Version 3 Changes feature - GC2 Reversal Mod for Ground Control II: Operation Exodus

Graphical Changes - UI

• The Terran UI has been completely remade and cleaned up, and now has the proper transparency effects.
• The minimap zoom button in the Slim GUI has been moved to its proper place.
• A few of the worst-looking unit icons have been remade along with the icon for super-heavy tank armor.
• The Terran and Viron campaign pictures in Reversal mode have been changed.
• Text in the menus and campaign screen should now properly show in other languages. The dropship upgrades and unit descriptions are still unavoidably in English only.

Graphical Changes - Units

• Destroyer Hoverdynes will now shoot from their pintle mount in secondary mode as was originally intended.
• Combat Striders will now launch smoke from the smoke launchers as was originally intended.
• NSA Assault APCs and Liberator Tanks, as well as all Terran vehicles with animated tank commanders have had these animations enabled.
• The Veteran Legionnaire now uses its own unique skin texture.
• The textures on the Dragon Legionnaire and Terran tanks (which were upgraded in previous versions) have been done again from scratch to fix display errors.
• The Dragon Legionnaire now properly aims its weapon when firing.
• The Centurion Hoverdyne's flag is no longer blank.
• The Antiinfantry cannon turrets in Reversal singleplayer now have an appropriate muzzle flash and icon.
• The Terrans now have their own deployable radar model, meaning it doesn't share a texture with the NSA one in the campaign or Reviron mode anymore.
• Deployable radars and the shield generator now stop animating when in secondary (transportable) mode.
• The Terran version of the Transport Helidyne has been retexured again and had its shield effects in secondary mode updated.
• The Viron version of the heavy turret now has its own texture.

New Visual Effects

• All previously missing particle effects on Terran units have been added in, most notably when the units are being repaired.
• The Viron Thumper and Vindicator tanks now have particle effects for their secondary modes as well.
• Various display errors (mostly muzzle flashes) on some Terran and Viron units have been corrected.
• Veteran Legionnaires now have a custom bullet effect much more similar to that of the NSA sniper effects.
• The Destroyer, Vanquisher and Conqueror Hoverdyne now have their own unique cannon effects.
• The Imperial Dropship's level 4 and 5 weapons will properly use the new effects as well.
• The Pulverizer and Imperial Anti-Tank turrets now have improved cannon effects.
• The Battle Scanner support power in Reversal now has a more Terran appearance.
• The Viral Spore Cloud support power in Reviron will appear as a Terran incendiary strike instead.
• Numerous area effect visuals - such as the Combat Engineer's secondary mode - have been adjusted to be closer to the actual effect size.
• The number of particles emitted when a unit is being repaired has been reduced.
• New cannon effects have been added for the Shrike-5 heavy turret and its variants.
• Viron Assault Pods in Reviron mode now have a new Terran model and effects for multiplayer, where they deploy Legionnaires instead of Clanguards.

AI Changes

• The Skirmish AI profiles have been rearranged in the dropdown menu so that the new, custom profiles and faction-specific ones are at the top and easier to find.
• There are now two faction-specific AIs per mode and they have been named in keeping with the menu's theme.
• An additional standard AI profile has been added in.
• Viron AIs in the campaign should now be able to properly select melded units to bring into battle (Whether they bother use them or not is another question).
• Some of the secondary mode unit improvements made to the skirmish AI have been applied to the campaign AI as well.

Gameplay Changes

• The maintenance system has been given another complete overhaul. It is now much more gradual, changing in increments of 10% rather than 25% as in the original game.
• The mod now has support for any custom maps that use the incorrect units file: Previously these maps would show the campaign units which would lead to Terran units being available to Viron when in Reversal mode, or the factions being reset to their original status in Reviron mode. As of Version 3 the campaign missions have their own unit files so there should no longer be issues with any of the custom maps.
• The dropship files have also been separated in the same manner. This means that in Reviron mode the campaign Virons will have their own dropship again without causing changes to the Terran one in multiplayer.
• The damage type modifiers have also been given another balancing overhaul.
• Most notably, super-heavy tank armor now takes significantly more damage from antitank weapons, although it remains more resistant to other damage types than regular tank armor.
• Dropship upgrade costs have been adjusted, in particular the less useful upgrades (i.e. sensors) have been made much more affordable.
• Unit stealth values, as well as vision and detection range on all units have been rebalanced. Infantry should be a little less exposed in the open now, although they remain just as fragile once discovered.
• Overall damage output on all factions' tanks have been rebalanced to be more in line with their values. Of these the Virons have changed the least, as they were pretty much spot on for balance.
• NSA light infantry have had their damage per shot increased from 4 to 6, but retain the same overall damage output (Read: DPS) as they fire less often. This was to correct an issue where their minimum damage was too low to affect certain infantry taking cover in buildings or when playing the campaign on hard.
• Heavy turrets (Both the static and deployable versions) have had their health reverted to their original values and their frontal armor increased. This was to address problems in the campaign where they wouldn't deactivate properly.
• The cost of deployable heavy turrets is now more in line with their value.
• The Assault APC, Viron Engineer vehicle and Corruptor APC have had their weapons' range increased by 20 to 30 units.
• The NSA now has access to the Recon Helidyne, previously only seen in promotional screenshots and hidden away in the game's data files where it sat unused. It has a light weapon with good speed and sight range. An ideal unit for scouting and harassing infantry or vehicles.
• The NSA Light Helidyne has had its sight range reduced to be in line with other combat helidynes.
• Imperial Howitzers are now slightly more accurate, although the adjustments to their secondary mode make them less effective at overwhelming defensive shields on their own. Overall damage output remains unchanged.
• Liberator Terradynes and Destroyer Hoverdynes will now only target infantry in their secondary modes. This should prevent cases where they might automatically shoot at a nearby vehicle rather than the infantry you intended them to.
• Recon Terradynes and Light Helidynes are now slightly more effective at dealing damage.
• Some units' weapons - particularly the Surveillance Helidyne and Recon Terradyne - have had their projectile speed increased to make them a bit more accurate at long range.
• Thumper Centruroids and Fighter Helidynes now move slightly faster.
• Viron Engineers and Fighter Helidynes still regenerate the same amount in their secondary modes, but now do so in smaller and more frequent increments.
• Screamer Helidynes now deal small arms damage instead of anti-infantry, making them much more effective against vehicles and slightly more effective against tanks and buildings.
• Numerous other, minor changes have been made across the board. Many units have received cost adjustments in particular.

Unit Secondary Mode Changes

A number of Terran units have had their primary and/or secondary modes changed to better fit their design philosophies. Some Viron secondary modes have also been changed to make them just plain more useful.

• The Missile Strider's secondary mode is now an inaccurate, medium-range rocket barrage. Good for indirect saturation fire against infantry or to overwhelm defensive shields so that heavier projectiles can get through.
• The Light Hoverdyne's primary mode is now less powerful but longer ranged, better suited to its role as a skirmisher and not unlike the Recon Terradyne.
• The Light Hoverdyne's secondary mode reduces the range of its weapon but increases the rate of fire and still allows the vehicle to move around, albeit a bit more slowly.
• This same reduced range, increased firing speed secondary has been given to the Conqueror Hoverdyne, which also loses its defensive shield in that mode.
• The Engineer Hoverdyne loses its area effect heal in secondary mode, instead doubling its single-target healing ability but still requiring it to be stationary. The turret gun does not fire in secondary mode either.
• The Vanquisher Hoverdyne now has longer range in primary mode, with its secondary mode being changed into a powerful single shot that takes a long time to reload.
• Missile Clanguards now fire an explosive rocket in secondary mode. The torment (damage increasing) effect has been removed, but it is now useful against infantry (especially when they're grouped together).
• Mortar Centruroids now fire an anti-armor shell in their secondary mode. It has almost no area effect but is very accurate, ideal for destroying or disabling turrets. It will also do good damage to any tanks that don't move out of the way, such as Ravager Terradynes sitting in secondary mode.
• The long range attack of the Penetrator Centruroid's secondary mode has had its damage output adjusted.
• Contaminator Helidynes now have slightly less armor in secondary mode, but gain speed instead of losing it. The weapon remains disabled in this mode.
• The incendiary grenade attack of the Assault APC's secondary mode is now much more effective.
• Smoke launcher secondaries: The Light APC, Combat Strider and Mortar Clanguard, have been given slightly better reach, much better spread and the duration and number of canisters have also been increased meaning they can lay down smoke and then go about their mission. Targeting a distant area will lay down a wall of smoke between the unit and target, while manually targeting the smoke next to the unit should cover the area around it much more effectively.

Campaign Changes

The difficulty of campaign missions is not the same as it was in the original game, or even between Reversal and Revision modes in the mod. This was also true in previous versions but with further tweaks to the AI, unit balance and maintenance in Version 3 some missions are likely to feel a bit easier or harder to finish depending on the player and tactics used. A few minor adjustments to some missions were made and all missions have been tested on Hard to make sure they were functional.

The Viron campaign in Reversal mode is now done almost exclusively with Terran units. Only a few exceptions exist:

• The first mission was best left with Viron units due to the mission scripting and events.
• The second mission (Asphyxiation) still has a few Viron units guarding the perimeter with their turrets as it seemed more fitting.
• Long Distance Call still gives you a Surveillance Helidyne to start with. Its utility as mobile radar is extremely helpful when playing the mission and there was no good reason to remove that.
• Viron Assault Pods will still deploy Assault Clanguards. While changing the unit and model is possible, doing so looked out of place given the setting.

Other changes to the campaign include:

• The second mission in the NSA campaign, Calling The Shots, will now allow the player to bring in heavy infantry in addition to the mission's original unit list. The balance changes in the mod caused this mission to be ridiculously hard relative to its place in the campaign and making better infantry available has helped alleviate that problem.
• Similarly, the third mission in the Viron campaign (Aiming For The Teeth) now grants access to the Gun Centruroid (and by extension the Missile Centruroid when melded) to reduce balance-induced difficulty issues.
• Dropship upgrade costs have been further reduced in the campaign compared to the new costs in skirmish and multiplayer.
• Amphibious APCs have been removed in the Reversal campaign. The two places they were useful as a kludge fix - the first tutorial mission and Reptile House in the Viron campaign - have been given their own, more appropriate unit for the setting.
• Transport Helidynes are no longer available in the dropship menu during the Reversal campaign as they were unnecessary. They retain the Terran visuals for the two missions in which they make an appearance though.
• Super-heavy tanks will now only appear in the last mission or two of the campaigns where they are more appropriate.
• Finally, heavy turrets are no longer available in the campaign, but are still available in skirmish or multiplayer