Hello DRFF,

CCS here, I'm one of the more quieter forum members and I figured introducing myself would be nice since this is my first thread post.

For the time that B26 has been out, I've done some stress testing of the campaign mode and basic QA testing off and on. Originally this thread was to be open about B26 feedback, yet it seems the next build may be far along enough where some concerns might have been taken care of. While poking around values to get the right feel ( as actors are just gibbing too much for my liking ) an idea hit:

How many of the modders out there changed the vanilla content for a balancing reason? Added has anyone added vanilla-like content to fill in for what they believe may be need of later builds?

(Note: the questions above is the primary purpose of the thread. Direct feedback can be for another thread)

All I've done is change the Frag Grenade's value to negative-something-ridiculous. I don't use vanilla content when playing, mods are much more fun.

EDIT: And made a couple of vanilla-ish sprites.

Brutality mod is this.

I never use anything vanilla-related and removed everything from the buy menu.

Basically the only thing i'd do is to A: Increase starting money (mining is a chore), and B: Increase jetpack thrust on all vanilla actors. As it is now, a Coalition Heavy can barely lift his fat ass off the ground, and i'm entirely used to flying around all the time. Hence why all my actors have very generous jetpacks.

I didn't do anything for balancing, but I always give the braincase a script that makes it reload all scripts when I select it and try to use its nonexistent jet pack, for testing.

If I did balance vanilla stuff to my preference, headshots would be more significant, crafts would be tough but expensive, and there would be a little less gibbing and more flopping over dead.
I'd also make limb wounds on actors work mostly off of bleeding damage.

Thanks for the input so far everyone. So it seems that balancing the gameplay area is most important compared to content. Which makes sense since just playing what most of us are doing in CC.

Where the idea became interesting to post was when I started creating new bunker and structure parts and putting effort on the "brain" in the scenarios. A base is to be just as potent as the actor that use it. Added, crafting the base tactically really aids in how to create challenging but tactically sound scenes.
Look to the Dummy Assault base. The points of entry are great and as an actor moves closer to the Dummy controller, all movement gets tighter. This is fine until you actually want an actor to be a main force in that area. Long story short, it was the new Blast Runner that is winner of most of those matches. There are not a lot a ways to counter the spacing and spawning of that stage tactically without a mod. And for this defending your own little pit is a boon.
Plotting and using an effective base is quite important, tactics and playing really get affected when in the thick of events. So the short of it here is that I either have a bunch of new structure parts and a few more on the way.

Also the CC TradeStar robot, with cheap variations, are being remodeled (the robot 1 and 2 thing got dumped) and it gets new rockets and dropships. The current white rockets and dropship is considered as Techion (Read: Whitebots for onlookers) and thus that's where those files are headed. The legs on the rockets are so gonna get fixed, they are still like sponge and stubs.
(The Green tutorial machines didn't get in yet but those are recolors and small adjustments.)

I did mod jetpacks as well but only for the heavier units. It seems you can still burst a jetpack with light to medium weight units because of the fast recharge rate. The AI uses this technique quite well. Other than that, a few weapons got their weight and the ammo weight adjusted. For example, heavies were useless with heavy weapons on the move. And when the jetpack was fired while they where in downfall, too much momentum would build to counter the fall with said equipment. Vanilla scenes don't get a play anymore.

The only thing I did care to change about the vanilla thing was the lack of the older maps from B23, since those were very good maps.

Then, I installed B25, deleted the folder of B24 and forgot to take them out, now I became to lazy to convert them again.

Now, I've made some small changes to the vanilla stuff, like changing some GibWoundLimits from 6 to 8, things like that. But the changes are so slight that I barely notice them.

So before getting to any other specifics, two items:

1 Reviewing the answers means that CC is mostly either just a game engine for gameplay, or vanilla content is adjusted in different strengths. That's cool.

2. Is the vanilla "universe" still relevant to be coexist with your gameplay? More simply, is the vanilla content only interesting should its design and parts gets updated; or perhaps you feel more involved but not all the pieces are there?

I play with mods more often than not, so I don't think about staying true to the backstory all the time. I do have those moments when I set up some scenario, though.

Vanilla should be more imposing.

Nowadays when you pick a mod it's because it does something really cool, it looks very cool, it's innovative or it just has that something. Vanilla content could be updated, you know, maybe a new weapon for each faction that is ridicoulosly awesome with a lot of lua and stuff, or maybe an actor that is tough and stuff, like the old Coalition Heavy Brainbot but designed for battle.