Old Ironsides: Creature Mod
[Import Required if installed mid playthrough]
If you have issues with this mod, have a look at this load order guide by Atlas: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1850250979
Most issues are caused with it being too low on your mod list. If you encounter any issues move the bastard up in your order and it should rectify most of them. If you encounter the issue where an ironsides stands still and does 300+ damage at huge range please know that it is a mod conflict of some kind and report it under the discussion if possible.
I have made a last ditch patch that shunts all ironsides code over onto the unused cagebeast attack slot which should fix the issue at the cost of losing any cagebeast compatibility: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2581367788
Nexusmods link: https://www.nexusmods.com/kenshi/mods/907?tab=files
Ok so im going to be frank with you guys. I had a much larger vision for this mod with branching storylines and lots of new characters. Except i got a reality check straight to the face. Kenshi is built on a ♥♥♥♥ engine. getting custom animations that work into the Ogre engine borderlines on esoteric knowledge. And when it finally does work correctly it randomly freaks out on certain machines: Creatures doing HUGE amounts of damage, animations not loading, animal Dialogue lines constantly messing up, Reloads breaking the icons, and so many others i fixed before release.
So ive decided to move on to other less hardcore mods and just release everything ive done for this mod so far and move over to simpler armour/race mods.
Stuff you need to know: (please just read this and spare us both the time in questions and misunderstandings)
1. It is a CREATURE and as a result it is considered an ANIMAL by the game, and thusly it cannot BLOCK.
2. No it cannot work like a normal skeleton.
3. Portraits don’t work currently. (Please have mercy I tried to make the cake and eat it too but it just did not work reliably.)
4. They are made tough as nails and can self-repair to counter the extra damage they take to the face.
5. They have an extra built in attack slot to better handle crowds. (This is default on most animals btw.)
6. They scale with the unarmed stat in the same way a martial artists character would. (Melee attack does greatly factor into damage done so push that stat.)
7. There are 8 different combat animations that unlock from MA skill 0 to 75, and are balanced to keep pace with your cyborg dude using a fragment axe. (There are multiple high damage versions of some attacks to help decrease late game damage falloff.)
8. There are 2 different sprint animations that allow these things to keep pace with anything at high athletics skill. (Only thing that might barely outrun them is a dude with two masterwork scout legs.)
9. Not all machines are made recruit-able. There are recruitable versions scattered throughout the world for you to find, provided they are going to be rubbish, you have been warned. (To make it easier on you check out: the hub, black desert city, obedience, world’s end, black scratch, and a certain reprogramming facility.)
10. The body model for the ironsides is provided by the BACKPACK the creature is wearing at the time. So you can switch them out to change the look and characteristics of your machine. (Yes unfortunately this does bork the portrait.)
11. There are 13 different types of bodies in the world for you to find and collect. They can sometimes be bought from limb merchants, but by far the simplest method is to go out into to world to find and kill hostile versions.
12. Yes, there are 13 very hostile and angry versions that can be encountered in your travels. You can find them any place that has Security Spiders in the base game. (Ancient Labs hold the most dangerous ones with the best gear.)
13. 2 of those 13 are very difficult to kill and I hope for your sake you are prepared when you meet them.
14. There is a new start called ‘Old ironsides’ that starts you off with an extra-large death machine called ‘old ironsides’. (Don’t you dare rename old ironsides!)
15. Making animations for kenshi is ruthlessly difficult due to the quazi-physics so there will be a small amount of jank that just can’t be buffed out. I spent almost a 200 hours over the span of 7 months in blender making the animations and getting them to work via trial and error. Like this was no joke so don’t think this was a 15 minute mod job.
16. The unique ironsides use a different armature than the normal ones. So you cant swap a frame from a sword wielding one over onto a wristblade one or vice versa,
17. Dialogue for player animals is BROKEN. THIS IS A KENSHI BASEGAME GAME LIMITATION. I tried so damn hard to get it working but it just could not. Animal dialogue breaks 100% every single time after a reload. A kick to the nuts but it cant be helped.
Body types: (There are Rusted and Restored versions of each, except the V-one. Noone likes the V-one)
V-One: The old and crappy ones you will find crawling all around the place. Unfortunately all the recrutable ones are of this variety and will need some time and effort spent to rebuild them and train them up.
V-Two: The slightly stronger and more durable cousin to the V-One. Has 2 arms. Brilliant.
V-Two Hauler: Some mad lad cut off the stovepipe and added a big ass bag. Can now smuggle hash. Very good.
I-One: Just a V-two that has been hitting the gym. Remember bros, don’t forget abs day. Not brilliant.
I-Two: You know getting smacked in the face sucks. So remember, always wear your hockey mask. Amazing.
I-Three: What do you get when you start making a warhammer 40k 3d printable real world scale contemptor dreadnaught model and it just spirals out of control? This. . . this is what happens.
H-two: What is better than a death machine with blades for arms? A death machine with blades for arms and a full sized weapons safe on its back. Why yes I am crazy thanks for asking. (Yes there was an H-one at one point but the model was so cursed I burned it from the records.)
Unique ironsides:
Kenji: Can be found in black desert city.
Zagan: can be found in squin.
Deimos: at the top of narko’s trap, is intially hostile but can be captured and repaired.
Marbas: guards cat-lon, not recruit-able.
Closing statements:
I’d just like to directly thank
• Atlas over at the genesis modding guild for hosting and surviving my shenanigans in making this mod.
• Treadlightly for the dialogue sorcery he made specifically for this mod,
• And last but not least HugoTheDwarf for sheer number of times I bothered him.
Without these absolute legends this crazy mod would most likely never have seen the light of day.
Unfortunately this is where I need to get a bit somber. I am a Masters student living in South Africa. Bad news is the country almost fell apart recently, delaying this mod by about two weeks. After this latest crapfest I have started to put plans into motion to immigrate as soon as possible. If you like my mod, and pity me enough, I’d be more than grateful for any donations you can give, so that I don’t need to go get a part time in a minimum wage sweat shop job instead of making mods for kenshi. Thanks in advance for anything you can spare:
https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=TV2DZM2DDAYXL
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
