GMDX... Why?

[Francisè von Spitroast]

What does GMDX 'improve' exactly? It's meant to be an overhaul to refine the game massively as well as modernize it a little bit but it has minor improvements and then just random changes that don't amount to a lot. There's a lot that can be changed with Deus Ex for the better, but this mod doesn't change most of what really needs to be overhauled. There's also a lot that could be changed simply for a different gameplay experience but those aren't done either for the most part.

What I don't care for or I question:
1. The perks are cool as an idea, but very few of them are actually useful, and they're so cheap they might as well just come with the skill upgrade.
2. Skills are still unbalanced.
3. Weapons balancing was one of the biggest issues of the original game, and it's even worse here. The pistol can now be silenced, making the silenced pistol totally useless (even more so than before) and the sniper rifle now useless (I used it all the time since it could use a silencer) because the pistol can easily be upgraded with scopes that can be found or bought everywhere (you're given one now early in the game in your office, which wrecks the point of finding it in Alex's secret floor) and with a laser the pistol is basically just a faster firing sniper rifle with rarely noticeably less damage and range (both can be upgraded anyway). The pistol was overpowered in the last game but the fact that it couldn't be silenced was one of the few drawbacks. Now it can.
4. I don't know about augs I haven't played enough yet, but they were heavily unbalanced before as well and one look at the weapons tells me they little has probably been changed.
5. Stamina is utterly pointless. There's even useless perks for it, and yet it's such a non-issue in the first place its addition is just dumb. All it amounts to is that you need to walk for literally 2 seconds and that's it after constant running. Mantling, jumping etc. doesn't have enough of an impact on your stamina meter for it to ever, ever be something to watch out for.
6. Throwing objects and flares now does stuff. Cool! Except the AI looks at where it came from not where it landed. Realistic, maybe, sure, but it ruins the whole point.
7. Honestly, the new graphics are cool in terms of new environmental details, but the colours picked look awful and disgusting which is an issue the original artstyle never had.
8. Skill upgrades didn't just increase accuracy in the original game, they increased your bullet damage, which makes little sense and seemed to go against the design of the game. This hasn't been remedied, and now there's even a damage mod.
9. The stealth skill is pointless. 15% more speed while crouched? Yipeee... not. It should make you less visible in the shadows etc. or add a HUD gauge for visibility and sound like Thief and Splinter Cell, or, you know, just anything to make it not so pointless and dumb.
10. The game's chucking skill points left and right like nobodies business. At my second Battery Park visit I have almost all I want for skills and that was with me wasting some on rifles.
11. The scope movement is still annoying. It shouldn't be random, it should be predictable like in modern military shooters. Up and down, up and down, but how much it moves should differ on each skill level with more accuracy. That way, the scopes aren't totally useless until late in the game (if ever) you manage to get the weapon class to Master, but they still require careful precision but now it's at least possible to aim with them and that no scoping isn't just the more accurate option even at 500 feet. At the skill before Master (450 hours on the game and I still can't remember the name) the scope is still useless because it moves so much. The original game wasn't like this as much. At Advanced (hey, that's it) you could use the scope well.
12. Headshot hitboxes were occasionally frustrating in the original game because of how dumb they were in that certain parts of the head are one shot kills and that horizontally the hitbox is very large. This seems even worse now. I'm not sure if it is worse, but it feels I'm always missing headshots for absolutely bullcrap reasons when I can clearly see my red dot on the guys head.
13. You can throw weapons but...why? They're melee weapons for a reason. And it makes the already pointless throwing knives even more pointless.
14. The new sounds. I don't like em. I wouldn't even say they sound out of place, I just don't know why you'd change what was already fine.
15. The new font for in-game text looks absolutely horrendous.
16. Not being able to custom change weapon and models like as in HDTP in the OG game.
17. Adding stats would've been a great addition to the game but that didn't happen.
18. No new effects to make locational damage on yourself something to be more mindful of that I could tell.
19. Hardcore mode is disabled before finishing the game once, as well as another option. Why? Some of us have been playing since release, just let us use them. It's not like this game's short.
20. There's still no way to complete some early objectives either stealthily or non-lethally, or both.
21. The character models look out of place with the more detailed environmental textures and details.
22. Was hoping for some re-added cut content such as conversations etc. which I know there are plenty but as of yet I haven't found any.
23. They/he should've made the soundtrack the superior PS2 one.
24. No added gamepad support.
25. No updated/cleaned UI.
26. This really is a nitpick but, and I see no real way of making this happen, but there should be a consequence for killing innocents. You're a cop and this isn't Fallout, you role-play as a guy with good morals, so being able to get away with child murder and gibbing entire towns full of people makes absolutely no sense.
27. Codes etc. from emails still aren't saved like with notepads.

What I do like:
1. Computer skills being actually something to care for above Trained. Now that some things have skill requirements there's actually a reason to upgrade. However, there's still the issue of the time limit you have making reading emails without the actual codes not possible.
2. The concept of perks.
3. Weapon animations look great and add a lot to make the game feel a bit more professionally done honestly.
4. You have much less breath underwater, making the swimming upgrade not infamously useless. Still, I think it should be removed entirely. Aqualung is there for a reason, and it makes this skill pointless. Same with the environmental hazard skill. There should only be one of these skills not two, to make up for the fact that you can't have aqua lung and the one that protects against gas and stuff.
5. New ammo types make non-lethal playthroughs not entirely annoying and dull with a lack of weapons to use.
6. The crossbow was an underappreciated weapon originally, but now it's exactly what it should be. A multi-purpose tool that will knock out infantry in one hit to the head with the sleeping dart like as in the newer games. This simple thing drastically changes gameplay for non-lethal playthroughs and makes the weapon a beast.
7. The little things, like physics on objects being improved, and heaps of other little things that just make the game feel that bit better.
8. Almost all of the new level design things that have been changed I like a lot. No complaints there. Wish there was more of this.
9. Lockpicks and multitools aren't in total abundance like before and now I feel as though I savour every one.
10. The mantling is a great addition. I love it in Thief and I like it here, but it does make the use of boxes and crates pointless.

Overall though, it doesn't change a whole lot. There's lots of little changes, but I don't feel as though they amount to a totally overhauled game and I feel as though I might as well just go back to the original version that I know and love since it's not that different and I think it's (slightly) prettier.

[Francisè von Spitroast]

I might update this later with more stuff I think of. But what do you think? Agree? Disagree?

[Francisè von Spitroast]

And yes I have no life and no one's going to read this thanks for noticeing. Maybe the dev will but I think the mod's finished anyway right?

[Scrubwave]

Damn, ban a guy for liking a mod.

[Frya]

As for Pistol vs Stealth Pistol:
I think GMDX creator wanted to differentiate them. If you want your character to be based around Pistol skill, without spending points on Rifles, then in GMDX you can make a mini-sniper from normal Pistol with a scope mod, and mini-assault rifle from Stealth Pistol with auto-fire mod. Stealth Pistol has a bigger clip.
That way both of them are serving different purposes.

[The Fraudulent One]

Honestly the damage mod is an odd choice considering most enemies still die fairly quickly anyway

[Autumnsorrow]

I'm necroing this thread to say that I agree completely. I don't understand why everyone suggests GMDX when it comes to playing Deus Ex with "modern feel". If we're going purely by fixes, Revision is better, the only thing you can hold against it is that the levels are too heavily redesigned -- but you can switch to vanilla maps and enjoy the rest of Revision fixes, which, IIRC, is not possible with GMDX. What I will admit is better in GMDX -- the addition of mantling. I'm surprised Revision didn't add it, it makes the game TONNES better. What is more suprising is: why didn't Ion Storm add it to the game in the first place? This game came AFTER System Shock 2, which already had it, and was made largely by the same team. I know the development was rushed (when is it not?), but surely it wouldn't take a lot of time and labor.

[cyäegha]

Originally posted by Autumnsorrow:

If we're going purely by fixes, Revision is better, the only thing you can hold against it is that the levels are too heavily redesigned -- but you can switch to vanilla maps and enjoy the rest of Revision fixes, which, IIRC, is not possible with GMDX.

i second this motion

everybody seems to hold GMDX to some impossibly high standard as the supposed pinnacle of "vanilla deus ex modding", when by all known metrics it diverges so much from the original experience that it makes revision look vanilla by comparison

Originally posted by Autumnsorrow:

What I will admit is better in GMDX -- the addition of mantling. I'm surprised Revision didn't add it, it makes the game TONNES better.

depends on which ruleset you enable in revision's options menu
biomod has mantling, while shifter (either revision's default or what revision's default is built upon, i don't recall) does not

[DO NOT REDEEM IT]

I prefer the Transcended mod. Game is mostly vanilla with plenty of QoL fixes (settings for not picking up junk weapons). Also improves the AI, which is what I wanted the most.

Revision was ok, I'll try going back to it when I don't have burnout. It had some cool achievements and made me realise how much stuff I missed. Example: Threatening Leo Gold you'll put him in a body bag, then run away like a baby: mission complete. Never realised you could do that until I saw the achievement description for it.

[@ your service]

Revision for customizations, challenges and replay value.
GMDX for different customizations with slightly more faithful maps.
Neither for a true original experience.

I use Revision on steam and GMDX on my GoG copy. Both are fun with unique addons but both are guilty of adding things that weren't nessecary. Not that i hold that against either since all main changes are optional.

[Devilsrider]

Kentie's Launcher is all you need.

[Francisè von Spitroast]

Originally posted by Devilsrider:

Kentie's Launcher is all you need.

Map fix