missions.
• Various dialogue and scripted sequences have been removed to decrease run time.
• Forced walking sections in several missions have been removed to allow Amanda to run.
• Some blueprints have been changed to a different blueprint.
• Several non-random loot items have been moved to a different location.
• Several new non-random loot items have been added throughout the game.
• A lootable corpse in Mission 3 was moved to a different location.
• Several doors have been unlocked or removed completely to allow quicker access to certain locations.
• Several door braces have been moved to either allow for quicker access, or to prevent a known speedrun exploit.
• Most door codes have been changed and can be found in their respective terminal entries.
• Some door overrides in Mission 5 have been removed.
• All door and terminal hacks have a 6-symbol callback code regardless of access tuner level.
• Hack tool selection angle has been reduced to make tuning into the correct hack position more difficult.
• Countdown timer for all hacks has been lowered except for the Apollo core hack, which has been raised.
• Various save stations have been moved to a different location.
• Save station in Apollo core has been removed to prevent a known speedrunning exploit.
• Time between saves has been lowered to 30 seconds in Mission 6.
• Several gas canisters have been moved to a different location.
• Gas volume in the Lorenz server control room has been moved to a different location.
• Various trigger boxes have been altered to decrease run time, increase difficulty, or surprise the player.
• Cable order for the electrical junctions in Mission 12 has been altered and is reflected in the subtitles.
• Cost to use save station in the Lost Contact and Safe Haven DLC missions raised to 5,000.(edited)
[7:58 PM]
Texture and UI Attributes:
• Numerous textures throughout the game have been altered.
• Radial menu color altered.
• Various loot and mission-specific items have been renamed.
• Various subtitles, character names and mission objective names have been altered.
• Terminal text color altered.
• Hack tool screen color altered.
• Subtitle text color altered.
• Intro loading screen altered.
• Main menu text color altered.
• Main menu background video altered.
• Various menu options renamed.
• Fox intro video altered.
• End credits altered.
• Loading icon altered.
• Saving icon altered.
• Motion tracker screen color altered.
• Radio scanner screen texture altered.
• Color of some fire effects altered.
• Color of light emitted by lit flares altered in several missions.
that description is kind of cute regarding turning amanda's back to the alien. Basically if it is in kill mode and you turn your back, you might as well call it a teleport.
There is also a version of this mod you can download that isn't a complete meme shitpost, without all the textures changed to cater to the speedrunning community's injokes.
Kitty mod low % patch
Quote:
The Low% addon for Kitty Mod provides an additional challenge by making the following changes:
• Amanda is unable to pick up items that aren't required to progress.
• Amanda is not given additional ammo when new weapons are acquired.
• Revolver has infinite ammo.
• Shotgun kills heavy androids with a single headshot.
• All scripted damage is removed.
• Unavoidable gas cloud in Mission 10 server control room removed.
To use the Low% addon, first install Kitty Mod. Links to the current version can be found above. Once Kitty Mod is installed, install the Low% addon on top of it.
Smoke: Isolation mod
I couldn't find a description for this, so I'll share what I can from memory. Basically most of the loot is turned off, and the flamethrower is not present in the game, but crafting a smoke bomb nets you something like 20 smoke bombs. Other than that it has many of the same difficulty mods present in Kitty mod. So the whole game is avoiding the alien by hiding in smoke, and having nothing but a revolver that has some souped up damage deal with threats (I think the revolver does enough damage to make the alien flinch and give you about 2 seconds of breathing room)
Super Revolver Mod:
Quote:
Super Revolver is a multiple aliens mod for the campaign portion of Alien: Isolation. The mod makes the following changes to the base game:
• New main menu title logo.
• Revolver has infinite ammo.
• Revolver kills all non-alien enemies with a single shot and ignites them.
• Revolver causes the alien to retreat.
• Revolver sends human enemies flying away.
• Revolver has high fixed accuracy.
• All non-revolver weapons have no ammo nor can any be looted.
• All offensive items are restricted: pipe bombs, molotovs, EMPs and flashbangs.
• An in-game cutscene in Mission 4 was removed to prevent a possible softlock.
• Four aliens in Mission 4.
• Four aliens in Mission 5.
• Five aliens in Mission 6.
• Four aliens in Mission 7.
• Three aliens in the Gemini portion of Mission 10.
• Three aliens in the KG348 portion of Mission 10.
• Three aliens in the nest portion of Mission 14.
• Numerous facehuggers in the Anesidora portion of Mission 15.
• Five aliens in Mission 16.
• Four aliens in Mission 17.
• Four aliens in the first area of Mission 18.
^ this one was pretty funny to see. Flaming ragdolls everywhere.
There is also an Alien: congregation style mode for the DLC levels, but the link seems to have disappeared, so I'll ask about it on their discord.
Anyway the possibilities for these types of Mutator mods are endless, and I can't wait until Filer finishes the openCAGE tools. The only thing left will be a map editor. One can dream.
Anyway. I found all of this by stumbling on a twitch streamer who calls himself Psychohypnotic ( (
www.twitch.tv/psychohypnotic) ) I"m not big on watching streamers but I find him to be a pleasant dude with a warped sense of humor from Switzerland. He has a bunch of edited videos on YouTube showing him play through a lot of these mods. ( (
https://www.youtube.com/user/hypi82) )
Here is a link to the discord where you can download the mods I don't have links for.
(
https://discord.com/invite/R2qMjgN)
I know it seems like I'm just trying to plug the guy's discord, but it looks like a lot of these mods are hosted on google drive accounts, and I didnt' ask ahead of time if I could share the direct link. I know you guys love mods, especially ones that make great games infinitely playable. So I hope you try some of these out if you're a fan of the game. I love the extra challenge and I'm having fun playing this game again. Now that there is so much more to experience.
