[BETA][WIP][BUNCHOFSTUFF] Xeno Operations v0.98

[XOps]

Update by Meridian: updated to v0.98 to be able to run on the latest OXCE v7.1, download here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2913.msg142458.html#msg142458

Update by Meridian: updated to v0.97 to be able to run on the latest OXCE v6.6, download here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2913.msg131015.html#msg131015

Update by Meridian: updated to v0.96 to be able to run on the latest nightly and on OXCE, download here: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2913.msg114978.html#msg114978

Current Mod Version: 0.958 Updated on: 1/25/18

What is this mod?
Xeno Operations is a large expansion mod that verges on a total conversion. It adds new weapons, armor, aliens, and maps. It also reworks much of the spritework such as overhauling the artwork for the UFOs and Alien Base. With all of the new content, the tech tree has also been extended in order to give the player enough time to play with all of the new toys.

Installation
Extract the zip file contents into your mods folder. The mods folder is located where your save files are. If you need help, see here: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Installation_FAQ_%28OpenXcom%29#How_do_I_install_mods.3F

Compatibility Issues
XENO OPERATIONS IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH 1.0. You must update to the latest nightly in order to play this mod.
The nightlies are here: https://openxcom.org/git-builds/
For help on installing the nightlies see here: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Installation_FAQ_%28OpenXcom%29
This mod will not likely play well with other mods, especially ones that are similar in size and scope. As such, I consider this a standalone mod for the most part. I cannot offer much support in the case of mod conflicts.

Highly Recommended Settings
Alien weapon self-destruction: YES. The game is balanced with this option in mind. Playing without self-destructing alien weapons will not be game breaking, but it makes it far easier and makes alien weapons far more abundant to the player which renders much of the human weapons redundant.
UFO Extender accuracy: YES. The mod does take this into account and this option greatly diversifies weapons. Playing without this option renders many of the weapons redundant.

Known Issues
This mod is a beta. Expect things to change. I am really bad for gutting systems on a whim and redoing large swaths of the mod if I find them lacking. There is also a lot of areas that I want to fix, but just haven't gotten around to. However, there are a few notable issues that will be addressed in the upcoming versions.
-Clicking on the UAV's camera icon freezes the game. Right clicking fixes this. The camera icon is just for show. It doesn't do anything. It is necessary since I can't have an HWP without a weapon for some reason.
-Much of the UFOpaedia is missing. This will be gradually updated as I go along. Most critical information should be there, like how to win the game.
-Alien weapons are not usable for now. Flavor text will be updated when I get the chance in order to reflect this. If you research plasma weapons and find you are unable to use them, don't panic. That is by design. Updated: They are usable after certain techs have been discovered, but not buildable.
-Pacing is a mess. I can only fix this after feedback.
-Item prices are all over the place. This will be gradually fixed.
-Research times are erratic. In addition, some research items may be cut as I update.
-There isn't much variety in terms of air combat, especially with weapons.
-Weapon balance still needs work.
-List orders are a mess.
-Much of the final end game content is missing. It's not that big of a deal. Most of it is utterly broken in terms of balance.
-The battlescape sprite for the nerve suit is missing. Only the paperdolls are finished.
-Sectopod corpse and UFOPaedia entries don't match the battlescale sprite. I'll fix this eventually.

Tips
These are spoiler free

Spoiler:

-  The Minigun is very useful for base defense since it is basically an area of effect weapon without an explosion. Park a soldier with a minigun at the end of a choke point and laugh. Otherwise it is very difficult to use and probably the worst weapon to bring to a terror site.
-  Xeno Operations armor is great for rookies. Even though it is very weak, it is a cheap armor that boosts shooting. When the rookie's stats improve, they can graduate to heavier armor.
-  It is extremely important that troops don't bunch up. The aliens have a few new area of effect weapons that are very devastating.
-  First Aid Kits are a starting medikit. They are heavy though and are more costly in TUs to use.
-  Use armor colors for quick identification of soldier roles. For example, dress all snipers in blue or put the best troops in black. This allows for soldier identification at a quick glanced.
-  Security stations make base defense much easier. In fact I am a bit worried it is a bit of a game breaker in that area.
-  Corridors are awesome for decreasing build times as they are a cheap facility to connect other facilities. Use them to quickly flesh out a base and then take them apart when you don't need them anymore.
-  Keep a diverse arsenal and make sure to take a wide variety of weapons with you on every mission. You never know when you might encounter an alien that is immune to certain kinds of weapons.
-  Never pass up a codex recovery mission. Ever!
-  Codex fragments can be found in nearly all UFO components.
-  Alien supplies are super useful to salvage. They have lots of a nice stuff so don't sell them.

Xeno Operations Loot Guide
Click on the spoiler to know what's useful and what isn't.

Spoiler:

Useful
-Most recovered UFO components
   -Power Source
   -UFO Computer
   -UFO Sensor
   -UFO Life Support
   -Codex Fragment
   -Alien Entertainment
   -Alien Supplies (very useful)
   -Alien weapons are usable, but they are not buildable so use them sparingly.

Currently useless
-All Alien Gear

Help I'm stuck!
Click on the spoiler for help if you are completely lost. Warning, spoilers.

Spoiler:

Beating the game requires advancing along two separate tech trees.
The first tech tree advances like thus
Any Alien autopsy>Xeno Physiology and UFO Life Support>Alien Containment
Then you must capture aliens for interrogation. You will need, in rough order...
Soldier, Navigator, Leader or Commander, Another Leader or Commander, a Commander, and an Ethereal Commander or Muton Warlord
The other tech tree requires you to research a codex fragment and then build a Codex. Building or upgrading a Codex is expensive, but required to win the game. The Codex must be built through all six stages in order to win the game, though you only have to research each stage once if you wish.
You must also find two Codex Keys to complete the last stage of the codex. These can only be found during Codex Recovery missions. There should be at least two of these missions pop up in the first year (they occur randomly in place of terror missions). During the recovery mission, you must destroy the uplink device and grab the Codex Key. Do not use explosives to destroy the uplink device, or the explosion will destroy the key too.
Once you acquire two Codex Keys and upgrade the Codex to its completed stage, the Completed Codex is used as a component to build the most powerful craft in the game. This is the only craft that can go to Mars.

Codex Mechanics
Each Codex stage has a number of technologies it grants randomly upon being researched. It can be researched multiple times per stage and each stage has a unique set of technologies exclusive to that stage. Upgrading to the next stage replaces those technologies with a new set of more advanced technologies. Each stage takes longer to research than the last, but the technologies it yields are far more powerful and far more expensive to produce.
In summary: The higher the stage, the longer the research times, but the more advanced technologies the Codex grants.
Upgrading a Codex is fairly simple assuming you have the resources and engineers for it. Each stage gets progressively more expensive in money, time, alloys, fragments, and elerium. The balancing act of Xeno Operations is the choice of whether to allocate resources to upgrading the Codex or using those resources to build advanced weapons, armor, and craft. Wait too long to upgrade the Codex and you may find yourself out paced technologically by the advancing alien threat. Upgrade your Codex beyond your current infrastructure and you may find extracting technologies takes to long and the costs of those weapons too high to build.
There is not enough resources or time to build everything, at least not in the early to mid game.

[ivandogovich]

Very impressive looking mod!  Nice work! 

One question:  is this mod strictly ruleset based? or does it rely on a custom .exe?

Cheers, Ivan

[Dioxine]

Impressive amount of work! The sprites look pretty neat too.

[XOps]

Very impressive looking mod!  Nice work! 

One question:  is this mod strictly ruleset based? or does it rely on a custom .exe?

Cheers, Ivan

Thanks! It's all ruleset. It has been years since I did any C or C++ programming. Don't really have time to relearn right now.

Impressive amount of work! The sprites look pretty neat too.

Thanks again! I've gotten pretty good at sprite modification. I still struggle a bit with originals though. I am very proud of the First Aid Kit. Too bad it only gets a month of use at best.

[KingMob4313]

my, my, god god: https://youtu.be/S6TY1JOaplM

You win, I quit!

Seriously awesome work.

[the_third_curry]

That's a strong way to make your first post. The potential of this mod is very high.

[Duke_Falcon]

Is this compatible with Final Mod Pack? I use FMP as basic for OXC so mod-compatibility with that is important for me (I also use the Rail gun mod what adds the mass-accelerator technology to the game).

Anyway, if this not compatible with FMP now, not problem, I shall give it a try for sure! Just be so much awesome to play both mods together!

[pkrcel]

Look very good....seems I'll have to duplicate my 'data' folder once again....

[Yankes]

Is this compatible with Final Mod Pack? I use FMP as basic for OXC so mod-compatibility with that is important for me (I also use the Rail gun mod what adds the mass-accelerator technology to the game).

Anyway, if this not compatible with FMP now, not problem, I shall give it a try for sure! Just be so much awesome to play both mods together!

Probably not, because both heavy modify OXC. Even If it run, balance will be off, because both do it in different way.

[pkrcel]

Well yes, that was my sentiment too. 


ACTUALLY I'll take the excuse to say that all this cropping up of questions like "will this [MEGAMOD] work with [MEGAMOD2]?", "are you going to include content from [ANOTHER MEGAMOD]?", "why don't you include the spork of death mod in yours?"....kinda....misses the whole point of these mods.

EDIT2: having a look right now...hope to be able to give meanigful freedback in the next year days.

[Dioxine]

Look very good....seems I'll have to duplicate my 'data' folder once again....

Same here Btw the whole graphic design reminds me of Shadowrun (the computer game). Was it an inspiration? Or do you simply like anime-ish stuff?

[Yankes]

btw I think this mod should have tag [TOTAL CONVERSION] because of amount of things it change.

[Solarius Scorch]

https://focusowners-social.com/forum/images/smilies/drooling.gif

I'm so going to steal stuff from this for the Final Mod Pack.
(Which is the highest praise possible ever.)

[XOps]

Is this compatible with Final Mod Pack? I use FMP as basic for OXC so mod-compatibility with that is important for me (I also use the Rail gun mod what adds the mass-accelerator technology to the game).

Anyway, if this not compatible with FMP now, not problem, I shall give it a try for sure! Just be so much awesome to play both mods together!

I haven't tested it. Too busy making this mod to play around with the FMP. As others have said, I really doubt it is compatible especially since it messes with the tech tree. I do plan to release some compatibility patches in the future though most of these will be for mods I think compliment this one. Mostly mods that add in aliens, missions, or terrain. Others will likely take care of FMP compatibility. I may also release a mod compatibly list down the road some time. Probably for 1.0.

btw I think this mod should have tag [TOTAL CONVERSION] because of amount of things it change.

I always thought of it as more of an expansion pack.

Same here Btw the whole graphic design reminds me of Shadowrun (the computer game). Was it an inspiration? Or do you simply like anime-ish stuff?

Never played Shadowrun. I read a couple of the tabletop rulebooks and have seen a few of the games. I always thought XCom had some anime-ish elements to it anyways (the Guile hair, oh man the Guile hair). I do like a lot of anime designs, but I got hit by Sturgeon's Law with anime a long time ago.

https://focusowners-social.com/forum/images/smilies/drooling.gif

I'm so going to steal stuff from this for the Final Mod Pack.
(Which is the highest praise possible ever.)

That's cool. Just give credits and all. 

[smexyvami]

so going to play this and had most of what ive bin waiting for! <3 love you sir

Edit:

looking at the armor code you need coustom man numbers to made compatible with other armor mods
something like
Armor

Code: [Select]

  - type: STR_VEST_ARMOR_UC
    spriteSheet: XCOM_17.PCK
    spriteInv: Xenoops_INV
    corpseItem: STR_CORPSE_VEST_ARMOR
    storeItem: STR_VEST_ARMOR
extraSprites:

Code: [Select]

  - type: Xenoops_INVF0.SPK
    singleImage: true
    files:
      0: Resources/XenoOperations/Armor/Inventory/man_4f0.gif