Customizing LW2

What other mods are compatible?

DeaconIvory made a list of popular mods and how compatible they are with long war. You can find that list here

Beginners guide to modding LW2 ini files

Long War has made it easy for individual users to tweak parts of the game for their own preference. Many modifiable values are stored in the mods config files commonly referred to as ini files for their .ini filename extension. For a typical Windows user, all LW2 files are contained at the location:

Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\workshop\content\268500\844674609\

It is recommended that you download and use Notepad++ to alter the ini files because it is visually easier to use and numbers the lines (which may be referenced in this page).

Another useful tool is the free software WinMerge. WinMerge allows you to open two text files (like the ini) side by side and compare differences between them. This is useful when Long War is updated. To easily preserve the custom modifications you did on a previous version, open a backup copy of your old ini and the new updated ini. WinMerge will help you quickly identify differences and apply all your previous modifications to the new Long War version.

There are several copies of the vanilla ini files for XCOM 2. If you make your changes in the \Steam\steamapps\common\XCOM 2\XComGame\Config folder, then when you rebuild the \my documents\xcom2\xcomgame\config folder (after mod updates, troubleshooting, etc) You don't have to redo the changes each time. However if you verify your local files it will often overwrite the changes in all folders.

• You are free to make the changes in the \my documents\xcom2\xcomgame\config folder for the same effect, the file names just replace the word "Default" with "XcomGame"

• Many changes can be difficulty specific. If there are four with a number at the end of them as follows, it is for the different difficulties.

inichange[0]=x will set the value to x for Rookie difficulty
inichange[1]=y will set the value to y for Veteran difficulty
inichange[2]=z will set the value to z for Commander difficulty
inichange[3]=q will set the value to q for Legend difficulty

Some ini edit examples

If the edit is listed in LW Config Files, you will need to look through the config files of the mod itself, rather than the vanilla files.

Change	File	LW Config files?	Value to Change
Zoom out further on tactical level	DefaultCamera.ini		ZoomedDistanceFromCursor to 4400
	DefaultCamera.ini		MaxTilesCameraCanMoveOutsideLevelVolume to 25 so that the camera isn't blocked by the edges of the AOE and can swing out (this works in LW1 as well)
	DefaultClassData.ini		NumInForcedDeck = 0 NumInDeck = 0 This edit removes the specific soldier class from initial promotion screens, note that you can still receive this class as a reward or for hire in the Black Market.
More activity on Avenger	DefaultUI.ini		set MaxVisibleCrew to 30 for your difficulty (or all difficulties)
Increase pool of starting soldiers	DefaultGameCore		NUM_STARTING_SOLDIERS=32
Increase number of recruitable soldiers	DefaultGameData		set StartingNumRecruits[0] to desired amount for rookie
Alternate more avenger activity	DefaultGameData.ini	No	set NumClerks_ActOne=5 NumClerks_ActTwo=10 NumClerks_ActThree=15 all at least 30. Separates soldier activity by what stage in the game the player is at.
Flares on reinforcements	XComLW_Overhaul.ini	Yes	set +DISABLE_REINFORCEMENT_FLARES[0] to either true or false as desired per difficulty level.
Build items as infinite stocks instead of individually (Unconfirmed that this actually works).	XComLW_Overhaul	Yes	Search for ItemTable, change Infinite=False to Infinite=True to build infinite amounts of desired item.
Tweaking recruiting activity rebels vs rookies	XComLW_Outposts	Yes	[Recruit LWRebelJobTemplate] IncomePerRebel=3 Changing this will modify how much recruiting a rebel on that job does (how effective they are at their job) RECRUIT_REBEL_BAR=67 RECRUIT_SOLDIER_BAR=33" Modifying the above two values to equal 100% adjusts the probability that new recruits will be a rebel or a soldier
Make AWC Perk Trees Visible	XComLW_AWCPack	Yes	ALWAYSSHOW=false ;display all future abilities instead of displaying "locked" Switch that to true and all perks should be visible.
Restore Aiming Angles (SW option)	XComGameCore	Yes	Alter the 3 consecutive lines to the following values: MAX_TILE_DISTANCE_TO_COVER=999 MIN_ANGLE_BONUS_MOD=0.0 MAX_ANGLE_BONUS_MOD=.875

Adding more turns to the mission timers

Per the developer Amineri:

As for the timers, if you look in the config file XComLW_Overhaul, there is a difficulty-specific modifier for timers :

TimerDifficultyMod[0]=4;   Rookie
TimerDifficultyMod[1]=2;   Veteran
TimerDifficultyMod[2]=0;   Commander
TimerDifficultyMod[3]=0;   Legendary

Thus, 4 turns are added to timers on Rookie, 2 on Veteran. Modifying these can add turns.