Change Notes:
2.0.0.2
Updated Mercury to use the new CAB model and added 1 in 6 chance to be in the Starleague cache start
Further corrections to the effects of Pilot Quirks
Corrected reward for Battle of Tukayyid
Fixed extra target in Clan Assassination missions
Added 50T extra leeway for Drop Costs on the mission "The Gauntlet" as they give minimum tonnages and the employer asks you to bring heavy
Corrected Easy difficulty to have the HBS extra armour on torsos
Corrected description of LB 10-X Cluster ammo to correct shots per ton
Updated Inferno Ammo description to let the player know they do not benefit from Artemis IV or Narc.
Corrected the Mercury 98's description Yang gives when obtaining the 'Mech
Multiple fixes for Flashpoints, including Linux compatibility
Corrected ATM Weapons to be using the correct ammo bins for HE and ER modes

2.0.0.1:
Fixed Linux compatibility
Switched out UrbanMechs from the Training Day and B Team missions
Added missing events from MRB
Fixed Spector quirks
Added Large Engine perk to Excaliburs
Corrected Cautious Quirk to be the right way round and for it to stack with Gyros
Updated Firebee to be using the latest CAB model
Minor typos fixed

BEX Tactics 2.0.0.0
Installation:
Remove the contents of the BATTLETECH\Mods directory, or rename the directory or move it elsewhere if you want to keep a backup.  If you do not have a BATTLETECH\Mods directory then you are fine to continue to the next step.
Download the latest version of the CAB and update to the latest version.  Install location is <Your BattleTech directory>\Mods.  Do not use the legacy CAB, CAB install mode should be: All.  After the installer has finished it's operation ensure the CAB directories are in the BATTLETECH\Mods folder, there should be 12 directories all beginning CAB (at time of writing).
Copy the contents of the BattleTech Extended zip file to the BATTLETECH directory.  This is important, do not copy the contents to the Mods folder, it needs to be one level up, where the BattleTechLauncher.exe can be found.

Credits:
Several people have put in yeoman's work to make this update possible.
Hounfor has produced Mech icons, provided buckets of 'Mech definitions, refreshed old flashpoints to fix problems and better balance them as well as providing many fixes and lots of testing.
	Hounfor has released his own flashpoints that are a fun ride but are less focused on lore than the goals of the mod so are not included, but I can recommend to you as an addition if you would like to try something new.  As before though, as it is a mod not included with the release of BEX, if you install these mods then you are unable to use the bug reporting tool or speak about bugs outside of #other-mods on the discord server.
MRB has provided many flavourful events to better immerse you in the lore of the universe and multiple new flashpoints that are based on events in the canon.
Kierk provided multiple fixes that have been included.
0x1d7 has allowed use of his mod that helps with memory issues in BT, lengthening play session length before issues of memory leaks may occur.
Cpt.Moore has provided additional performance based mod improvements.

A quick forword about the changes.  Modding for me is mostly a project for fun, it's the creativity that keeps me interested.  As such I am often playing with changes just to see how it plays out, and some changes will get scrapped and unused.
A lot of the changes I make and try out are because I think things can be better, such as the Evasion changes, but often I am also trying out tabletop rules as an inspiration.  I will often not add tabletop rules, I don't like the more often one shot kills like ammo explosions, or I think movement of 'Mechs being reduced by heat isn't actually fun to play with, so it is implemented but turned off.
Several of the changes in this update are heavily inspired and in some cases one to one tabletop rules.  This is not a case of me just changing the game to match the tabletop as some kind of grognard loyalty to the original rules.  This is a case of I was playing with the rules and I just found this new version a more desirable game to play for me.
I encourage you to see if you also find this new version fun, but I have deliberately implemented them so that they can be turned off easily if you are a HBS Battletech purist, or you prefer the old system.  Next to some changes in these patch notes is a "quoted" setting in the mod.json found within the BT_Extended_CE directory.  If you want to return to the old system, just set those settings to false as desired.  I have designed it to be modular and balance changes around them only occur if they are turned on.

Additional Content
	Several flashpoints created by MRB have been included that occur variously in the timeline.
	Lots of Mechs have been added to the game, filling in some gaps from the Xotl tables that can now appear depending on date, faction, and unit.  Many additional new variants have been added from the most recent source books and added to the appropriate look up tables.
	Many post helm core Vehicles have been added to the game, using Helm Tech technology and appearing based on date.  Vehicles are always considered second line, so can appear for militia, mercenaries or even pirates when they begin to appear on the market.  Better equiped units will use post helm core vehicles at a higher rate.
	Many new munitions and many new weapons.  Munitions are variant ammo types that can be used for existing weapons.  In 3025 that is just tracer ammo for Autocannon 2/5/10/20 and inferno SRM ammo for using in your SRM launchers, the rest and all the weapons come on different dates post Clans in varying rarity.
	Clan weapons have upgraded versions only obtainable in higher tier missions.  Clan missions allow for a lot more tonnage before drop costs are encountered, allowing for more than 4 'Mechs.
	Shop inventories have received a large overhaul.  Mechs have been updated.  Now much more accurate to the distribution of Mechs for the faction that owns a planet, they also change over time.  Post helm core Mechs are still unatainable from standard shops as before, but changes such as Cataphracts and Ravens, and newer variants becoming more common sights will occur based on date.
		Technology, weapons and ammo have been adjusted in availability, by faction, based on the Interstellar Operations source book.
	A few new bits of technology are out there, sometimes in secret places for building your 'Mechs.
	Lots of new news events created by MRB, especially covering dry news periods.

New Features
+System Map overhaul
	A large overhaul of the map, including the addition of many new factions.  Basic shops for systems that have no population, and lots of tweaks and additions for accuracy and variety.
	Pirates (and criminals) are regioned now, each having their own reputation tracked of your Mercenary company.  Within the sphere itself you will see criminal organisations who are employing the use of Mercenaries.
	Black Markets, while sharing the look they would have in previous BEX versions, have their own unique things that can appear (Mechs/Weapons), based on where in the Sphere they are.  This includes very rare 'Mechs, 'Mechs that have in a general sense become extinct, or even helm core 'Mechs.
+OPFOR Battle Value balancing
	Enemy lances, Mechs or Vehicles are now massaged towards an average Battle Value while staying 100% accurate to Xotl's random Mech/Vee distribution for Mechs and Vees. *explained how below if you care
	The variance in mission difficulty based on displayed difficulty has been reduced
+Random Access Tables overhaul
	Massive rework to switch from an abstract A/C/F type system using Xotl's tables, now the tables are used for all equipment ratings A/B/C/D/F, and exacting in how they do it.  Then source books have been scoured to apply appropriate equipment ratings to all units.  The ratings are indicated on tooltips for units and some factions as Exceptional/Very Good/Average/Poor/Awful.  If an equipment rating is not given it will be using Average rating.  You may want to pay attention to local units more closely now to target the units using Beserkers instead of Chargers.
	Source books were scoured to refine the look up tables further.  Tables were stretched through the timeline to give appropriate changes and possible helm core tech to: All pirates, Periphery nations, Mercenary tables for A/B/C/D/F equipment rating, unique factions like Wolf's Dragoons. Pirates have been appropriately regioned.
	Note that the rating is per faction, per date.  Average in 3025 is very different to 3057.  Kurita assaults average is vastly different to Steiner assaults average.
+Evasion Rework
	Previously evasion charges would provide +2 to hit per charge, but could be stripped by being shot at or other means.  This added a tactical element to uses of Multi Shot, Sensor Lock, and who to activate and when, however it meant that survivability from speed and the usefullness of Evasion didn't scale well with the amount of guns on the field.
	In the Tabletop game 'evasion' is a permenant thing, not being 'stripped'.  But changing to this method would remove the tactical element provided in this game, while also not providing a tactical counter to fast 'Mechs speed.  It would make the Light Mech stage of the game, with low Gunnery, very miss heavy for example.  With the old Bigger Drops patch there was a 'roll' to keep Evasion as a means to help it scale with the more guns on the field, but I was not a fan of this random way to try to keep evasion relevant.
	Now with the rework, what will occur is that when you move you will gain Evasion charges as before, but each Evasion Charge is worth +1 to hit while providing +1 Sticky Evasion.
	Sticky Evasion is indicated next to the Mechs name seperately from Evasion Charges.
	Stripping an Evasion Charge will lose the target the +1 harder to hit from the Evasion Charge but the +1 to hit from Sticky Evasion cannot be stripped.
	'Sticky Evasion' can only be lost from becomming Unsteady or Prone.  Weapons that ignore Evasion before, such as support weapons, will not ignore 'Sticky Evasion', providing some survivability against those damage types.
	This means that the value of evasion will scale better from the amount of guns on the field, will improve the usefullness of speed in combat, while also having the intended effect of slightly lowering the global usefullness of Sensor Lock/Master Tactician builds, and keeping the tactical elements provided by stripping Evasion Charges.  A Mech or Vee that gained 4 Evasion Charges will be at minimum +4 to hit from having moved, and be +8 to hit before any evasion charge stripping as before.
+Movement Modes - "UsingRunMovementRules"
	In the HBS game movement was seperated between Move, Sprint and Jump Jets.  Move was a merge of Walking/Cruise or Running/Flanking in Tabletop rules.  Running has been added to the game like Tabletop rules.
	When selecting a 'Move' you will see that the mouse hover info will change from Walk, or Run depending on how far you are moving.
	Running will make shooting +2 more difficult to hit for a Mech or Vee, and also generate more Heat than walking.  Walking generates 3 heat, Running 6 heat, and Sprinting 9 heat.  Sprinting means you cannot shoot, as before and tabltop rules, unless you have a special Mech component.  Also with this new system Vehicles cannot sprint, but can 'Flank', the equivelant of Running.  The AI is also operating under these new rules and is aware and will choose to Run or Walk accordingly.
	With this turned on you cannot Run in water. Sprinting in water, while possible to increase the smoothness before combat starts, is heavily reduced and often not more than Walking.
	Melee damage has been adjusted to reflect the new engagement ranges provided by Running.  Walking, Running and Sprint distances are adjusted directly to Tabletop values, while evasion gain has also been adjusted to Tabletop equivelancy with slight adjustments to work with the HBS game.
	Vehicles are unable to "Sprint"
+MASC Functionality
	With Movement modes and Mech Components on MASC is no longer just a passive buff.  Now a MASC equiped 'Mech can Run further or Sprint further.  When selecting where to move the failure rate will be indicated.
	In the result of a failure a crit will occur on both legs.  The chance of failure increases if you use the MASC system in consecutive turns, have rest turns to reduce the chance.
	Using MASC when Sprinting applies stability damage to yourself.
	The AI will use this against you without being brainless.
+Tabletop like Weapons and Ranges - "TabletopWeapons" (requires Mech Components switched on)
	Check weapon and equipment tooltips, lots of info is provided about how they work, and much may have changed from previously.
	Previously there was an optimum range and a long range for weapons, with some weapons having a minimum range.
	Now weapons have 3 range brackets, short, medium and long, including support weapons.
	Pay attention to the chevrons that show around a target when you are selecting a movement location or target.  Previously you would see a chevron change between gold or grey to indicate optimum (gold) or long or minimum (grey).  Now a gold chevron indicates mediun range while a green chevron indicates short range.
	With these changes minimum range is also adjusted, rather than being a flat +8 to hit, weapons within the minimum range increase in difficulty to hit, scaling, the closer you are to the target.
	With this functionality change a lot of balance changes have been made to various weapons.  Longer range energy weapons generate more heat.  Longer range ballistics do less damage.  Pulse lasers are now very accurate naturally, rather than ignoring some evasion.
+Missile Changes
	As part of the weapon changes, switched on with the same option, Missiles are reworked in functionality.  A more faithful tabletop representation has been implemented while keeping the good parts of a video game implementation.
	In TT rules you roll to hit, and if you miss all missiles are spent and all will miss.  If you hit, you roll on a table to determine how many actually hit.  This is a 2D6 table with steps of amounts, for example an LRM 20 could hit with 6, 9, 12, 16 or 20 missiles, nothing less, nothing inbetween.
	I have implemented a Cluster Modifier that will affect LRMs, SRMs and other missile weapons that is applied AFTER hit % is calculated.  So if your to hit after all modifiers is 70%, the cluster modifier, which as standard is 63% is applied.  70% * 63% = 44% chance to hit for each missile.
	The cluster modifier is exactly representative of the Cluster table from the Battletech Manual, and when applied to hit %'s will mean that it has the exact average amount of missile hits as the tabletop weapon would.  Following this, missile damage and stability damage has been increased per missile.
	This has also allowed me to implement Narc, Artemis IV and AMS almost exactly as it worked in tabletop, affecting the Cluster modifier.
	Hit chances are going to look a lot worse but damage and stability are similar because of the increased impact per missile.  Gunnery skill gives you improvements to these various modifiers at different levels.
	Note, this cluster modifier is also applied to UACs in rapid fire mode.  Also of note, cluster 2 weapons, UACs and SRM 2 have slightly better modifier than Cluster 3 weapons like ATM 3s, which are better than 4s and so on, until cluster 5, LRM 5s.  Everything 5 and above has the same modifier.
	With these changes ECM is slightly changed.  Rather than providing both the ghost effect and a +to hit to missile weapons, the +to hit has gone, and in it's place ECM will stop the effect of Narc Missile Beacon and Artemis IV LRMs/SRMs.
+Bigger Drops
	Bigger Drops is now integrated as standard but with lots of changes.
	You can now potentially take up to 8 Mechs if you make the relevant Argo upgrades, this isn't a neccesity as you can use the drop tonnage for heavier 'Mechs in a single lance if you wish.  The enemy do not gain additional forces as in the previous Bigger Drops patch.
	Previously you would incur drop costs on higher difficulties based on the weight of the Mechs you was taking on a mission.  This has been reworked.
	You can take up to the weight of a mission difficulty, +25 tons, without incurring any costs, no matter how many 'Mechs you bring.
	However now on all difficulty modes if you take weight above and beyond the difficulty of the mission you will incur some extra logistical costs, scaling based on how far over the difficulty weight you are.  If you want a lore explanation, the contract provider is covering the logistical costs as appropriate for the mission, above this is at your cost.
	Your choice of 'Extended Difficulty' in Career settings will also affect the amount of tonnage before you encounter drop costs.  Lower difficulties provide larger drops before costs are incurred.
	This is a cost you can choose to incur to over weight a mission, but at the cost of less reward for completing it.
+Vehicle Rebalance
	Vehicles are slightly more of a threat on a like for like basis, however the weight class of vehicles will be less for the same difficulty as before.  So larger vehicles generally will only occur in higher difficulty missions.
	Vehicle armour is not reduced from tabletop values as it was previously.  This was reduced by a percentage before, so low armour vehicles, such as SRM carriers, will not change much.  High armour vehicles will be tougher to crack.
	Vehicle evasion gain is now equivelant to Mechs.
	+Motive Systems
		Vehicles, when hit in either the Front, Rear, or Sides, have a chance to have their Motive System damaged, even through armour.
		Motive System damage effects are a stacking reduction in movement allowance.  The chance to damage the Motive System is affected by crit bonuses on weapons and will increase as structure is damaged.
		A side hit is twice as likely to damage the Motive System than a front hit.  A rear hit is 1.5x as likely as a Front hit.
		Wheeled vehicles are 1.5x more likely to have their motive system damaged than tracked vehicles.  Hover vehicles are twice as likely as tracked.
		The Motive system damage effect was introduced to help convoy ambush missions, to help with the speed introduced from the new Run rules, and to help against the speed of Hover vehicles introduced in BEX.  It will help give SRMs and more intentionally LBX Cluster rounds more of an identity on a battlefield with vehicles.  However as represented on tabletop by the Cluster 5 of LRMs and MRMs, they will have 1/5th of the chance to damage the motive system per missile of any other weapon.  Meaning machine guns, Cluster rounds and to a lesser extent SRMs are a good choice to reduce a vehicles speed, they will be more effective than LRMs, or single shot weapons.
	Mechs are still kings of the battlefield, but the difference isn't as much of a gulf as before.
	Remember, on convoy ambush missions you can have a 'Mech standing in the evacuation zone (Denial Zone) to stop them evacuating, allowing you time to eliminate them if they get there before you can achieve your objective.
+Mech Components, actuators etc. - "TabletopComponents" / "TabletopComponentsAllModes"
	Unchanged from before, this feature has been enabled in all difficulty modes because of the fun factor without affecting difficulty to much degree.

Other Changes
	Updated 'Mech quirks to the latest version of the BattleTech Manual.  No/Low torso twist is pretty much gone, 'Mechs that had the quirk have other quirks instead, as per official rules.
	(Only if the weapon ranges functionality is turned off, which is turned on by default) UAC functionality has changed.  Previously I attempted to balance UAC's around extra heat build up.  This has been changed, heat build up has been made linear through the modes, but rapid fire now has a to hit penalty to bring it somewhat in line with the tabletop cluster table roll where two hits is less common than one.  The AI has been updated to choose an appropriate mode after these changes.
	Lots of skills have a slightly modified effect to gel with the new changes with Piloting 8 being completely new.  Please read the changes in game.
	Clanners are now much more honourable and less likely to choose to use a melee attack
	Fixed being able to load a save or start a new game (outside of missions) without having to restart the client. <Check known issues>
	Fixed Streak weapons to not cost heat on a miss
	Fixed UI placement around Clan 'Mechs
	Fixed missions against Aurigan Directorate where they shouldn't be
	Height based accuracy bonuses are capped at +3
	The following are now applied for all modes, including Easy: Heat based changes to accuracy and overheating, reworked bulwark
	Hit values are true values, unlike in vanilla where values to hit were fudged to help alleviate player biases.  The one exception is a player only bonus.  Known as a streak breaker, it will give you (hidden) bonuses to hit if you miss too much, essentially removing those missions in game where you do nothing but miss.
	Countless balance adjustments
	Countless other fixes and improvements
	
+Extended Difficulty Levels
	Unlike before there is an option for Extended Difficulty Level in setting up a new game.
	
	Easy - Enemy combatants are randomly skilled with no relation to what they pilot
		+50t lance weight before incurring additional costs
		Starting Mech and Tech values are easier than other difficulties
		Mechs have HBS increased maximums for armour on the torso locations
		Pilots are able to reach 10/10/10/10 in skills
	Normal - Enemy combatants use more appropriate skills for what they are piloting
		Greater chance of the OPFOR using appropriate munition types
		+25t lance weight before incurring additional costs
		Mechs have Tabletop maximums for armour on the torso locations
		Resolve Generation in late game is slightly reduced
		Pilots have an XP cap and will eventually stop earning XP before they reach 10/10/10/10
	Hard - Enemy combatants use more appropriate skills for what they are piloting
		Even greater chance of the OPFOR using appropriate munition types
		Mechs have Tabletop maximums for armour on the torso locations
		Resolve Generation in late game is slightly reduced
		Pilots have an XP cap and will eventually stop earning XP before they reach 10/10/10/10
		Less bonus accuracy is gained by using Precision Strike

Known Issues
	Loading a save game while viewing the system map screen will crash to desktop, loading a game while you have another save open has a chance to crash to desktop.  Switching to the main menu screen before loading will have the highest success rate.
	Rarely a 'Mech may be displayed as pink in the players 'Mech bay
	Occassionally the second lance may be dropped in a stranded position.  If you are bringing jump capable 'Mechs, put them in to the 2nd lance slots.
	
*Previously a mission will decide difficulty of OPFOR primarily by the weight class of opposition.  So an easy mission may be 4 light Mechs.  But for a given faction the variance of that could be 4 Stingers, Wasps and Locusts or alternatively it could be 4 of Firestarters, Jenners and Panthers, depending on your luck on rolls.
Now, as a way to stay 100% accurate to the xotl tables but lower the variance in difficulty, if there is more than one Mech or Vee for a faction of the same weight class then they are pulled from different parts of the xotl table while covering the whole table.
eg. 4 Light Mechs now might pull 2 Mechs from the lowest half in Battle Value for that date, Faction and Unit.  Then it will pull 2 Mechs from the top half in Battle Value.
Or it may pull one Mech from the bottom third in Battle Value, one from the middle third, and one from the top third, with a fourth Mech rolled from the whole Light table.
As you should be able to see this doesn't make OPFOR lances equal in Battle Value, or stop the OPFOR being accurate to Xotl, but what it does do is massage the enemy towards an average Battle Value, and reduce the extremes in differences that can occur.

TIPS FOR THE VETERANS
Jump Jets are more of a situational or survival tool now, rather than a force multiplier offencive tool. Woods and water terrain is more costly now, as such heavily consider bringing jump jets in Jungle biomes as an example, especially if time is an issue (Target Aquisition).
	Not bringing jump jets in a Target Aquisition that drops you in a water map is a sure fire loss.
When selecting where to move pay attention to the chevrons around potential targets to see what range brackets you would be in, and whether a move would be a run move or not.
Hover over weapons to get a feel for why hit chances might not be good in a situation, you are likely to learn something.  Missile/Rapid Fire modifiers will make hit chances look bad, but you are doing more damage per missile now, and Rapid Fire is ALWAYS more damage average than single shots, at the cost of ammo and heat efficiency.
Hit chances will feel lower in general but base hit chance is higher.  Obtaining optimal results like range brackets and move choices are more key to getting good hit chances.  Sticky Evasion is going to make 'Mechs that choose to use their movement more survivable in general.
Each move is a weighted choice of accuracy vs survivability.  How you weigh up those choices in different moments is what is deciding your success rate.
Check those weapon and equipment descriptions.