[Kindo]

[Version 1.6e is available for download on the Nexus, and is fully compatible with game version 3.2. Link]

Greetings,

The CEO project is something I've been working on for quite some time now, and after the release of the 1.3 patch, I could incorporate some of the final changes I had planned while making it compatible with the latest game version, finally allowing me to release the 1.0 version of the mod. It can be found on The Witcher Nexus.

What it does is to completely re-balance every piece of equipment in the game, to create a more even and logical progression in terms of both damage and defence, throughout the game. Many agree with me that one thing that could have been done better in the vanilla version of the game, is the itemization and general gear progression. Soon after you had reached the second chapter, and especially once you entered Chapter 3, Geralt started feeling more like a demi-god of sorts, than a witcher. The challenge rating went out the window, and pretty much the entire second half of the game offers very little in terms of difficulty even if you play it on Hard or Insane. Normally, a game would off-set this by better scale the opposition; gradually adding much tougher enemies, that would match the power of your weapons and armour, but there's very little of this going on in TW2. The easiest and most plausible solution I could think of, once I started looking into modding the game, was to overhaul the equipment, making swords and armour much less powerful, while still offering visible improvement. This was the top priority in making this mod.

The second priority was to add more character to all the equipment. After having played the game through a couple of times, I started noticing how so much of the items you find either awkwardly overlap with one another, or in other cases are rendered utterly useless, because of another upgrade you had received several hours ago. Rather than plainly making equipment stronger as you progress, I also wanted each sword and armour you find to feel special, in some way; even unique, if possible. So not only have I lowered the damage output of the swords, and the armour and resistance values of the armours, I have also more or less completely redesigned them from the ground up, in order to make each item stand out in one way or another (to either a lesser or a greater extent). When I find a hidden, uniquely-named sword in some catacombs somewhere, I want it to feel special. The goal was to make the choice between which weapon or armour to equip, be more about each player's personal preference, rather than what's more powerful or not. Like I said, there's still progression in numbers throughout the story, but I've done it in a way to make it to a much lesser extent be about equipping something simply because it adds another 10 to your damage, and more about what you find interesting and fun to use.

More details can be found on the mod page, of course, as I've tried to explain my philosophy behind it all, complete with examples and what not. The mod has been generally well-received, and while it obviously won't be to everyone's liking, I hope it might entice at least some of you here to at least give it a try. Using this mod myself, I have found it to greatly enhance my experience when playing TW2. Making it more dynamic and fun, above all.

[DelightfulMcCoy]

Great mod! Gotta be a reason it's high up in the Nexus Top 100.

Liking the CEO so far, great diversity in items, I especially like the new armor enhancements. And runes! I don't know if you changed it some more since the original release for patch 1.3 - did you get around to do something about the sword enhancements? Since they borked the mutagens with the latest patch, I found your tweaks to lead to almost no mutagen drops at all, did you look into that?

Overall, definite recommendation to use this mod for any playthrough but the first.

[Kindo]

DelightfulMcCoy said:

Great mod! Gotta be a reason it's high up in the Nexus Top 100.

Liking the CEO so far, great diversity in items, I especially like the new armor enhancements. And runes! I don't know if you changed it some more since the original release for patch 1.3 - did you get around to do something about the sword enhancements? Since they borked the mutagens with the latest patch, I found your tweaks to lead to almost no mutagen drops at all, did you look into that?

Overall, definite recommendation to use this mod for any playthrough but the first. ›››

Thanks! : )

Since you had an early version of the latest release, you won't notice much of a difference if you download it again; the major changes were already in place, and the compatibility had been handled, as far as I recall.

Yeah, I don't think the mod 'broke' the mutagen drops - judging from a lot of feedback all over the place, it seems the 1.3 patch changed the drop rates more radically than anyone had expected. Minor enemies apparently have an extremely low chance of dropping anything higher than the Lesser kind, and since those have been removed with CEO, it's no surprise you don't see any drops. No-one would use them for anything but selling them anyway; without some way of upgrading them within the game, they're fairly useless. (One reason I've been meaning to get in touch with the author of the Mutagenology mod, see if I can either respectfully steal his work, or work out some sort of compatibility collaboration.) I ran tests, actually. Killed around 100 Nekkers in the cave outside Flotsam, once with CEO installed, and once without. With CEO, no mutagens ever dropped (as you had reported), and without CEO, I received almost 20 Lesser ones, not a single normal or Major. While this isn't entirely conclusive, of course, it just seems getting high-end mutagens is incredibly difficult in 1.3, but since CEO only uses the normal ones, you should receive a few more throughout the game. In theory, of course - I haven't had the chance to replay the game in a couple of weeks.

The sword enhancements are on my to do-list. Other things have kept me preoccupied lately, but once I get back into it, it will be the first thing I'll take care of. ; )

[Anarki_Hunter]

-Empty-

[Mariusmssj]

i am really interested in this mod, so to install it you just copy the CEO.dzip file in The Witcher 2\CookedPC\ directory ?
and if you don't like it just remove the file?

[DelightfulMcCoy]

Mariusmssj said:

i am really interested in this mod, so to install it you just copy the CEO.dzip file in The Witcher 2\CookedPC\ directory ?
and if you don't like it just remove the file?

Exactly.
Unless you have other mods that might change the same .xml files than CEO, in that case you want to download the unpacked version and check the file names and merge if necessary.

[Jjiinx]

can't wait for this to support 2.0

[Kindo]

Jjiinx said:

can't wait for this to support 2.0 ›››

Ah, thank you for the show of interest.

Updating CEO to be compatible with 2.0 is going to take some time. I've been scanning through the new core files, making mental notes of things that need to be done, and while a few files are already working without any issues, others require much (much!) more attention. When I find the time and energy to work on it, I will, but don't expect a new release any time soon.

[janejswt]

so it won't work on 2.0 version at all? I got really excited for this

[Kindo]

janejswt said:

so it won't work on 2.0 version at all? I got really excited for this ›››

I didn't say that. I mean that it is going to take some work to get CEO compatible, and I can't say at this time when I'll have the time to do that. I definitely intend to update (and revise) CEO, however. It's my little baby, after all.

[meard420]

Updating CEO to be congruous with 2.0 is leaving to affirm many period. I've been scanning through the new set files, making lineament notes of things that penury to be done, and while a few files are already employed without any issues, others expect such (much!) more work. When I hear the measure and vigour to utilise on it, I faculty, but don't wait a new achievement any minute presently.







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[xandman]

what exactly doesn't work with 2.0? i mean if the only armour thats changed with 2.0 is the dark armour then it should still work as long as you stay away from dark mode right? or is anything else broken? when i install the mod it does still seem to alter the armour's stats accordingly.

[DelightfulMcCoy]

xandman said:

what exactly doesn't work with 2.0? i mean if the only armour thats changed with 2.0 is the dark armour then it should still work as long as you stay away from dark mode right? or is anything else broken? when i install the mod it does still seem to alter the armour's stats accordingly.

The old version still works with 2.0 - but any new item or stat won't appear in the game, when you overwrite the corresponding .xml file with an older one that does not yet contain the item. This means that Kindo has to unpack the new pack0.dzip and compare every of his modified files with the new ones and incorporate his changes. And probably think of modifying some of the new items as well, to retain the level of his overhaul. The various difficulty levels don't have their own .xml files each, so every modification affect all modes.

Theoretically, if you don't play Dark, you could just use the older version. But there are a couple other new items that don't seem to be Dark Mode only, so you would not get to see them.

[xandman]

DelightfulMcCoy said:

The old version still works with 2.0 - but any new item or stat won't appear in the game, when you overwrite the corresponding .xml file with an older one that does not yet contain the item. This means that Kindo has to unpack the new pack0.dzip and compare every of his modified files with the new ones and incorporate his changes. And probably think of modifying some of the new items as well, to retain the level of his overhaul. The various difficulty levels don't have their own .xml files each, so every modification affect all modes.

Theoretically, if you don't play Dark, you could just use the older version. But there are a couple other new items that don't seem to be Dark Mode only, so you would not get to see them. ›››

cool, thanks, any idea what the items are that are new outside of dark mode? if they dont appear with the mod installed anyway then it cant imbalence things so i guess thats good! i can see a few new items listed on wiki that are in the tutorial only and thats about it. im about half way through act 1 and the mod is working well on 2.0 on hard. i have a use for the trophies other than the kayran 1, and am using an additional weapon in my steel slot! varies things up nicely.

also i guess that means the dark armor wont appear in dark mode with the mod installed so you could play dark just for the extra difficulty i guess.

[Kindo]

I am sitting here, working on the new version of CEO, right now. Like I've said before, it's not done in five minutes, but I've also started to incorporate new things into the mod, so it will take a while longer. If I'm staying as productive as I feel now, for the rest of the night, you might see a release up tomorrow. Otherwise, I can only urge patience.

[Jjiinx]

Kindo said:

I am sitting here, working on the new version of CEO, right now. Like I've said before, it's not done in five minutes, but I've also started to incorporate new things into the mod, so it will take a while longer. If I'm staying as productive as I feel now, for the rest of the night, you might see a release up tomorrow. Otherwise, I can only urge patience. ›››

omg can't wait!

[Kindo]

Jjiinx said:

omg can't wait! ›››

By all calculations, it should be completed later today. Some things took a lot longer than expected, and while I only have one more file to go through, it is by far the largest one. Anyway, it should be done today at some point, and then I'll just need a some time for initial testing to make sure it runs.

[Kindo]

The new version has now been uploaded to the Nexus. Link

Quote

v1.1 "Expanding the Overhaul"
=============================
• CEO now includes balance changes made to bombs, daggers, oils, potions, and traps; both minor and less minor tweaks.
• Added entries and tweaked the stats - where needed - for the new Dark- and Tutorial-specific items.(2.0 compatibility fix.)
• Added entry for the merchant in the Arena. (2.0 compatibility fix.)
• Added the Whetstone to the Mysterious Merchant; since it's a DLC item, it belongs there.
• Changed Moon Rune and Sun Rune to add a flat damage bonus to signs, rather than a percentage, making them more useful at lower levels.
• Changed the damage bonus to signs, on all relevant swords, to add a flat damage bonus rather than a percentage, making them more useful at lower levels, and will properly stack with runes.
• Formulae now have 0 weight, to match a previous change made to diagrams.
• Daggers now have a chance to cause bleed; silver daggers also have a chance to incinerate.
• Sting (dagger) now has a chance to stun, rather than to freeze.
• The merchants who carry daggers have had their stock tweaked for balance.
• Bombs now cause less direct damage, while retaining their high critical effects values. The only bomb that focuses on direct damage is the Grapeshot.
• The default price of bombs has been raised all around.
• Traps now cause less direct damage, while retaining their high critical effects values.
• The default price of traps has been raised all around.
• Potions have had their values somewhat tweaked; mainly the toxicity ratings have been altered. (Further revision most likely needed in future updates.)
• Potions have had their default durations doubled. This means they last 20 minutes, except for Cat which lasts 10 minutes. Quest-unique potions unchanged.
• The default price of potions has been raised all around.
• Newboy's Talisman now also reduces poison resistance.
• Melitele's Heart now also increases vitality regeneration (non-combat), endurance regeneration (non-combat), and poison resistance.
• Various tweaks made to several weapons, and some armours.

[xandman]

awesome thanks for the update, i installed better combat mod as recommended with this and i got a problem with navigating the talent trees with the xbox controller, in the sense it doesnt work, sent the author a message and playing ceo with nerfed skill trees in the meantime

[Kindo]

xandman said:

awesome thanks for the update, i installed better combat mod as recommended with this and i got a problem with navigating the talent trees with the xbox controller, in the sense it doesnt work, sent the author a message and playing ceo with nerfed skill trees in the meantime ›››

Better Combat is out of date - the author hasn't added a comment or answered any messages in a long time. (Thanks for the reminder to remove this part from CEO's description.) Nerfed Skilltrees is a good idea, and I'm also planning to - down the road - possibly look into making balancing tweaks to enemies, skills, and talents, as well, as a separate companion mod for CEO. Or something. : P