@Surf Solar
Thanks. I listened to some of the "What Remains" music some time ago (and still have them stored); though I don't remember the specific titles I thought some of the pieces were very good both intrinsically as well as for FO/FO2 projects. In this case though by "suitably martial," I meant something like "What would we hear if
John Phillips Sousa wrote a score for the latest
Jerry Bruckheimer mega-blockbuster?" For now, most of my recommendations were reminiscent of
stuff associated with this. Key elements to me in this context are recurring tension and rather epic orchestral arrangements including a sonorous theme.
@all
I finished my latest playthrough and corrected a few problems reported by others, so I'll assemble the files and have an updated version 1.1 of Fallout Tactics Redux available within a week. Since everything seems to be working as I intended for now, though of course I will maintan interest in the materials going forward I won't be actively working on Redux for some time. Therefore if any players have found any problems in the mod, please report such promptly so I can consider revisions to include in the updated version.
The updated version 1.1 material will consist of minor changes and refinements here and there, with no new major innovations. I didn't keep a log of every little thing, but from memory examples of included updates are:
--Bugfixes: Further changes to a number of text files to correct spelling and grammar errors.
--Bugfixes: Fixed "Combat Knife" entity that called for an invalid animation and thus was not usable by characters.
--Enhanced Play: Modified inventories of Special Encounter "Trader" merchants to be slightly more relevant in the early portions of the game.
--Bugfixes: Changed the portrait of "Cypher the Informant," as the portrait seen in Mission 2 did not match the portrait used when later meeting Cypher in the BOS Bunker.
--Enhanced Play: In Mission 8 (Springfield), I added a prostitute character; her dialogue was already written, but I forgot to include her last time when adding the other marketplace vendors. I also added two new minefields to hinder the player who may try to sneak into various Raider fortifications. Finally, the Raider sniper in the belltower will now hopefully prefer to use his 14mm sniper rifle against the player-characters (though some randomness is involved, so maybe not) as he was previously carrying the wrong type of ammunition.
--Bugfixes: In Mission 23 (Scott City) I fixed the turret control switch (again), the stubborn "secret underground footlocker" that would never open (again), and General Dekker's incorrect comment in his spoken sound file that the exit grids are available after finding General Barnaky. On the matter of the turrets by Kerr's door, these now become inactive after using the switch in the room below but they will reactivate and defend themselves if directly attacked-- so watch your aim with that Gauss minigun, Brother. Several suspicious robot entities were also deleted and replaced with fresh versions. Having played the game many times, I've always noted an unusual number of CTDs during this mission. After deleting the suspicious entities found in the original game and playing the map three times to test the other fixes mentioned, I didn't have any CTDs on the last play-- so hopefully Mission 23 is permanently improved in a profound way. Though not really a bugfix, I also added some scenery to the large empty room in the northwest corner of the rooftop lab area.
--Bugfixes: Destroying Generator 2 in Jefferson should now correctly disable several nearby security turrets. My previous fix attempt didn't work, but I didn't test this new attempt as I'm sick of playing that mission and can't try it again for at least three or four years.
Nonetheless, one more option remains to be tried if this latest fix attempt still doesn't work-- so comments are welcome.
--Narrowed down Special Encounters still susceptible to "Exit Grids not working on second or later visit" bug to Brothers Grimm, Komodo Man, CPF vs PFC, and Phil. Though yet another different approach is now tried with these four maps to banish the bug forever, some randomness may be involved and players who for some reason want to revisit any of these four encounters are encouraged to save the game before entering these maps.
--A few trivial bugfixes here and there I've already forgotten that wouldn't merit individual mention anyway (for example, the elevator control in Mission 25 now displays the correct text all the time instead of only 2 out of 3 times if the generators have not yet been repaired, the player can now take any already-owned vehicle into the Osceolla map, the box is fixed in Mission 1 that was supposed to say "Fallout Tactics Redux version X" rather than "BOS Starting Equipment," and so forth).
--Enhanced Play: Added a few new portrait options for custom main player-characters.
Some things notably not changed will be:
--I looked at the Reaver Elders in Newton (particularly the Ambassador) to see why their character record screens show odd values (for example, -1 skill points available) but couldn't find the underlying cause of the problem at this time.
--Random encounters still occur with considerable frequency in the final part of the game due to the cumulative way the engine activates encounter sets. However, no incremental steps remain to be tried on this matter-- the encounter chances are at the minimum settings, and to decrease them any further would quite literally remove
all random encounters from the game. I think the encounters that do remain in the later game are fairly fun (particularly the one with five Pacification Bots plus a horde of Humanoid and Security bots), so I'm reluctant to go further on the matter at this time.
--Damage values for regular explosive-type weapons (land mines, rockets) are very high against most enemies (humans, mutants) but not high enough against robots. Until I can think of a better way to achieve a middle ground for mundane explosive damage against all enemies, I'm leaving this category alone.
--Most of the recruitable ghouls have the "Fear the Reaper" trait, and half of them have the "Glowing One" trait. Initially I left these alone because I thought perhaps those who select a ghoul team might enjoy such, but who knows? If anyone is fond of using ghoul soldiers, what would you like to see in a ghoul recruit?
Some new ideas I seriously considered but left unchanged were:
--In Mission 24 (Cheyenne Mountain), the player-characters go to considerable trouble and place themselves in extreme peril to detonate a nuclear bomb, because this is "THE ONLY way to get into Vault Zero." Yet moments later when the player's team arrives at Mission 25 (Vault Zero), we find Dagger Squad is not only already inside the Vault, but that they've apparently been there for some time and are lounging around drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. Hmm. The problem is that if Dagger Squad is removed, the player is denied a final opportunity to barter for essential supplies he may have forgotten to bring along. If someone has a good idea to address this issue, I'm all ears (or, eyes, or whatever).
--I certaintly don't want to waste time stirring up pointless controversy, but I think the question ought be asked: Should Roshambo get the last laugh in Osceolla? On a personal level I was never fond of the actual Roshambo-- years ago, this was quite directly why I never made an account to post at NMA; however I genuinely do have tremendous respect for the years of service he and his iconic deathclaw gave this community. Microforte's inclusion of a very petty (yet highly visible, apparently to prove they were quite serious) joke at Roshambo's expense further demonstrates how very disconnected from reality and from their likely audience those chaps really were. History has clearly shown the critics were right and Microforte was wrong-- about everything. On the other hand, do those playing the game these days even have any awareness of the larger issues to which I'm referring? If not, then perhaps we should continue to allow sleeping dogs their slumber. Or perhaps this bit of the game should be left unchanged as a metaphorical
"Remember the Alamo" moment?
Endocore
, and thanks for the info. In the future, if anyone would like to build on my material and make some brand-spanking new missions I think the recruit tagname resolution will in particular be invaluable. I share your reluctance to redistribute exe files, even though in the case of FOT my reading of the Editor EULA implies this may in fact be a legitmate use. However, such practices often create considerable confusion for would-be players (traditionally, this is exactly why I was never enthusiastic about the TeamX FO1 materials-- every single iteration contains a different and absolutely undocumented exectuable). For these reasons FT Improver is a great idea and a good program (which would be even better if as you mentioned it incorporated the options you've uncovered) which I would have included with Redux if I had pursued a slightly different course of changes to the game. 
