────────── ■ │ NFSMW Crossfire (v1.0.0) │ ■ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 Thank you for choosing this mod! Here, you'll find everything you need to know before playing it. 

 ───── The installation instructions are in the "READ ME" file ─────

 This mod seeks to improve and overhaul the vanilla pursuit system, as well as improve some Challenges.
 The cops are much harder (especially at higher heat levels - frustration is expected), but not invincible.
 Crossfire also adds fun new gamemodes for Heat levels 7, 8, 9 and 10. 
 Many thanks to rng_guy for his tons of help, especially with the milestone scripts and the mod thumbnail.

 • Crossfire is most likely not compatible with any other mod that changes pursuit parameters.
   Give it a try if you want to, but it will most probably not work.



   ■ ────────────────────────────────────────────── ■
   │               TABLE OF CONTENTS                │
   │ ────────────────────────────────────────────── │
   │ 1) Bundled Mods                                │
   │ 2) Features                                    │
   │ 3) Special Heat Levels                         │
   │ 4) Optional Features; Explanations             │
   │ 5) "Lore" bits                                 │
   │ 6) Acknowledgements                            │
   ■ ────────────────────────────────────────────── ■




────────── ■ │ BUNDLED MODS │ ■ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 Crossfire's installation comes bundled with four other mods, with authorization from all creators:

 • NFSMW Bartender, by rng_guy                  link to mod page: https://github.com/rng-guy/NFSMWBartender
 • NFSMW SpeedFixer, by rng_guy                 link to mod page: https://github.com/rng-guy/NFSMWSpeedFixer
 • Open Limit Adjuster, by gaycoderprincess     link to mod page: https://github.com/gaycoderprincess/MostWantedOpenLimitAdjuster
 • [OPTIONAL] Healthbars, by trelbutate         link to mod page: https://nfsmods.xyz/mod/5673


 NFSMW Bartender is required for Crossfire to work, as it allows many of the changes it makes.
 NFSMW SpeedFixer is also a required mod that allows for the new Speed Breaker mechanics.
 OpenLA allows for more memory, which expands customization possibilities and fixes some bugs.
 Healthbars is an optional mod that adds visible health bars to cop vehicles. Useful for Heat 07.





────────── ■ │ FEATURES │ ■ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 • Extensively reworked difficulty & cop spawns for Heats 1 through 6, including new mechanics;
 • Unique gamemodes for Heats 7 through 10;
 • Usage of oldmanjenkins (rng_guy)'s NFSMW Bartender mod for extensive reworks of the pursuit system;
 • Usage of rng_guy's SpeedFixer mod for a new version of the Speed Breaker, appropriate for this mod's style;
 • Usage of gaycoderprincess' Open Limit Adjuster for the use of >8 cops and more customization freedom;
 • New strings on cop destruction (those include some of the "lore", see below);
 • Modified 4 Challenges to include the 4 gamemode Heat levels (#40, #54, #68, #70). Marked with CROSSFIRE;
 • Modified more than 12 Challenges to have different player cars, some custom-made. Marked with [SPECIAL];
     PS: Most of these challenges will use Heat 06.
     PS: Most vehicle changes were made because the original one underperformed; some were purely cosmetic.
 • Changed Blacklist performance rewards: you can now get two full junkman sets (script by rng_guy);
 • Optional rework for Blacklist requirements and milestones;
 • Optional difficulty increase for Challenge Series pursuit goals.
 • Optional custom ingame SMS messages that explain some of the "lore" and mechanics of Crossfire.
     PS: There's also the "Lore bits" section in this file, which explains everything about the "lore".




────────── ■ │ SPECIAL HEAT LEVELS │ ■ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


  ──────────//    Heat 07    \\──────────
  ──────────\\ Bounty Attack //──────────

 You'll lose Bounty every 15 seconds. Your goal is to rack up as much Bounty as you can. The max Combo is 10.
 There are multiple vehicles with different purposes; make up a strategy in order to get higher bounties.
 Feel free to post your high scores in this mod's comment page! I'd love to see how far players can go.

 TIP: Abuse the pursuit breakers to earn the most Bounty and plan an escape route, the cops respawn quickly. 

 NOTE: Avoid activating any feature in another mod that changes or randomizes the default color of Racer cars,
       as these colors are an easy indicator of the vehicle's function (see below). Without them, you'd need
       to look at their models.

 • Low-Value Target    - State Cruiser
 • High-Value Target   - Heavy SUV
                       >>> Also recharges your Speed Breaker if wrecked!
 • Phantom Vehicle     - Unmarked Civic Cruiser; can't be touched - destroy it with a Pursuit Breaker.
 • Bomb & Super Bomb   - Red vehicles; reskinned State and Federal cruisers, respectively.
                       >>> Also drains/depletes your Speed Breaker if wrecked!
 • Bonus & Super Bonus - Green vehicles; reskinned State and Federal cruisers, respectively.
 • Combo Keeper        - Blue vehicles; Renault Clio. Easy to kill, use it to keep your combo high!
 • Surprise Vehicles   - Unmarked Federals; only appear in roadblocks; can either be a bonus or a bomb!
 • Flinging Rhino      - Rhino car, reskinned Cross; if you touch it... well, see for yourself.




  ──────────//  HEAT 08  \\──────────
  ──────────\\ Road Rage //────────── 

 In this mode, you'll be chased by strong NPC cars who got tired of you making their insurance more expensive.
 Since they are not cops, NONE of them will show up on your radar!
 They're so angry that one of them broke physics itself.

 • MANY NPC vehicles with varying masses. In general, bigger = heavier.
 • Flying Sedan as a helicopter.



  
  ──────────//   HEAT 09  \\──────────
  ──────────\\ On the Run //────────── 

 In this mode, you can be busted at very high speeds and from large distances, so never stop running!
 Here, you will face two categories of cars with multiple types: 
 CHASERS are weaker, faster vehicles, while ENFORCERS are stronger, slower ones. 
 There will be many strong roadblocks, so don't expect to avoid them by just staying on the highway.

 NOTE: You might see "A wall/obstacle was hit" pop-ups during the pursuit. This happens when a cop crashes
       onto a roadblock, thus destroying the roadblock vehicle and triggering the pop-up.

 • Chasers            - Civic Cruiser, State Cruiser, Federal Cruiser, Cross (invincible)
 • Enforcers          - Heavy SUV, Ambulance, Firetruck, Semi truck (invincible)
 • Roadblock vehicles - Heavy SUV, Ambulance (invincible)
 • Phantom roadblock  - Civic Cruiser, only shows up when you're close. Pay attention to the lights!
 • Flinging Rhino     - Same as Heat 07's.




  ──────────//     HEAT 10    \\──────────
  ──────────\\ Invincible FBI //────────── 

 This is the same as Heat 06, but with a twist: all cops have infinite health and mass, including roadblocks.
 Good luck surviving. 

 TIP: Roadblocks are mostly made of infinite mass Heavy SUVs, but they always have ONE Light SUV model with
      Superheavy SUV mass. If you can't avoid the roadblock, try to hit the Light SUV instead.

 Feel free to post your survival times in this mod's comment page!
 Frustration is expected. Heat 06 and 10 were built to be very hard.




────────── ■ │ OPTIONAL FEATURES; EXPLANATIONS │ ■ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

────────── • BLACKLIST • ────────────────────────

 • Adjust Milestones in Career mode [WARNING!!!]
 New milestones with new goals, replaces the vanilla ones (many thanks to rng_guy for the scripts).

 WARNING: Use this feature ONLY on new save games. Do NOT use it on old aliases, or else the game may crash
          as soon as you get in a pursuit in Career mode. If you want to play the Career in an old save, do
          not install this option. This is because it removes old milestones and adds new ones; however,
          the game does not properly update that for old aliases and still looks for the old ones - which
          don't exist anymore, making the game crash.

 HEADS-UP: This feature only removes the vanilla milestones, in order to replace them. If you have non-vanilla
           milestones from a different mod, they'll still be there, which may cause issues.


 • Unrestricted Heat levels in Career mode
 Sets the max possible heat level to 6 for all blacklist members, which means you can face Heat 6 even before
 beating Sonny.



────────── • PURSUIT • ──────────────────────────

 • Use Heat 10 in the final pursuit
 Forces the final pursuit (the one after beating Razor) to use Heat 10. Good luck.

 • Slower Bustable player speed
 Lowers the minimum player speed required to stop filling the Busted bar; in other words, you can escape from
 being busted more easily, as you'll need less speed.

 • No automatic Heat escalation
 "Disables" automatic Heat escalation. You'll have to increase your Heat by destroying cop vehicles.

 • Always use max heat available in pursuits
 Makes heat transitions instantaneous, which means pursuits will always use the max heat available.



────────── • CHALLENGE SERIES • ─────────────────

 • Harder Challenge goals
 Makes most pursuit stages from the Challenge Series harder by increasing their goals.



────────── • FOR FUN • ──────────────────────────

 • Invincible Mode
 Gives you (and all racers) immobile object collisions, making you invincible even for Heat 10 cops!

 • Absolute Chaos.
 Makes ALL cars in the game extremely bouncy and adds negative drag. Works with Invincible Mode.

 • Rhinos that fling you
 Makes Rhinos in all Heat levels (except for the "Bonus" rhino from Heat 07) behave like the flinging rhino
 from Heat 07, which means you'll get flinged very far upon colliding head-on with them.
    PS: Rhinos need low health for this to work, making them easy to kill.
    PS: Rhinos need infinite mass for this to work; as such, avoid crashing into the wrecks of "dead" rhinos.
    PS: Using Invincible Mode with this makes you phase through the Rhinos.



────────── • BINARY OPTIONS • ────────────────────────────

 • Install healthbars for cops
 This will install the bundled healthbars.asi mod by trelbutate, which adds working healthbars for cops.
 This is recommended for Heat 07, but it doesn't change much in other Heat levels due to high health values.


 • Custom SMS messages
 Crossfire edits some ingame SMS messages to include some little bits of "lore" about the mod.
 They explain where the cops from Heats 3, 4, 5 & 6 come from, as well as some more stuff, mechanics and tips.


 • FOR FUN: Spawn 15 Rhinos at once
 This option will make 15 Rhinos spawn every time they are called. Good luck evading all of them!




────────── ■ │ "LORE" BITS │ ■ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 If you enable the "Custom SMS Messages" option, some of the career's SMS messages will include small lore
 bits regarding Crossfire. However, not everything can be there, which is why this section exists.

 This section contains "spoilers" (if you can even call them spoilers) about what the SMS messages contain.


────────── • HEAT 05: The Crossfire Division • ────────────────────

 Some years before the events of Most Wanted, street racing was so widespread that many cities decided to fund
 anti-racing units in their police departments, which became the Street Racing Units (SRUs, Heat 3 & 4 cops).
 However, some cities, like Rockport and Palmont, were so dominated by organized racing crews that these units
 were not enough to protect the citizens. As a result, those cities created their own overspecialized forces
 that had ultimate authority over pursuits; Rockport's became the Crossfire Division, led by Sgt. Cross, and
 Palmont's became the Sage Battalion, a more decentralized unit. They consider almost any officer who isn't
 part of their forces to be dead weight, as they would have worse cars and less experience; only the best in
 the department are allowed to join them in a priority pursuit.

 Soon, the CFD became highly controversial due to their methods. Many of their agents were former racers, and 
 they did not care for public safety; they'd use anything at their disposal to bring down a target. Some years
 after the events of NFS Carbon, street racing had relatively calmed down. This, coupled with the public
 outrage towards the CFD's methods and their failure to arrest Rockport's most wanted racer, led to the force
 being disbanded. The Sage Battalion followed not long after.



────────── • HEAT 06: The FBI's VRT unit • ───────────────────────────

 The Crossfire Division wasn't the only overspecialized anti-racing police force. In fact, it was created as a
 not-so-extreme solution, with the FBI's special unit, the Vehicle Response Team (VRT), acting as a final, 
 absolute measure against street racers. They only exist to completely lock down a city's streets and
 arrest every single racer in the area. As such, they are only deployed in times of extreme chaos. These
 agents are even more ruthless and skilled than the CFD and, therefore, just as controversial - however,
 they don't suffer as much backlash. This is because a city must be SO chaotic when they're called that the
 public actually wants them to act, and to act fast - and they do.

 As the Rockport situation escalated, with the player taking down the Blacklist one by one, the FBI began to
 consider stepping in. They finally did a few days before the race against Razor; however, they remained
 unseen by the racers. Their plan, crafted in conjunction with Mia, Cross and the RPD, was to wait until
 the race came to an end, as all Blacklist members would be in the same place. While the VRT was effective in
 pursuits, this was a much better option. However, one racer, the player, escaped the area. Outraged, Cross
 ordered every single one of his CFD agents to chase after the player. The FBI also joined the pursuit, and
 the result was an extremely aggressive chase in which both the FBI and the CFD attempted to take down one
 single racer at all costs, who managed to escape. This pursuit was covered by news agencies all around the
 world, and other street racing crews treated the elusive player and his silver BMW as legendary.

 Years later, the VRT was given better cars, state-of-the-art pursuit equipment, and they weren't restricted
 to unmarked vehicles anymore. During NFS Rivals, the situation at Redview County was absolutely chaotic. As 
 a result, the VRT was called in, and an extremely controversial war between racers and the FBI broke out.
 In the end, they restored order and managed to arrest most racers, with the exception of F-8 and Zephyr.



────────── • Sergeant Cross • ────────────────────────────────────────

 Cross is a sergeant of the RPD and leader of its anti-racing police force, the Crossfire Division (CFD). He
 is a prominent figure in the RPD with a special carelessness regarding public safety, which made his division
 quite controversial. A former racer with ties to Darius, he saw his job as a great opportunity to chase the
 bounties of notorious racers. He's a narcissist - his car's paint and his unit's name are both after himself.
 His skills, however, are feared by racers and praised by other officers. After the Rockport fiasco, in which
 the most wanted street racer on the country escaped both the CFD and the VRT, the disgraced sergeant was 
 expelled from the force and went back to being a bounty hunter, now in Palmont city.

 PS: The "former racer" part is made up by me - I'm not sure if he was actually a racer or not.




────────── ■ │ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS │ ■ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

This mod wouldn't be possible without the following: 
 • NFSMW Bartender, by oldmanjenkins (rng_guy);
 • NFSMW SpeedFixer, by oldmanjenkins;
 • Open Limit Adjuster, by gaycoderprincess;
 • Healthbars mod, by trelbutate;
 • VltEd, by nfsu360;
 • Binary, by MaxHwoy;
 • NFSMW Extra Options, by the ExOpts Team; 
 • NFSMW Unlimiter, by nlgxzef;
 • rng_guy and other members of the community, for their very generous help (thumbnail by rng_guy too);
 • and obviously, the Black Box team for making the game we all love, even if their code is jank.

 You are allowed to use any parts of this mod anywhere. 
