"
Suffering awaits. And boobs." (cit. Dioxine, author of the mod)
Foreword: Wellcome to this (very amateur and unofficial i strongly underline
) FAQ/genaral strategy guide for the game! I hope you enjoy the info provided here, as well the real spirit of the game. The version used to write this thread is 0.96 one, so future version may bring some changes, so better keep on eye on the main thread, updater regulairly when a new version is relased. So with no futher ado, let's start!
- Hey, what is this Extended Piratez?
"
Extended Piratez" (often referred as "
X-Piratez") is an enhanced total conversion of "
Piratez" avaiable for win and linux OSses (as far as i know). It's labelled as
extended because, differently from piratez, uses an improved version of the openxcom executable named "
Openxcom Extended" (hence the name) that brings more features and customization to the game. Game plot is actually quite intriguing: game is set in the year 2601 and player will act the part of a band of mutant pirates which have been themselves organized, struggling for power and wealth and eventually conquer the whole word ruled by the misteriuos "
Star Gods". The planet earth is divided into totally different nations form nowdays, and there are many different factions that act in them, sometimes ignored sometimes supported, sometimes opposed by the local governments; the only allies the pirates may count on is the mutant population, often discriminated.
- Wow seems cool! How I download and install on my computer?
Game is avaiable on the
openxcom mod portal or at
a MediaFire host provided by the author, most updated link is published on this forum (if the former should be down) and comes with latest of openxcom extended executable but only the one for windows; linux users have to download the executable for their system and change file permissions to executable (linux support was intruduced way back with the0.72 version, although it did not use the exetended version of openxcom but relied on the "vanilla" one) other technical details i reported are listed
here), also please check the bottom of the post for a tidbit of technical info
As for updating, just delete the old version of the mod, which is located in the subdirectory
/user/mods/
and replace its content with the new one. Be sure also to import your saved games by moving them into the new
/user
directory (saved games instead go here). Please note that you may use the version you download with all the other mods, provided those are compatible
Ok, now since we've learned how to get the game, here we go with gameplay info/questions/tips, there are mainly three aspects players have to keep in mind engaging the game, since it was made aiming to be a real challenge even for experienced player, and requires a whole different gamestyle in comparison with other openxcom mods:
First point: Game mechanics. Game starts with very low tech weapons & tecnology, so player will be outgunned from the beginning, but still can manage to fight unarmored enemies; therefore since the parts played are the pirates one, we have to intercept other ships, you can't hunt high and low the planet, must instead carefully plan your move and choose you preys, and then only whrn you have sufficent firepower/powerful craft then think of attacking better vessels, moreover the
"Bonaventura" (initial ship you're provided since the very beginning) uses "
Nuclear Fuel, which can be either looted and bought at the black market, but you must once again manage with extreme caution, since if it runs out and yuo have not money to buy it, you game is substantially ended (as it says in the ship description in the bootypedia!)
Second point: Research.A s in the vanilla game is the core of it; in the mod is even more important since the pirates are using very low tech weapons, therefore investing in an oculate research progrmam is mandatory: To start, I'd recommend
Spring Cleaning, which also give access to
Decripted data discs, necessary in the later game, and makes possible using "
Pile Of Junk" to obtain some raw materials to manufacture things in the workshop, "
Our Abilities" (to gather some basic info on the mutant pirates) and then "
Primitive Weapons", "
Flintlocks and Bombs" and "
Basic bullet Manufactory" that are giving access respectively to bow, crossbow and barbed dagger, flintlocks weapons (pistol and musket) and the relative ammo, plus some other such as the blunderbuss one. Also interrogating alive prisoners is crucial, even more than researching looted items, since they provide important info on what you may make. Important are also"
Basic Armor", that will give access to "
Warrior" armor production and unlock"
Tools and Blades". Eventually also "
Poisons & Acids" to produce flasks of acid and later to make acid ammunitions. "
Bigger Guns" instead gives the know-how to build the boarding gun.
Third Point: Combat. There are loads of ranged weapons, each of those have different features and is for different purposes and strategies, also lots of melee/hand to hand combat weapons are present, lots of close combat occours especially in the beginning and there are lots of stuff to dispose, these are quite useful in progroms and urban combat since in these mape there is a lot of scenery that may be used for coverage, so do not understimate those. One research note: once you research "
Our Abilities" you will learn that actually piratez are able to see better in the dark in comparison to humans, but to get advantage of this you must walk into battlescape mode with personal lights turned off (pressing the L button on the keyboard) only in such way you may sneak next to enemies, but if you did so and you walk into their line of sight you won't be able to ambush them anymore, so player really must watch their step.
Fourth point: Funding. There are essentially three way to finance your struggle:
- first is "protection" extorted from the nations on the planet and follows your results, the more your actilns will scare people and givernments, the more you get paid;
- Second is doing missions and assaulting ships and looting buildings and people, lots of suff can be sold for profit, once a mission is accomplished all the loot obtained is yours to use/research/sell;
- Third is manufacture, that is to say making weapons and stuff to be sold for profit, mostly alchool and valuable items.
Closing note for linux users:First of all, it is requested the linux executable to start the mod, since the one provided with the main downoload os for wondows only; the unix one may be downloaded from the
openxcom extended forum. As openxcom, xpiratez needs SDL libraries otherwise it won't start, to get these assuming you're on Ubuntu Linux type in a terminal:
sudo apt install libsdl1.2debian libsdl-gfx1.2 libsdl-image1.2 libsdl-mixer1.2
Please use the option --no-install-recommends to avoid unnecessary packages. For Arch Linux users there's a mini-howto kindly provided by Captaincorckscrew
here. If you like to have a launcher on your desktop various linux distros within their desktop enviromes provide graphical tools to get the job done, to create one manually some hints are
here,
here and
here (the file must be saved with the .desktop extension). I am currently using the 01-16-2019 openxcom exetended executable file Also, i stringly recommend not to use the very latest executable version with linux, since there are possible some probles like i reported
here. Better to stick with the one that matches the relased version.
That said, please pay a visit to Xpiratez bootypedia page, which is
here. Lastly, in this thread you're gonna find also some screenshots taken during the gameplay, saved games (startin from 0.96 version and up) and some other stuff (hopefully) useful; but keep in ind that i play at "jack sparrow" difficulty level - and with the tech tree viewer disabled - so thinghs may get harder/hotter...
Good luck, don't get hurt and have a nice slaugthering!!