[WotC] The Flood: Replace the Lost BETA

This is the Public Beta version of the Flood mod, which converts the entire Lost faction into the parasitic menace from the Halo series. Currently, the mod contains Combat Forms, Infection Forms and Carrier Forms, with plans to add in the three Pure Forms in the future. The mod does *not* require any other assets to work, aside from War of the Chosen, and is entirely standalone. This may change in the future.

This also means that if you install this mod, please make a back-up save of any current campaigns you have and keep it safe on the side, in the event something does break. Removing the mod and continuing the save as-is should not cause any issues, but it never hurts to be cautious.

The reason for this being a Beta release is for extra playtesting and performance. As I’m just a ‘team’ of one person working on this mod, right now, there are numerous things the player base can and will do that I didn’t think to test, or didn’t test vigorously enough. Screenshots and detailed descriptions of any issues that arise would be immensely helpful in furthering this mod’s completion.

Current functions:
-Combat Forms as the core melee units, being a straight model replacement of the Lost.

-Carrier Forms that function as line disruptors and kamikaze units, capable of causing significant damage if allowed to get close.

-Infection Forms, capable of taking control of any non-Lost target. Often spawns in groups.

-Tank Pure Forms that will rush in and soak up bullets while dishing out the pain. A Flood Berserker, in essence. Avoid engaging in melee if possible.

All Flood are vulnerable to the ‘Between The Eyes’ Resistance order.

Planned features:
-Redone models, textures and animations to better fit the Flood aesthetic.

-"Lore-friendly" and "Merciful" toggles for Infection Form abilities.
="Lore-friendly" as shown in the Halo series, their attacks are invariably fatal to targeted units.
="Merciful" being the current mind control mechanic. Targeted units are under Lost control for 4 turns, but *do not* die (unless you kill them).

-Combat Forms that wield guns. Current plan is for these units to cap at T2 weaponry by the time the player hits T3 gear.

-Stalker Pure Forms that act as a Lost equivalent of the Chosen Assassin, capable of running in to attack, then running away with Bending Reed.

-Ranged Pure Forms that act as dedicated high-elevation gunners.

-Integration with other mods.

Combat Forms:
The standard battle unit for the Flood. Dangerous in melee and capable with a variety of weapons, these infected Humans, Elites and Brutes are the backbone of any Flood incursion. Anyone so infected has thus far been completely lost to the Flood, with no apparent means of curing them. These units appear from the very start, and will always appear in any Lost mission. Average durability, average damage output, plenty of targets to shoot. Will spawn from Force Level 0.

Carrier Forms:
The Flood’s support and battle line disruptor. With no offensive capabilities to speak of, this unit will always rush in and explode, shredding armor and poisoning the area immediately around it. To compound the problems presented with wounded and poisoned units with compromised armor, an exploded Carrier Form will also always summon numerous Infection Forms upon death, regardless of how it was killed. A big, obvious target, but somewhat tanky. Will spawn from Force Level 5.

Infection Forms:
The shocktrooper and terror unit of the Flood. These Infection Forms have only one purpose, and that is to assimilate any and all non-Flood lifeforms around them. Allowing an Infection Form to get close and attack will invariably result in the targeted unit getting infected, and thus becoming part of the Flood hivemind. Extremely low health, but hard to hit. Will spawn (as a follower unit) from Force Level 6.

Ranged Pure Form:
The dedicated gun platform of the Flood. Combat Forms are capable of wielding small arms with some level of alacrity, however, the guns they wield tend to be whatever their hosts used before death. The Ranged Pure Form is meant to be a more reliable form of long-range combat, favoring elevated posts for better accuracy, even if they don’t necessarily hit very hard. Low health, long range. Not yet implemented.

Stalker Pure Form:
The Flood’s hit-and-run melee units. Capable of rapid repositioning, these forms excel at running in to deal a quick hit before darting back out of range again. These are the Lost analogues to the Chosen Assassin’s favored method of engagement. Somewhat low health, high mobility. Not yet implemented.

Tank Pure Form:
The literal tank of the Flood. This variant of the Pure Forms is capable of dishing out and taking immense amounts of punishment before falling. A melee-only unit, their goal is to rush in upon seeing your units and do their best to pound them into an unrecognizable paste. High health, high damage, average mobility. Will spawn from Force Level 8.

Any mod that alters the base Lost units in any way, shape or form, including any alterations to them in the XComGame.int Localization file.

This is a BETA, so please exercise caution with your save files. This mod almost certainly doesn’t play nice with other mods that alter the Lost.

Note: All changes to the Localization file are purely text flavoring, and have no mechanical effects on gameplay. Any conflicts in the Localization file will probably just result in weird readouts, but won’t break the game/save.

Infection Forms spawn alone during mid-mission horde events.

-RustyDios, for general support, debugging, advice, mentoring and an exceptionally deep well of patience for a newbie modder.

-ObelixDk, for modeling advice and inspiration.

-E3245 for advice on helping a newbie modeler sort out problems with texturing.

-The XCOM 2 modding Discord server for literally existing, and being a rich and useful source of modding info.

-The creators of the Husk: Replace Lost mod, which provided some insight into coding this mod.

-The Lost2Ork team, for creating the mod that gave me the initial inspiration and drive to get this mod started.

-Bungie, Inc., the creators of the Halo series and everything about it.

The assets used in this mod (currently) originate from Halo 3. All assets belong to Bungie, Inc., 343 Industries, and Xbox Game Studios, and the Halo IP is owned by Microsoft. The assets are used non-commercially, and I do not earn anything from this mod.

I run this mod (and approximately 130+ others) in my XCOM 2 streams on Twitch. Show some extra support by dropping a follow! Twitch[twitch.tv]