Hard Core Tactical Mod 2
If you are new to the Hard Core Tactical Mod, it is recommended that you read through the HCTM1 manual along with the HCTM2 manual in order to get the most out of this.
A massive amount of coding has gone into HCTM2 and now it looks and sounds very different than the previous version did. That said; HCTM1 was already at the limit of what the game can handle in some cases so I basically had to take the whole mod apart and put it back together again to get all of the new features to work. But it all works, and it works a lot better. And even though the use key is still being used a lot, it works much better now as well.
Lots of new combat animations have been added to HCTM2. The new combat animations make a huge difference. If you liked the Ai animations in HCTM1, you're really going to like the ones in HCTM2. Once the shooting starts, the Ai action ramps way up and the pace is even more intense. The Ai even run like they are afraid of being shot now when they are sprinting from cover to cover.
Sometime they look like they’re afraid of being shot even if they are behind cover. The new combat animations look far more realistic than they did out of the box. The soldiers act like they are trying their hardest to stay alive. Some of them look outright terrified while some of them do some really heroic moves that have not been seen in any CoD2 mod. So when you face off against the enemy in this version, get ready to have your hat handed to you because the enemy is far more aggressive than they were in HCTM1.
HCTM2 is (NOT) for beginners. It’s only for advanced players who are up to the challenge. To those of you who want easy kills, this is not your mod. So any of you who didn’t like HCTM1 because you thought it was too hard should probably not download HCTM2 because you’re only going to wine about how the bad guys keep killing you over and over again due to your own lack of skill. But to those of you who are up to the challenge, this is your mod. This is the deadliest version of CoD2 out there. In HCTM2, the bad guys are vicious. They’re much smarter, and they fight even harder than they did in HCTM1.
Again, HCTM2 is only for advanced players because the Ai guys are not playing around at all in this version.
In the stock game, Ai grenades were programmed to always fall short. In HCTM2 that’s no longer the case. So make sure that you maintain good cover because the Ai can reach out and touch you now. In other words, they can throw explosives through windows just like humans can. That said; you should probably not spend extended amounts of time near any windows because bolt action rifles are much more deadly than they were in HCTM1. Depending on how good of a shot the enemy is, bolt action rifles can definitely take you out with one well placed hit. You’ve been warned!
The Ai will also act a little differently when grenades are thrown at them. They also have new death animations when they get blown up by grenades as well.
And speaking of grenades, have you ever wished you could pick up a grenade and throw it back to the enemy? Well now you can. In HCTM2, a long overdue feature has been added to CoD2 SP mode.
(PLAYER GRENADE THROW BACK) is now in the game.
If you’re feeling lucky, simply run up to any live grenade and press the use key to pick it up. But take caution, because now that grenades can be cooked, the live grenade you just picked up just might be on the verge of going off. In addition, if you time it just right, you can catch a live grenade in mid air and throw it back before it even hits the ground.
If not in combat, soldiers holding pistols no longer aim as if they are about to fire at someone. They now hold the pistol as if they are on alert.
In HCTM2, the flamethrower now looks and works much better. Now when the flame from the Ai flamethrower hits the enemy, you can clearly see that the soldier that was hit by the flame is on fire. And once they get hit by the fire, you will see them desperately try to get away from it. In addition, there are also new pain animations attached to the Ai while they are on fire as well. Keep in mind, although it's rare, a few of the Ai will only be wounded by the fire while most of them will actually burn to death from it.
Note: The Ai won't die instantly when they are on fire. It takes a little time, but they do die eventually.
The flame that shoots out of the Ai flamethrower has now been fixed. It wasn't working correctly in HCTM1, but now it is, and you'll see it in HCTM2. In addition, I added new animations for the soldier who carries the flamethrower. If he's out of range, he now fights differently. And if he's too close to use his flamethrower on the enemy without injuring himself, he will now take out his pistol and use it instead of burning himself up along with the enemy. And once he is no longer at risk of burning himself up along with the enemy, he will switch back to his flamethrower.
And although the flamethrower fuel tank still explodes, it happens far less than it did in HCTM1. Now the chance of an explosion is only about 0.5%. So you will rarely see an explosion, even if the tank takes a direct hit.
In HCTM2, the ammo counter is back. It can now be turned on for those who want to use it, and it can also be turned off for those who still want to play this hard core. The HCTM2 ammo counter has also been repositioned so that it's outside the main field of view. Look for it in the lower right corner of your screen.
Lots of new pain and death animations have been added. In addition, new body fall sounds have been attached to all of the new death animations.
In the stock game, the health for mortar crews was set extremely low so that the player could kill them easily. That has been changed in HCTM2. Now the mortar crews have the same health as everyone else. In addition, you will see lots of new animations for the mortar crews as they run to setup the mortar.
HCTM2 feels much more interactive then HCTM1 did. Because when you interact with your squad mates, there's a host of new animations that go along with these interactions. Now when you ask them for ammo, you don't just hear them say ("here you go"), you can actually see them give you the ammo as well. And the new Ai animations in HCTM2 are right on par with (IW). In HCTM2, when the Ai radio men call for support, you will actually hear them talking to the support crew. And you will also see them do the radio call animation as well. I also added lots of new animations for medics. Although their role is not to be combative, they really make the battle field seem much more human now. Medics also carry ammo as well as medical supplies. And although medics are basically there for atmosphere, they will also fight back if they are attacked. And speaking of medics...
Now in HCTM2, you will be able to help save your squad mates if they get wounded. Once you realize they need help, simply run up to the wounded guy, get as close as you can, and then hit the use key to patch him up. However, you will not be able to help them 100% of the time because some of them will be to far gone. This plus the ammo give function really makes it feel as if you are not just a one man army. This new interaction with your squad mates is great!
Barbwire has also been changed in HCTM2. In the stock game, barbwire was basically just decoration. But now in HCTM2, barbwire can actually cut you. So be careful around barbwire because if you touch it, you can be wounded by it. In addition, the way barbwire is destroyed has also been changed. Any time you come to a point where you have to cut barbwire to continue, you must first have your knife selected, and then hit the melee key in order to cut the barbwire. And in HCTM2, telephone cable is also destroyed by cutting it with your knife.
So now instead of the barbwire or telephone cable magically disappearing when you hit the use key, you actually have to cut it with your knife. This is much more realistic, and it looks really cool too.
The fire suppression system has also been updated. Out of the box, the Ai would fire nonstop for suppressing fire but the code was limited. In the stock game, there was only one rate of fire for every gun when in suppression fire mode. But now in HCTM2, each gun uses its own rate of fire when in suppression fire mode.
Thanks to MCh2207Cz, several new weapons, tanks, characters and other various objects along with models from Back 2 Fronts were added to HCTM2. Sadly, because of game engine limitations in CoD2, I was not able to add all of the weapon models from B2f. However, I did manage to add most of them. But I still had to leave a few models out because some of the maps are at the limit and if even one more model is added to these maps, the map will crash. So I’d say I was able to fit about 98% of the models from B2f in to HCTM2. And new MG overheat effects have also been added to all turret MG’s, portable LMG’s, SMG’s and rifles. Now when you fire these weapons, you will actually see the barrel heat up and you will also see smoke come out of the end of the barrel as well.
The tank damage system has been updated and is now much more consistent throughout the game. In addition, hitting a tank where it is heavily armored will result in less damage taken by the tank, while hitting a tank where it is lightly armored will result in more damage taken by the tank. So it won’t always take the same number of hits to kill a given tank. It all depends on the tank class, and where the tank is hit. For example: A Sherman can be killed with one well placed hit. But if that same tank is hit where it is heavily armored, it could take more than one hit to kill it. Or a Tiger could be killed by one well placed hit from a T-34. But if the Tiger is hit where it is heavily armored, it could take more than one hit for the T-34 to kill the Tiger. At the same time, if it was a Sherman firing on a Tiger, it would more than likely take multiple hits to kill the Tiger because the Sherman is out classed by the Tiger. So tank classes really do come in to play now. And in some of the tank battles, you will even face multiple types of tanks within the same tank battle. New gore effects have also been added to tanks. When a tank gets destroyed, any crew member that wasn’t killed by the initial impact can now be heard screaming in agony from inside the tank.
The weapon select section of the user interface has also been updated to accommodate some of the new weapons that have been added to HCTM2.
I also added the ability to select from three different compasses. You can choose between the stock CoD2 compass, the Back2Fronts compass, and there is also an iron cross compass for the Germans.
There is a new seven mission campaign for the French. Four of the missions you play as a French foot soldier. Two of the missions you play as part of the French resistance. And one of the missions you play as a French tank commander. In this campaign you start out as a French soldier and after the German occupation of France, you will finish the campaign as a French resistance fighter. And because there are new female French resistance characters, new female death screams have also been added. And all of the new French characters (male and female) speak in French and there are also new French damage skins for the player as well.
The Laison River map has also been added. In this mission you play as a Canadian foot soldier taking part in Operation Tractable. You along with the rest of your squad will attempt to secure the town of Falaise.
In HCTM1, new code was done for the Stalingrad maps that make the officers show up 100% of the time. However, I forgot to include the new code in the final release. It has now been added to the Stalingrad maps in HCTM2.
And speaking of Stalingrad; Romanian forces have also been added to the axis powers. They show up in the Eastern Front at Stalingrad during Operation Uranus.
The Silo map has also been updated. The town is being defended by even more Germans and once the player is in the silo, the enemy will shoot at him from time to time. And although it’s rare, the enemy will climb the ladder to attack the soldiers at the top of the silo. In addition, the soldier who reminds Pvt. Braeburn of the ammo he forgot at the road actually brings the ammo to him now. And the exceeded maximum script variable error has also been fixed.
I’ve also gone through all of the missions and tightened up things like effects, propaganda posters, fixed the endings to some maps and made some of the missions a little more challenging.
The sound aspect of HCTM2 has been totally revamped. About 99% of the weapons, bombs, flak guns and such are in stereo now and the game sounds bigger and better than ever. And you will even hear the player grunt or groan in pain when damage is taken. You will also hear new gear rattle sounds whenever the player walks or runs. And hundreds of new pain, death and battle chatter sounds have also been added.
New dialog code has been added for all of the Ai. Now when an Ai soldier talks, you will also see their mouth move as well. In addition, they will also look at you while talking to you. With over a thousand new characters in the game, the “Head Gear System” had to be updated. So if a soldier is shot in the hat or helmet, you will now hear the correct sound for the type of hat or helmet they are wearing.
Here’s a list of some of the new features in HCTM2 and an explanation on how to use them.
1: The knife code has been totally revamped. In HCTM2, the knife works far better than it did in HCTM1. Now you can have a knife no matter what weapon you carry and when you throw the knife, it will automatically switch back to your gun. New knife sounds and animations have also been added. The knife can even be turned on and off in game.
To select your knife, you must first be in the crouch position. Then tap the “USE” key to select your knife. To switch back to your primary weapon, you must first be in the crouch position. Then tap the “USE” key again to switch back to your primary weapon.
You can also activate or deactivate the knife while in game by tapping the “C” key. This will enable or disable the use of the knife.
NOTE: The “C” key is the default activate/deactivate key for the knife. You can replace the “C” with any key you prefer to use as your knife activate/deactivate toggle key from within your config.cfg file.
2: To cut barbwire or telephone cable, you must first have your knife selected, and then hit the melee key in order to cut the barbwire or telephone cable.
3: If you try to open a door and the use key doesn't open it, hit your melee key to bash the door open with the butt of your rifle. In HCTM2, these are the only two ways for the player to open doors.
4: The double barrel shotgun is one of the new weapons added to HCTM2. It can be fired in single barrel mode alternately discharging the barrels one at a time, or it can be fired in double barrel mode discharging both barrels at the same time. To fire the double barrel shotgun in single barrel mode, tap the “USE” key without running. You will hear a single click to indicate that you are in single barrel mode. To fire the double barrel shotgun in double barrel mode, tap the “USE” key again without running. You will hear a quick double click to indicate that you are in double barrel mode.
5: The panzerfaust code has also been redone. Now when you fire the panzerfaust, you will see the warhead fire and you will be left holding an empty tube. Shortly after that, the empty tube will be thrown away by the player and your remaining weapon will automatically be selected. I also fixed the rocket and grenade launchers. Some of you may have noticed that when you get hit by weapons like the panzerschreck that you don't actually die. You just get stunned. Well that's no longer the case. Now if you take a hit from one of the rocket or grenade launchers in the game, you can die from it.
6: The ammo counter is activated by hitting the “G” key. Once it is activated, you will be able to check your ammo by either hitting your reload key, or by hitting your objectives key. It can also be deactivated by hitting the “G” key again.
NOTE: The “G” key is the default activate/deactivate ammo counter key. You can replace the “G” with any key you prefer to use as your ammo counter activate/deactivate toggle key from within your config.cfg file.
7: Although it’s rare, the player can now trip and fall while trying to sprint. This feature is not random. You will only stumble and fall if you inter into the sprint mode incorrectly.
8: If you select a weapon from the weapons select menu but it does not show up in game, this means that the weapon you selected is not available. If this happens, simply select a different weapon.
9: In HCTM1, for the most part the player could only get ammo from the main characters like Randall, Braeburn, Price, Mcgregor, and so on. But now in HCTM2 you can get ammo from anyone in your squad if they have ammo to give. This is much more realistic. I also added new female ammo dialog for the Russians and the French. And now with the new ammo code, you can even get ammo if you are playing with a weapon that you have selected from the weapons select menu.
To ask for ammo, simply go up to one of your squad mates, (get as close to them as you can), and then press and hold the “USE” key until you hear yourself ask for ammo. At that point you can release the use key. Once you ask your squad mate for ammo, he will tell you if he has extra ammo to give or not.
But if there are other weapons lying on the ground that are close to you and your squad mate, quickly tap the use key and then hit and hold the use key a second time until you hear yourself ask for ammo. At that point you can release the use key. Once you ask your squad mate for ammo, he will tell you if he has extra ammo to give or not.
This should keep you from accidentally switching from your current weapon to one of the weapons lying on the ground.
NOTE: When you get ammo from your squad mate, you will only receive ammo for the current weapon you have selected.
10: To pick up a weapon that is within a cluster of other weapons lying on the ground, position yourself so that the weapon you want to pick up is toward the top of your screen. Do this and you'll pick up the correct weapon every time. Or in other words, make sure that the weapons you don't want are toward the lower part of your screen.
NOTE: You will not be able to pick up any weapon that is out of ammo.
11: To pick up a live grenade simply run up to the grenade and press the use key to pick it up, and then throw it back before it detonates.
12: Because there is a limited number of weapon slots in CoD2, smoke grenades and rifle grenades have to share the same weapon slot. With this being the case, in HCTM2 rifle grenades are always the first to be selected. And once there are no more rifle grenades, at that point you will have access to your smoke grenades.
13: To rescue a wounded soldier you will have to get as close to him as you can, and then press and hold the use key until the rescue animation starts. At that point you can release the use key. But you will have to stay with the wounded soldier until he is all patched up and ready to rejoin the fight. If you move away from the wounded soldier, he could die from his wounds. But if you do have to move away from a wounded soldier for some reason, you can still go back to him and try to rescue him before he dies.
But if there are other weapons in the area of the wounded soldier, quickly tap the use key and then hit and hold the use key a second time until the rescue animation starts. At that point you can release the use key. But you will still have to stay with the wounded soldier until he is all patched up and ready to rejoin the fight. If you move away from the wounded soldier, he could die from his wounds. But if you do have to move away from a wounded soldier for some reason, you can still go back to him and try to rescue him before he dies.
14: To toggle between the CoD2 compass and the iron cross compass, hit the "\" key. To select the Back2Fronts compass hit the 'END" key.
NOTE: the "\" and 'END" keys are the default compass select keys. You can replace the "\" and "END" keys with any keys you prefer to use as your compass select keys from within your config.cfg file.
15: Ai soldier icons as well as tank icons can be toggled on and off by hitting the “J” key.
NOTE: the "J" key is the default Ai soldier and tank icon key. You can replace the "J" key with any key you prefer to use as your Ai soldier and tank icon key from within your config.cfg file.
16: The tank turret orientation icon can be toggled on and off by hitting the "K" key.
NOTE: the "K" key is the default tank turret orientation key. You can replace the "K" key with any key you prefer to use as your tank turret orientation key from within your config.cfg file.
So to sum up…
You can think of HCTM1 as training for HCTM2 because as stated above, the Ai guys are not playing around at all in this version. So get ready for the most intense combat ever seen in any Call of Duty2 game. If you play HCTM2 like a combat simulator, and treat this as if you are being shot at by real bullets, you should do fine. But if you like to run and gun, you won’t last. In HCTM2, good cover and good tactics will be your best friend. So take it one kill at a time because in HCTM2, the Ai guys fight just as hard as you do.
So remember, in this version of the “Hard Core Tactical Mod” you will have to bring your “A” game because nothing less will do. You’ve been warned!
