Comments - Sprouto

The version on the mod itself (6.x) and the version on the updater/launcher (5.8.2) are entirely separate things.

Absolutely - all the mods packaged with LOUD have been specifically balanced and curated for full use - and - more importantly - the AI understands all of them.

Many years ago, those directing FAF dismissed LOUD as 'snake oil' and 'impossible' since if they couldn't improve performance, then nobody could.

I determined then that I had no choice but to go my own way - and gladly I did. Almost 100k downloads later, I would say I must have made a point.

Years later, FAF is following suit to take advantage of the concepts I promoted in LOUD. However, the insistence upon maintaining their specific meta, with regards to any kind of explicable unit balance, prevents the AI portion of the LOUD Project from actually being workable within that context. While the AI itself would function, it wouldn't be able to make any sense of the values in play - and thus would be but a shell of itself.

No, LOUD and FAF represent two ends of the same market, one really caters to a very specific PvP audience and has mostly ignored and/or dismissed the PvE audience. LOUD, on the other hand, caters primarily to the co-op, solo and PvE enthusiasts, who want to experience the large game format, and have a credible opponent while doing so, while enjoying decent performance doing it.

It's only been the last couple of years that some serious effort has gone into the AI for FAF, and while there has been some real progress - it's still tied to the accepted FAF unit meta. This makes it almost impossible to create a dynamic AI that can adapt itself to a situation.

I confer with those AI devs on a regular basis, and we discuss various aspects quite often, and with the changeover in FAF leadership, a few years back, I have a friendship with the lead developer who is moving the performance aspects ahead for FAF - so, all good in the end.

Those units are not in conflict - they are substantially different. Look more closely.

While both units are indeed Stealth Field generators, the Deviator goes a bit further - the Sensor Disruption Array actually reduces enemy intel ranges.

In contrast, the Operative only does the standard stealth field BUT it's amphibious - which the Deviator is not.

The is a good example of the kind of diversity we strive to achieve with all the unit mods in LOUD. Yes - at first glance, it may appear they are much the same, but trust me, in 99% of the cases - they're not.

The URL messages indicate that our map server is down. That's one problem we can solve very quickly.

The second problem, bad passive host/port combination, indicates that your connection is likely blocking FTP connections - quite typical if you're on a wireless connection.

You can obtain all the files for LOUD from our OneDrive link (in the Help tab) or a complete ZIP of the LOUD folder from this link Eu.theloudproject.org

I imagine so - it's a simple blueprint modification mod.

We did remove a number of audio effects to improve overall performance, especially ambient sounds. As sound effects and the triggering of them is handled by the SIM thread, minimizing the number of events actually has a measurable impact, especially in those moments when there are many hundreds of such events happening.

Template rotation is available via the middle mouse button.

Try this link - we have a full zip of all the LOUD files
Eu.theloudproject.org

One of the things we did, to improve available memory - was to remove all the campaign components. Since the campaign has no AI component (it's all scripted), LOUD has no impact on it. Since you must have the base game in order to play, having the campaign there, and not in LOUD - is a sensible choice.

I don't know if you're aware - but we've already included many mods with the game. The biggest complaint from our users - too many units, with similar roles and capability. We've carefully curated those - but please, check the Mod Manager.

One of the biggest mistakes made is that people turn on the 'External Mods' option, in the launcher. This will corrupt any mod that has the same name and file structure of one that's already included in LOUD - that includes, Black Ops, Total Mayhem, 4th Dimension, Wyvern Battle Pack and certain others. This is likely why you're encountering this issue - if you turn off the External Mods switch, in the launcher, you'll find that the included versions of those mods work 100% as advertised in LOUD.

Antares, and Orbital Wars, we have reviewed multiple times in the past, for inclusion with LOUD, but either they are too invasive (trying to do things to the general game code that they aren't advertising) or they're trying to use the ORBITAL layer of the game, which is unfinished and only partially functional.

As for Blue Navy, parts of that mod are already part and parcel of LOUD.

I am very happy to diagnose your particular issues, please, join our Discord, and using the launcher, locate the game log (LOUD.LOG) and drag it onto our bug-reports channel, where I can diagnose it immediately. Always glad to help.

All 3 of these mods are very simple blueprint mods - and as such, they work, without modification - they should not have any AI ramifications, unless they've been modified beyond the original scope.

If you are getting an error, we'd need to see your game log to pinpoint what it might be, but it should not be these.

I will comment upon these mods however, they may cause severe side effects upon the gameplay - especially the Build Rate x10 mod, which will cause jamming issues at the factories when they build units so quickly they cannot leave the factory area before the next unit is produced (especially things like scouts).

The best way to get assistance with this is to join our Discord, and submit your game.log (the launcher will help you locate it) to our #bug-reports channel, where I can review it directly.

I'd be happy to review it, but I'd need a link to the mod.

The original game has support for multiple languages - LOUD should be using those language files, but - I cannot tell you how to change the language setting.

We currently have someone working on some translations for things not found in the base game - I'm hoping to update that subject soon.

By all means - if you have any questions, or comments, good or bad, please, join our Discord (the link is right on the front panel of our downloader/launcher/updater - we're happy to help in any way we can.

Actually, there's also a link to a ZIP file of the full download - Eu.theloudproject.org

The first thing that comes to mind is this - did you create a new user profile when you first played LOUD ? Why - between the original game, FAF and LOUD, the user profile contains many options very specific to each of those versions - and restrictions are one of them. A new profile, that you use only for LOUD - should clear that up.

If you need any help, don't hesitate to join our Discord (the link to us is right on the front of the launcher) and you can ask me directly, and/or exchange your log and replay files so that I can give you a detailed diagnosis.

That's most likely because the AI, in the vanilla game, has a cheat that allows it to see the entire map - all the time.

LOUD has been built, from the ground up, to need the same intel gathering process as human players.

The campaign is entirely scripted - not AI, so LOUD won't help in any way. We opted to remove all the code and data used by the campaign modules.

Everything about LOUD is in the LOUD folder - and none of it interferes with your use of the vanilla game. Uninstalling it is as easy as deleting that folder.

I assume your vanilla game starts up - if it does not - have Steam verify your files. If it does - but it's not showing any maps, then you are trying to use your LOUD profile with the vanilla game - easy fix, just create a new profile (MAIN MENU at the top).

Vanilla, LOUD and FAF all require unique and separate profiles to operate properly.

We have examined Xtreme Wars several times over the years and the basic answer is 'no'. The mod is simply too invasive (which is why it's not working) and tries to mess with game mechanics beyond the scope of a simple unit mod.

As for the unit themselves - some of them may find a role within LOUD, but that would typically be on a case by case basis - the best place to have that discussion ? On our Discord, where we can not only discuss the ability of these units, but see some images. Good looking models are always welcome.

LOUD already optimizes the command queue, provided you have the cheats turned on in the lobby as you set up your game. This is a much better explanation of what you are experiencing, and it's simply related to having too many units - and more importantly, too many units bumping into each other.

One thing you should know is that engineer spam is inefficient in LOUD, if you want to increase output, build another factory - as they have twice the build power in LOUD, as they do in the original game - and the engineers are also more expensive. The other advantage is adjacency - engineers don't get any - and if you use them to assist something that is getting an adjacency bonus, you actually end up diluting the adjacency.

We've got a fix, in our update cycle, for the next patch. As for the relationship between the engineers, and these units not moving - I can't say we've ever seen that. If possible, please, join our Discord, and submit a replay file where this happens - we'll investigate it quickly.

All is fine - except the mechanic that governs not allowing others to fire at an incoming nuke, while another is firing at it. The problem revolves around the firing mechanics of the mobile anti-nukes, when they don't have enough missiles to actually knock a nuke down.

It's on our list of things to follow up on.

Nomads is entirely unfinished and missing all manner of functionality that the AI would sorely miss. Therefore it's not a project we would take on ourselves.

If someone wants to adapt Nomads, for LOUD, we'd be glad to assist in that effort.

We have examined Total Veterancy several times at the request of our users. Unfortunately, it's simply too invasive, and the performance hit far too severe to be considered as something we would adapt for LOUD. Aside from that, the mod also is making changes beyond it's advertised scope, with blueprint and gameplay changes that are not part of the stated package.

The mod can be adapted for LOUD - but it's not something we're likely to do ourselves.

Freezing - or outright crashing ?

Ideally - if you can join our Discord and post your game.log file - and/or a replay - I can diagnose this directly. The Discord link is right on the front of the launcher - and the launcher will also help you locate the replay and the game log files.

That does sound like an issue - perhaps you could submit your game log via our Discord - and I can narrow down the issue. The LOUD launcher has a link, to our Discord, right on the front panel - the launcher itself, will help you locate your game log, and/or the replay file - and I can directly diagnose this for you.

My apologies - Nukes and nuke defense still appear at the T3 tier - but - they require a SACU to build or a T4 ACU. This change addresses the 'nuke rush' and pushes the entire nuke spectrum out to a later stage of the game - most welcome for those players who want the time to experience the full game.

I don't really know anything about the capabilities of the Steam Deck, but I'm aware it doesn't run Windows, which explains why the launcher doesn't work. However....

All that's really needed is the LOUD folder (and it's contents), to be in the right place, and the necessary command line to launch it. It should be absolutely possible.

I'm not, myself, proficient with other OS, but we have some people you can contact, on our Discord, who might have some interest in solving this.

The best response, join our Discord, and submit a replay of a game with the problem - we can diagnose it accurately from there. Once you've joined the Discord, use the launcher to locate your replay folder, LOUD saves a replay of every game - just drag the appropriate file onto our bug-reports channel, and I'll take it from there.