Intel

This feature introduced a new resource: Intel. Think of intel as some sort of measure on all the spying and information gathering your forces have done.



You can gain intel in several ways:

Now, what do you do with all that intel? Well, once you've gained your first bit, you will receive an email from Enrico. He will essentially give you two clues:
 * interactive actions, like reading classified documents in a military base or hacking computers, can give you intel. For examples, see function HandleInteractiveActionResult(...) in Overhead.lua for examples (warning, spoilers!).
 * Interrogating prisoners can give us intel, the amount depends on prisoner type.
 * Mercs can now hide in disguise and gather intel in enemy-occupied territory. There is some depth to this mechanic (of which I am somewhat proud), so the second post of this thread deals with it in more detail.
 * Mercs can take a camera and take photograps of important NPCs or locations of special interest, which you can then trade for intel. For more info, see the third post in this thread.
 * Some NPCs give you some intel upon recruitment.


 * He sends you a link to the Recon Intelligence Services website. This organisation wrote the Recon Report you've probably forgotten of by now. One of their pages allows you to buy things for intel:

The dropdown menu allows purchasing info on enemy positions for a 4x4 part of the map. For a higher price you will also get the exact troop counts and enemy movement directions. Note that just as the page states, this will only last a limited amount of time. Sometimes special information is available - this can unlock the permanent flight plans of an enemy helicopter, the position of an enemy general, or the location of an imprisoned merc. It is likely I will add more options to this over time.
 * He also makes you aware that the Black market - a new civilian group - that sells high-tech items exclusively for intel. They are based in San Mona and sell only for intel. What they sell can be set in function AddArmsDealerAdditionalIntelData in Overhead.lua. By default their prices also depend on progress - as your progress, prices are somewhat lowered (due to the benefit of these items being gradually lowered).Nvn5HW5.png

The placement of the merchant etc. is all defined in Overhead.lua: In order to allow to better showcase, minor alterations were done: Beth now has a camera in one of her gearkits, as she seems the most reporter-like of the bunch. Mouse is now a full spy. And taking yet another inspiration from edmortimer, and considering that Raffi is so bad at anything nobody would believe he is a merc, he now get the covert trait. So he can be at least of some use as of this feature apart from cleaning minefields and carrying gear around.

You can set this feature off via RESOURCE_INTEL in JA2_Options.ini.

Hide & Get Intel Assignments
Mercs can now hide in disguise and gather intel in enemy-occupied territory. It is very strongly recommended that any mercs attempting to do so have the covert trait.

To set this up, the following conditions must be true: If all of these conditions apply, you can use the $ menu to assign the merc to the Hide or Get Intel assignment.
 * The merc must be in tactical.
 * The merc must be disguised. Note that this does not require that the merc has the covert trait, as anyone can disguise. However only those with that trait will be any good at this.
 * The sector must be enemy-occupied.
 * The enemy must not be aware of the merc (so no, this won't work once combat has been initiated).
 * And the merc must be alone, no other mercs of militia allowed.

Once we assign the merc, we will leave the sector, and the merc will now be on assignment in that sector. At that point we can switch between Hide and Get Intel freely. On those assignments, there is the constant risk that the enemy eventually discovers the hidden merc.

This can cause us to receive a 1-3 hour time penalty. During penalty we won't gain any intel.

The risk depends on In extreme cases, we not only receive a penalty, but be exposed - we will drop into combat at the exact position we were in when we got on that assignment... with our disguise removed. And the alarm raised, the enemy will be aware of you and actively search for you. Depending on where you left your merc, this can be extremely deadly, so plan accordingly. As the alert is raised, this also means that even if the enemy does not find you and you re-disguise, you will still have to get out of there. Unless your spy is also a radio operator and uses the (probably not widely known) sideeffect of jamming preventing red alert being raised. While the spy is hiding in a sector, they take note of the enemy even if they are not actively out for intel - we get a precise reading of enemy troop counts. This also works with the scout trait - a concealed scout with CAN_DETECT_ENEMY_PRESENSE_IN_SECTORS_AROUND set to TRUE will also detect troops in adjacent sectors. Depending on your positioning, this can be a valuable source of intel on its own.
 * how advanced the sector is (taken from CoolnessBySector.xml). Hiding in Meduna is a lot riskier than hiding in Drassen.
 * 15% level + 15% stealth + 70% covert trait (stealth - takes into account the stealth trait, background boni and worn stealth gear boni, but not agility or other stats)
 * personality - slight bonus for sociable (better at blending in), slight malus for cowards and nervous disability
 * If we are actively trying to get intel, the risk is doubled compared to hiding. If we do so disguised as a soldier, the risk is increased by factor 5. If we sleep or are on a penalty, we count as hiding (in order not to force the player to re-assign by hand).

While no other assignments are possible (no, you cannot train militia under the enemies eyes), you can simple get out of this assignment by setting your merc on duty. You will drop into 'combat' in the sector, but thankfully your disguise will be active, and the alert will not be raised.

Note that if any combat is initiated in this sector, like from other mercs or militia arriving, this merc will join combat from their location, too. This also means that the Retreat option will not be available (how would we retreat from inside the sector?).

Hiding is its own reward, as this allows your mercs to stay hidden in enemy territory. Previously this was not possible, which meant that a spy infiltrating a city had to either shelter in a mine or leave territory to sleep. Now you can actually deploy your spies long-time. Which seems pretty much what I'd expect spies to do. This alone should make spy roleplay a lot more viable.

If you are on the Get Intel assignment, you will also get intel (who'd have thought?). The amount depends on It thus follows that the safest way to do this is in an 'uncool' place (like some swamp in the north-east or Chitzena), while the biggest gains can be made in Meduna itself. It is not necessary to have the covert trait to try this, but... I really, really recommend it. It might also be better to try to go for small but constant rewards in small towns rather than constantly facing constant mouse-and-cat games with the enemy in high-level installations.
 * How advanced the sector is (taken from CoolnessBySector.xml). Hiding in Meduna is a lot riskier than hiding in Drassen.
 * 50% wisdom + 10% level + 5% scout trait + 15% covert trait + 20% snitch trait
 * Personality - bonus for sociable or assertive, malus for primitive and loner. Penalty for forgetful of psycho.
 * If we are disguised as a soldier, the gains are doubled.

Acquiring and selling Photos
Your mercs can now equip a camera (new item #1751, but the old video camera will also do), and take photograps with it.

If you have taken a shot of something that could be worth something to outside forces, you can now sell this on the R.I.S. website on the 'Information Verification' page.

On the top, you can toggle through all the shots taken that you can sell, and upload them. After R.I.S. has verified the photo, you will receive a small message on what has been verified, and get intel for this.

There is, however, a catch: the conditions on the person or area you took a photo took of at the time verification is done determines what reward you get. This is justified - outside forces might be interest in identifying Kingpin, for example, and give you a significant amount of intel for that. That reward will be significantly lowered if Kingpin is dead, however - what would they do with a photo of a dead man? Similar, if you take images that prove the regime is comitting warcrimes, that is worth something. That reward is lowered if you have already taken over that sector... after all, the regime can now deny any culpability and accuse you of fabricating whatever proof you have of their crimes.

Verifying these images takes time - about 2-4 hours. So in order to get the most out of this, it won't suffice to just have one dude take photos on your regular attacks. You could, you know, send someone in to scout the area and take photos before you take a city. You know... do stuff a spy would do.

After a photo has been verified, the details will also appear on the website.

Note that the contents of this part of the feature - which images can be taken, what conditions apply, what texts to show, how much intel to get - are all defined in lua. This means that a modder can easily add more images. This is all set up in Overhead.lua.

List of Interactive Actions
(as in Build 8926 @ GameDir 2580)


 *  Note: this list was compiled using Build 8926 @ GameDir 2580 (1 February 2021) from  and   files. Later builds might (and will) add new interactive actions or change the rewards that can be acquired from them. Please, update the following lists as necessary, but also change the build number accordingly when doing so.

'Warning: This section contains specific lists of various hidden aspects of game. If you're a first-time player and do not want to spoil your game, stop reading now!'

Now that Intel is another important resource added to the game, you might use lists below to optimize your strategic plan of conquering Arulco.

Note that only actions that give you specific rewards (e.g. money or Intel) are listed here. There are many more interactive items that will simply give you in-game textual hints. These reveal (more or less important) parts of Deidranna's plans or pieces of Arulcan history, but they are skipped here to keep the list short. Go and find them yourself!

Tile numbers will help you identify the precise location of the interactible structure (you can press F key in tactical to get tile number under the cursor).

Hacking skill
To hack a computer, you most importantly need a merc with hacking skill. Attempting to do so with any other merc without this ability will automatically fail (regardless of the hacking difficulty of that specific computer). Per default, only the following mercs have this ability:
 * Speck (80)
 * Gumpy (60)
 * Fredo (50)
 * Ears (30)
 * Sparky (20)
 * Barry (10)


 *  Note: To make your I.M.P. character capable of hacking computers, you can tweak  file for yourself. This can be done by adding   tag to appropriate background. Recommended backgrounds that should be given hacking skill are:
 * Tech Whiz background (uiIndex=296): set it to 80 (as that's Speck's value and his background is Tech Whiz also)
 * Graduate background (uiIndex=297) set it to 40 (as there is a similar Harvard graduate background for Gumpy NPC with this skill set to 60. Setting it to 40 should be enough, as graduate != Harvard graduate, after all)

Hacking difficulty
Secondly, to successfully hack a specific computer, your hacking skill must be at least the same (or higher) than the basic hacking difficulty of that computer. Moreover, on top of this basic requirement, most computers have also several higher thresholds, and successfully meeting them will allow you to gain even higher rewards.

When you see several reward values written in the list below (e.g. 15/10/5 Intel), it means that this specific computer has several success thresholds and the requirements for each of them is listed in following parentheses. So  means you need at least hacking skill 71 to gain 15 Intel, at least 41 to gain 10 intel, or at least 20 to gain 5 Intel – otherwise you fail in hacking that computer (because the basic difficulty is 20).

Laptop (item #1021) gives 50% bonus to your basic hacking skill (when at 100% status). Thus currently the maximum effective hacking skill you can reach in game is 120 by using Speck who has a Laptop in perfect condition in his inventory.

List of computers to hack
Most of the hacking possibilities give you Intel in reward, but some of them will give you money or make hacking other places easier (by lowering the difficulty of hacking them).


 * Drassen SAM Site (D15):
 * Desktop PC: 15/10/5 Intel (>70/>40/≥20) (tiles 11937/11777; difficulty 20; action id 13: )


 * Alma:
 * Military Headquarters (H13), Sgt. Krott's desktop PC: 50 Intel (≥20) (tiles 10473/10474; difficulty 20; action id 33: )
 * Military Headquarters (H13), desktop PC in file room: steal money, amount = (hackingskill - 30) * 60 $ (tiles 10812/10813; difficulty 30; action id 35: )
 * Military Headquarters (H13), control room console #5: 30/20/15 Intel (>80/>50/≥30) (tiles 9364/9365; difficulty 30; action id 40: )
 * Military Prison (I13), northern office with two tables, left desktop PC: 40/20/10 Intel (>70/>40/≥30) (tiles 11098/10938; difficulty 30; action id 30: )


 * Chitzena SAM Site (D2):
 * Desktop PC left: 15/10/5 Intel (>80/>50/≥30) (tiles 10834/10674; difficulty 30; action id 15: )
 * Desktop PC right: steal money, amount = (hackingskill - 10) * 30 $ (tiles 9880/9720; difficulty 10; action id 16: )


 * Central SAM Site (I8):
 * Desktop PC left: 15/10/5 Intel (>80/>50/≥30) (tiles 16395/16235; difficulty 30; action id 18: )
 * Desktop PC right: lower difficulty of hacking anything in Meduna SAM Site (N4) by 20 points (tiles 14167/14168; difficulty 10; action id 20: )


 * Orta (K4):
 * Basement, server in lab 2: lower difficulty of hacking anything in Alma Military Headquarters (H13) by 20 points (tiles 13325/13165; difficulty 100; action id 1: )
 * Basement, PC in lab 2: steal money, amount = (hackingskill - 10) * 40 $ (tiles 12847/12848; difficulty 10; action id 4: )


 * Meduna SAM Site (N4):
 * Desktop PC: 15/10/5 Intel (>80/>50/≥30) (tiles 12390/12230; difficulty 30; action id 22: )

Taking photographs
No specific skill is needed in order to take photographs, you just need to have a camera and put it into your main hand. Both the old Video camera (item #258) or the new one (item #1751) will do.

When you take a photo of something interesting, game will automatically print an on-screen message about it, so you will always know whether you have successfully acquired the photo you wanted.

List of places to photograph

 * Drassen SAM Site (D15):
 * Control room: 12/6 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 2; action id 94: )


 * Alma:
 * Military Headquarters (H13), control room: 20/10 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 12; action id 81: )
 * Storage Depot (H14), rockets: 20/10 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 8; action id 82: )
 * Military Prison (I13), torture room: 20/8 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 19/20/21; action id 83: )


 * Chitzena SAM Site (D2):
 * Control room: 12/6 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 7/8; action id 95: )


 * Cambria:
 * Hospital (F8), morgue: 14/7 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 70/71/72; action id 80: )


 * Central SAM Site (I8):
 * Control room: 14/7 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 16; action id 96: )


 * Balime:
 * Balime museum (L12), Chalice of Chance: 20/7 Intel (before/after the Chalice is stolen) (room 37; action id 90: )


 * Tixa (J9):
 * Ground level, torture room: 20/8 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 19/20/21; action id 84: )
 * Basement, torture room: 25/10 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 3/9/10/12; action id 85: )


 * Grumm:
 * Warehouse District (G2), dangerous materials: 10/4 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 1/7/8; action id 91: )


 * Orta (K4):
 * Basement, experiments in laboratory: 15/10 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 16; action id 87: )
 * Basement, experimental weapons in storage: 12/4 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 13; action id 88: )
 * Basement, manufacturing process: 14/6 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 11; action id 89: )


 * Meduna:
 * Bloodcat Arena (N5), royal lodge room: 9 Intel (room 17; action id 92: )
 * SAM Site (N4), control room: 16/8 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (rooms 1/2; action id 97: )
 * Palace (P3), Basement, Bunker control room: 30/8 Intel (before/after conquering the sector) (room 24; action id 93: )


 * Crepitus creature lair:
 * Lair lvl.3 (Unknown sector): 40/15 Intel (before/after finishing quest) (anywhere in level 3 underground; action id 86: )

List of people to photograph

 * General Theo Humphey:
 * Alma Military Headquarters (H13): 30/15 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 61: )


 * Christine Woltz (Warden):
 * Tixa (J9): 15/7 Intel (before/after her death) (action id 62: )


 * Dr. Ernest Poppin (head researcher):
 * Orta (K4), Basement: 30/15 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 63: )


 * Armand Ricci (Deidranna's aristocratic friend):
 * Balime West (L11): 20/10 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 64: )


 * Peter Klauss (Kingpin):
 * San Mona (D5): 25/10 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 65: )


 * Darren van Haussen (Kingpin's Boxing Club manager):
 * San Mona (D5), Boxing Club: 10/3 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 66: )


 * Tony (arms dealer):
 * San Mona (C5), hidden room in the back of XXX Shop: 20/12 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 67: )


 * Joseph Papanus (Joe):
 * Meduna Palace (P3): 15/4 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 68: )


 * Dr. Nathaniel Kairns (MadLab):
 * Random southern farm sector (E4, G7, H7, J10, I11, G16, H16): 35/10 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 69: )


 * Mike (A.I.M. runaway; now on Queen's side):
 * Random sector: 20/5 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 70: )


 * Devin Connell (explosives dealer):
 * Random bar sector (C5, C6, C13, D13, G9, H2): 20/15 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 71: )


 * Micky O'Brien (animal parts dealer):
 * Random bar sector (C5, C6, C13, D13, G9, H2): 15/4 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 72: )


 * Carmen Dancio (bounty hunter):
 * Random bar sector (C5, C6, C13, D13, G9, H2): 10/4 Intel (before/after his death) (action id 73: )

Reading files in specific cabinets
Interesting things can be discovered by reading documents at numerous places throughout the game. As with hacking, each specific cabinet has its own difficulty you need to pass in order to acquire the information, only this time merc's Wisdom serves as the skill compared with the difficulty. Difficulty is simply the intelligence needed to recognize the importance of the materials that the merc is reading when going through that specific cabinet.

List of interesting files to read

 * Note: This list is currently empty, because right now [build 8926], no cabinet is scripted to give any specific reward. They all give you only some (more or less interesting) in-game textual hints.