Author Topic: [FULL MOD] UFO & TFTD Rework (silent update: Jan 1, 2017)  (Read 60235 times)

Offline Orz

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[FULL MOD] UFO & TFTD Rework (silent update: Jan 1, 2017)
« on: January 27, 2016, 06:41:58 pm »
So I've been kind of holding off my "reworked" versions of both UFO/EU and TFTD for a couple months now. They've been practically finished a while back—in fact, I've already played each about 3-5 times from beginning to midway/end for testing (primarily pacing). However, I always find myself tweaking little things here and there so I never feel quite ready to make an "official" release.

Anyway, this was originally a strictly personal project created for strictly personal use, so it was not at all in my plans to make any public release at all. Besides, this is nothing fancy like the total conversions or super-mega mod packs that are out there already, so it may not appeal to everyone. Again, I really just made it for myself.

But whaddayaknow? I figured there's nothing to lose either way, so here it goes... 

Oh, and yeah, Orz goes by many names (or fingers?), and will therefore go by Illamasqua for these mods.

WHAT THIS IS
Vanilla sundae with strawberries on top. In other words, a more tasty vanilla game: re-balanced, improved & enhanced, making it slightly more challenging while keeping the original feel/atmosphere intact.

WHAT THIS IS NOT
A total conversion or heavily modified mod (I mean, it is rather heavily modified, but not in the sense of content addition—no new weapons, for example).


MAJOR CHANGES

(1) Alien Containment facility no longer available from the start. It now requires research of certain UFO component (either one of two) before facility may be properly unlocked. Main reason behind this: extend Laser/Gauss utility while delaying Plasma/Sonic (+ Blaster/DPL) as alien weapons now require an initial live alien "interrogation". Alien Containment should be unlocked by May/June at the earliest and August/September at the very latest.

(2) Alien race changes: [UFO only] Floater & Snakeman replaced for Waspite & Gazer, respectively. Reason: (this may come out as odd but) I never quite liked Floaters and, although Snakeman was a little bit better conceptually/aesthetically, I didn't want to have too many aliens flying around and I needed to make room for newcomers.

They don't have the same stats as Robin's mod, however, for the very simple reason that they'll be appearing early on and would be a little too OP othwerise. While Gazer keeps Holodrone as terror unit, Waspite was paired up with Celatid (slightly nerfed). Reason: with Cybermite there were too many mechanical units and not enough organics, plus it made Cyberdisc's explosion upon death a little redundant. On that note, Muton now goes along with Sectopod instead of the Celatid/Silacoid pair. Celatid was left with Waspite, and Silacoid was completely scrapped as it was practically useless (just like Reaper). Also, Ethereals now come with a Sectopod/Cyberdisc terror duo. Finally, added one more alien race: Anthropods. These are a little buffed, alongside their Spitter terrorists, as they'll be more of a mid-game enemy, almost on par with Mutons (which are now a little tougher as well). Oh, Chryssalids mostly appear on terror missions too.

[TFTD only] Not many significant changes. Deep Ones were made a little less fragile (always felt sorry for those guys) and Triscenes get better under armor. **PENDING** a new 5th alien race (although Carcharodon fits nicely, I'm still looking for a more Cthulhu-themed end-game alien, then I could add the shark guys as well to make a total of 6 aliens races just like UFO/EU).

Oh, and every race now gets all 6 ranks from Soldier to Commander.

(3)  All weapons/equipment reworked. The gist is this: Pistols are good for compactness & snap/reaction shots, Rifles for sniping & higher damage output, Heavies for balance & supressive fire at the cost of weight/encumbrance. Also: Auto-Cannon/Hydro-Jet reworked to specialize on auto-fire (higher accuracy). Small/Thermal Shok Launcher can fire and reload on the same turn now. Blast radius reduced to 3, however (as previous 5 and 7, respectively, was too large and could take out entire crews packed together). Medi-Kit, Motion Scanner/Disturbance Sensor & Mind Probe/Reader TU cost reduced to a small percentage (rather than flat TU cost), while Psi-Amp/MC Disruptor increased significantly (reason: discourage MC spam). On that note, Medi-Kit now recovers 12 stun (from 4) and 30 energy (from 10). Also, High/Magna-Pack Explosive damage increased to 200 at the cost of weight and greater blast radius. Reason: used to open up UFO hulls and blow up tougher enemies, but risky! (Can't throw from too far away due to weight, plus if you don't take distance you'll get caught on the blast.) Similarly, Blaster Launcher damage increased to 210 (just like DPL). Reason: open up UFO hulls late game, but big enough for HWP/SWS's to access (4 tiles as opposed to 1). Also, some item armor changes (especially UFO/EU items, borrowing from TFTD's better armor values—particularly when it comes to grenades/throwables). Oh, and Sonic Pulser's power dropped down to UFO/EU's 90 (as 120 was a little bit OP even by my hard-mode standards).

[TFTD only] Hydro-Jet Cannon, Torpedo Launcher, Disruptor Pulse Launcher & Coelacanth/Aqua Jet now capable of operating on land just like everything else (their respective UFOpedia entries slightly adjusted to reflect this). This may be reverted back later, but it feels good for now.

All other changes (including weapon damage, TU cost, weight, clip size, etc.) were very minor.

(4)  Recoverable Elerium/Zrbite reduced to 25 from 50.

(5)  Reduced USA's initial funding to 450 from 600.


OTHER (MORE MINOR) CHANGES

— Start off with Medi-Kit & Motion Scanner/Disturbance Sensor. No longer researchable/manufacturable. Purchasable for a price instead. Reason: makes no sense that these people don't already got these items at the start! Plus, limit early research to Laser/Gauss (which should be your first breakthrough).

— HWP/SWS cost & transfer time reduced. Reason: make them more viable (less monetary loss) as opposed to opting for all-out Soldier/Aquanaut teams.

— Large Rocket/Torpedo & Incendiary/Phosphorous costs swapped. Reason: encourage use of Incendiary/Phosphor. (More on this down below.)

— Personal/Aqua Armor & Power/Ion Armor now require certain alien corpses before they may be researched :O

— Other research changes: Some research topics have slightly different requirements, while some also take longer to unlock (notably Laser/Gauss tech). Main reason behind this: give new weapons and technologies some actual utility (as opposed to skipping each tier altogether by going straight to the more powerful techs in less than 1 month). Also, vanilla TFTD's research tree was a little screwy in some areas, this was patched up here.

— [UFO only] Laser weapons & Tank/Laser now require clips, just like Gauss. Also, Tank/Laser gets reskin (from Alloy Tanks mod). Still pending Coela/Gauss reskin.

— [TFTD only] Coelacanth/Gauss now has its own manufacturable clips (no longer shared with Gauss Cannon).

— Tank/Laser & Coela/Gauss got slightly improved armor.

— X-Com crafts can be sold now for a hefty price (still not a viable "cash cow" item due to time spent/wasted on manufacture).

— Other manufacture changes: Minor changes in terms of time, cost & item requirement mostly. Plus, slightly reduced sell price of "cash cow" items (which was a major game breaker).

— New mix of alien crews, both for regular UFO crashes/landings, alien bases & terror missions (usually towards mid-late game). Lots of interesting combinations. Reason: more variety/unpredictability.

— More organic flow/transition of alien tech from early to mid to late game. Plasma/Sonic Pistol may still show up late game, though very rarely. Reason: variety/diversity. Game pace should be longer than vanilla now, so more deadly weapons needed to be pushed back a bit. On that note, alien deployment item-sets reshuffled for balancing. UFO/EU, especially, gets more changes to more closely match TFTD's better item loadouts (one notable difference being more grenades!). Reason: make UFO/EU slightly more challenging.

— Practically all alien recoverable items (weapons/equipment & UFO components) have sell prices halved. Reason: reduce cash flow.

— Armor changes: Various minor tweaks here and there. One main change would be alien's incendiary/phosphorous damage modifier: they now take more damage in general. Reason: give incendiary/phosphor weapons more utility (other than just illuminating night terrain). Also, removed Gauss resistance from most TFTD aliens. Gauss feels like an actual improvement now! Reason: the very tech that's supposed to give you your first advantage against the aliens is weak against them? WTF?

— Soldier/Aquanaut stats tweaks: lowered some starting & cap values. Reason: too OP late game. Lowered throwing starting max stat to 70 (from 80) and Psi-Strength to 60 (from 100), especially considering aliens themselves have a highest Psi-Strength of only about 40 average. Also increased minimum Psi-Strength to 10 and put cap on Psi-Skill & Psi-Strength at 80 (from 100, both of them). Values subject to change later, but so far so good.

— All aliens get higher Psi-Strength values. Reason: more MC training required (on field too) to increase chances of mind control. Also, all alien races capable of using psionics now, at least at Commander level :O (This may be changed later.)

— Craft weapons rebalance: Slight range, accuracy, damage & ammo adjustments, hopefully preventing spam of certain weapons and increasing viability of others. Better starting craft Cannons. Also, Gas/Cannon & Laser/Gauss Cannon accuracy increased. Sonic Oscillator/Plasma Beam ammo reduced. Avalanche/DUP purchase costs doubled (reason: encourage use of cheaper Stingray/AJAX early game). Fusion/PWT Launcher ammo increased to 3. Rearm rates also improved for all weapons. Etc.

— [TFTD only] Survey Ship and Escort mapblocks were swapped in vanilla. Here they've been swapped back to what they should be (some hold that UFOpaedia & intercept images were also swapped, but they seem fine to me so I've left them unchanged here). Battleship and Fleet Supply Cruiser had their intercept images mistakenly swapped too (not the mapblocks or UFOpedia images). This is also corrected here.

— Facility list at base re-ordered. Reason: more intuitive arrangement. Also, some costs & build times revised. For example, Small Radar/Sonar cost, build time & maintenance reduced to encourage use (more affordable than Large/Wide-Array Sonar early game, good for setting up new bases). Also, a small attempt to improve (encourage use of) base defense facilities by making them quicker to build and giving them higher percentage hit ratios.

— A few UFOpedia entries got reordered (notably alien weapons and base facilities) and a couple got new images, notably UFO/EU's Alien Surgery & Examination Room. Reason: those entries had Floaters in them, and Floaters no longer exist in this game.

— Cydonia/T'Leth levels completely redesigned in terms of alien deployment. Should offer some of a challenge now. Reason: was way too easy previously.

— Some items/topics got slightly renamed.

— Plus a dozen other little changes I can't remember right now.


(for post-release changelog see THIS post below his as this one cannot exceed 2000 characters so I had to relocate section)



KNOWN BUGS

After researching an item/topic with more than 1 corpse-related dependency, a "we can now research" message will come up listing all the corpses (provided there's at least one currently stored at your base) linked to said item/research. This is a corpse-related research bug only.

Same goes for UFO component dependencies if they share the same research/topic.


SPECIAL THANKS

Mostly Arthanor, Hobbes, Warboy, SupSuper, xOps, hellrazor and Dioxine for suffering through some/most of my ruleset questions when I was just getting started <3


DOWNLOAD LINKS (latest update: Jan 1, 2017)

Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.4b
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.4
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.3d
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.3c
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.3b
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.3
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.2e
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.2d
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.2c
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.2b
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.2
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.1c
Illamasqua's UFO Rework v1.1b
Illamasqua's UFO Rework (old)

Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.3bb
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.3e
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.3d
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.3c
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.3b
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.3
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.2c
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.2b
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.2
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.1f
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.1e
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.1d
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.1c
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework v1.1b
Illamasqua's TFTD Rework (old)
« Last Edit: January 01, 2017, 11:03:24 am by Orz »

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2016, 06:42:24 pm »
[UFO/EU] ALREADY INTEGRATED MODS & BORROWED RESOURCES

— Alternate LIGHTNING/THUNDER v1.12 by hellrazor (+ added more intuitive troop deployment like the other crafts + 2 HWP capacity)
— Matching Weapons Colors v1.1 by trollworkout
— Improved HandObs v1.2 by Ivan Dogovich
— HQSounds v1.0 by Daedalus (+ added Waspite & Gazer deathsounds from FMP version)
— Anthropod v1.5, Gazer v1.7 & Waspite v2.3a by robin (with stats, armor, etc. adjusted accordingly)
— Golden Cydonia Underground Base from Final Mod Pack v1.8
— Alien Inventory v2.0 by Ivan Dogovich
— Muton Commander v1.0 by Phaedris
— Armored Muton (green one) from XenoOperations v0.957 by xOps
— New TU-Reserve Interface v1.0 by Civilian
— Cleaner Desert v1.0 by Civilian
— Alien Reproduction Data by Warboy1982
— Shower & Bath basebits from Improved Living Quarters v1.0 by Dioxine
— 2 UFOpedia image replacements by Duke_Falcon
— XComUtil: High Explosive Damage (+ larger radius)
— Aliens Pick Up Weapons
— TFTD Damage Model

I believe that's everyone. If anyone has been forgotten, just let me know.

NOT INTEGRATED (BUT RECOMMENDED) / POSSIBLY PENDING LATER INTEGRATION

TFTD Damage Model (thinking of integrating it later) ALREADY INTEGRATED
Luke's Darker UFOs v0.86 by TurkishSwede/Luke
Extra Battleships v1.0 by Cooper (compliments Luke's lack of Battleship variations)
*NEW* Darkened UFO Vanilla Variants v1.0 by hellrazor, luke83, TurkishSwede, Cooper, etc. (replaces above two mods)
— Hobbe's Terrain Pack v3.7 by Hobbes ** (discontinued, so may have issues)
— Power Armor Redux v1.0 by Moriarty/Warboy (I didn't integrate already in case anyone feels particularly nostalgic about that odd/peculiar vanilla helmet with the weird lens!)
— Explosions Recolor v1.0 by Arthanor (may integrate later)

** Hobbe's Terrain Pack v3.7b (Edit) adjusts alien deployment itemsets for TFTD's Port Attack to match regular terror mission loadouts. Mod attached down below (re-uploaded Mar 12):
« Last Edit: March 12, 2016, 04:41:29 pm by Orz »

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2016, 06:42:35 pm »
[TFTD] ALREADY INTEGRATED MODS & BORROWED RESOURCES

— TFTD Crafts Reskin v1.1 by Roxis231 (only HAMMERHEAD & LEVIATHAN models used, TRITON was left same as vanilla, HAMMERHEAD got 2 SWS capacity and all craft got more intuitive troop deployment) *NEW* v1.2 by Roxis231 with much needed MCD patches
— TFTD Combo Patch v1.5 by Civilian (slightly edited: Tasoth & Deep One UFOpedia recolors not implemented here, kept vanilla versions instead)
— Couple borrowed resources from Xeno Wiper (namely: fixed sprite colors for Diving Suit's boots & bigOb corpse, Aquatoid bigOb corpse, HJC's phosphor ammo, a few improved floorObs for couple items, and color-fix for 2 stat bars in aquanaut screen; with possible further additions later)
— No Tritons in Base Defence v1.0 by liberation
— XComUtil: High Explosive Damage (+ larger radius)
— Aliens Pick Up Weapons

NOT INTEGRATED (BUT RECOMMENDED) / POSSIBLY PENDING LATER INTEGRATION

— Civilian's TFTD Sub Variants v1.0**

** Civilian's TFTD Sub Variants v1.1b (Edit) only keeps Civilian's own variations (1 for each craft) as the other designs took too many "artistic liberties" and didn't quite fit the original models so I left them out. Mod attached below for those interested (re-uploaded Mar 12):
« Last Edit: April 01, 2016, 01:33:22 am by Orz »

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2016, 06:42:47 pm »
ADVANCED OPTIONS

ABSOLUTE MUST ***PENDING INTEGRATION***
-- [GEOSCAPE] UFO Extender accuracy ***DONE***

COMPLIMENTARY/OPTIONAL
-- [GEOSCAPE] Aggressive retaliation
-- [GEOSCAPE] Force craft launch
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Sneaky AI
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Inventory Stats
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Enhanced soldier sprites
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Save pre-primed grenades (mainly to prep up Some/Dye Grenades)
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Explosion height (at least 2)
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Smooth Bullet Camera
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Confirm Fire mode
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Allow psi-capture
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Allow Psi-Strength Improvement
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Alternate movement methods
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Override Line of Fire
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Suppress panic messages for aliens
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Alien bleeding

NOT RECOMMENDED
-- [BATTLESCAPE] Allow weapon self-destruction (you will need to make money from alien loot)

ALSO, NOT RECOMMENDED MOD
-- XcomUtil: Starting Defensive/Improved Base (adds Alien Containment right from the start)
« Last Edit: February 08, 2016, 11:43:43 pm by Orz »

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2016, 09:07:14 pm »
CHANGELOG (changes are so many and so minute most of the times, it's hard to keep track of every tiny little detail) Latest Update: March 31

— [UFO/TFTD] Added cheatTurn: 30 for Terror Mission, Base Defense, Battleship, Alien Base Assault and final Cydonia level for UFO/EU, and Terror Missions (Port, Island, Cruiser & Cargo Ship), Artifact Site, Base Defense, Dreadnought, Alien Base/Colony Assault and first 2 T'leth Levels. Final T'leth level gets cheatTurn: 40. (Not sure if cruise/cargo ships need that too at level 2.)

— [UFO/TFTD] Increased Elerium/Zrbite recovery points to 25 per 25 (instead of 5 per 50) ***NOT WORKING***, UFO/Mag Navigation to 10 (from 5) and doubled/reverted sale price to original 80K (from 40K) to be more line with Power Source/Ion Beam Accelerators with recovery points at 25 and sell price at 12,5K.

Feb 6 update
— [UFO/TFTD] Reduced manufacture cost of Alloys/Plastics to 1000 (from 3000) so that it may be your earliest profitable manufacture (sell for 3250).

— [UFO/TFTD] Added clips to Plasma Beam & Sonic Oscillator, as well as Hovertank/Plasma & Displacer/Sonic. Also corrected minor sound issue (all Laser weapons were using the same fire sound).

— UFO/EU's difficulty level brought up to TFTD's standards! No longer for sissies :P

— [UFO] Finally added Muton Elite (Armored Guard) to Cydonia's final level. These dudes are Muton Soldiers on steroids and they are so morally firm they won't panic if you drop Blaster Bombs on their pails or leaders! Also, put back Ethereal Ascendant (haven't decided on white "negative" sprite or purple one, but I went with first/original choice for now) to guard Brain Room. These little additions are just to give the player a little bit of a "final battle" feel to Cydonia. May also add tougher Sectopod (alloy sprite) later.

— [UFO only] Speaking of which, re-reviewed all aliens' stats, armors & damage modifiers again (what a pain in the @ss), including for terror units. Biggest change may be Sectopod's overall armor reduction (since we're now using TFTD damage model), but it got more health and less Laser weakness. Armor still strongest in game, though. TFTD re-review still pending

— [TFTD] Removed 'retaliation: false' oversight from Mixed Races.

Feb 8 update
— [UFO only] Added Sectopod "mecha" movesound :O

— [UFO/TFTD] Lowered Psi-Amp/Disruptor TU cost to 36% (just like the aliens) from 66%. I get that MC is super cheap, but limiting it to only once per turn with such low success rate early on takes all the fun away from it.

— [UFO only] Fixed minor weight issue with Waspite and Gazer whose original weight (20) was causing their corpses to "disappear" under their weapons. Adjusted weights to 30 and 40, respectively, more like other aliens. Problem solved.

— [UFO/TFTD] Flying & Mag. Navigation Armor new requirement (aside from previous Power & Ion Armor: Hovertank/Plasma & Displacer/Sonic, respectively. Reason: Push flying armors a bit back, obviously, as they give a tremendously huge advantage once acquired. The "excuse" behind this is miniaturization: first, you can make UFO crafts of your own, then flying HWP/SWS, and then anti-grav armor for your troops.

— [UFO/TFTD] Addded UFO Extender accuracy to all weapons manually (only difference with original is Auto/Hydro-Jet Cannon now having auto-range 7 and snap 15 like the rest of the other weapons instead of 5 and 10, respectively).

— [UFO/TFTD] Increased Alien Containment and Psi/MC-Lab Capacity to 15 each (prev. 10).

— [UFO/TFTD] Mind Probe/MC Reader's only requirement now is just Sectoid/Aquatoid Corpse.

Feb 13 big update
— [UFO only] Made Cydonia Landing mission a 60x60 map with height 6, which allows to fly over pyramids (previously 50x50 height 4), and increased total alien deployment to 16 min, 31 max with +8 random (previously min 12, max 20). This was a MUST (in fact, I originally made it 70x70 but I figured most players may consider it a bit too much so I dropped it to 60x60).

— [UFO/TFTD] On that last note: increased height to 6 (from 4) for all "open environment" maps except alien UFO/SUBs. In other words: Terror Sites, Cargo/Cruise Ships (part 1), Artifact Site (part 1), Alien Colony (part 1).

-- [TFTD only] Reduced size of Alien Colony part 2 to 50x50 (from 60x60). Reason: it's not that 60x60 is huge, it's just that it's a 3-levels/tiers maze! One thing is walking around one flat tier/level alone, another altogether is searching 3 levels/tiers of multiple rooms on a large 60x60 map. Was also temped to increase shade to 5 (from 0) to add to the "hidden movement" experience, but I left it was it was for the time being. I would have reduced part 1's size (60x60) as well, but map is hard-coded.

— [UFO only] FIRESTORM rebranded THUNDERSTORM to be more in line with LIGHTNING.

— [TFTD only] Finally split Drill family into just 2 tiers: Vibro Blade & Heavy, 80 and 130 damage respectively (accuracy also improved slightly.) Reason: 3 Drills are just unnecessary as they all kill most aliens in one hit just the same.

— [UFO/TFTD] Entire alien deployment re-reviewed (serious pain in the @ss). Minor weapon loadout changes here and there. Perhaps "biggest" changes are:
(1) Commanders no longer drop for Base Defense (they stay in their Dreadnoughts/Battleships while the rest of the crew does the mopping below!). Capture a Commander (to unlock final mission) now requires actual Dreadnought/Battleship raid or an Alien Base Assault. Reason: not gonna hand Commander over on a silver platter :P
(2) Changed number of aliens deployed in Alien Colony Pt1 & Pt2 to more closely match those of UFO/EU's Alien Base Assault. Reason: not only are alien bases 2-parters in TFTD (and labyrinthine mazes on second level), but the actual deployments are overwhelmingly high: whilst UFO/EU has 12/22/6 (min/max/+random) TFTD has 20/31/13. Soooo... we have come to a "middle ground" and settled for 17/26/9 for both mods to (a) make TFTD's alien bases less tedius and (b) make UFO/EU's a bit more challenging.

— [UFO/TFTD] Also removed psiSkill from all races (Commanders), now it's more like vanilla: (UFO) Sectoid Medic, Leader, Comm: 30, 45, 60. Ethereal Leader, Comm: 50, 60. Muton Comm: 50. Waspite Comm: 45. Gazer Comm: 35. (TFTD) Aquatoid Medic, Navi, Comm: 30, 45, 60. Tasoth Navi, Comm: 40, 50. Gill Comm: 35. ***Probably wanna change research so that these ranks only unlock Psi-Amp/MC-Disruptor?

Feb 16  update
— [UFO/TFTD] Reduced reactions, firing accuracy & melee caps to 80. Reason? I cannot believe this game used to be played with 120 caps! I had already dropped them to 100, but no matter: once soldiers hit 80 they won't miss a thing and it's no fun to have perfect accuracy all the time. Be grateful I have decided to still leave Bravery & PsiStrength at 100...

— [TFTD only] Added stun attack (snap only, 55 TUs, 110 damage, 5 blastRadius) for Hallucinoids and updated UFOpedia to reflect this (as an aside, when I first played TFTD some years back I remember these nightmarish jellyfish stunning my entire team on alien colony assaults! I wanted to bring that nostalgia back). Also increased their stun resistance so they don't stun themselves out (but can still be stunned).

— [TFTD only] And while we're at it: added dye weapon (snap only, 55 TUs, basically the same effect as a dye grenade) for Xarquids. Now they fit UFOpedia's description. They won't use it as often (they'll reaction-fire with their regular sonic attack) but will occasionally spurt some ink at ya! Also removed their dye/smoke vulnerability to go along with it.

— [TFTD only] RE-REVIEWED (again) stats, armor & damage modifiers for all aliens, including terror units. Now the UFO/TFTD 2nd major re-review is complete and I can take a rest. No huge changes, though, but should make everything better. Because Calcinite is the only terror without any kind of ranged attack, increased its health exponentially but reduced its armor somewhat. This will allow it to take lots of hits before it goes down. And it makes sense, because of the whole "amorphous mass of ectoplasm" thing.

— [UFO only] Finally! Tank/Laser reskin got matching-color corpse.

— [UFO only] Pistol, Laser Pistol & Plasma Pistol got a little reskin. And Laser Rifle as well. Also, Laser clips got a little purely aesthetic change (not completely satisfied with it, but it'll do for now).

Feb 18 TFTD-only update
— [TFTD only] Removed Xarquid's ink spurt. Reason: makes them less deadly/threatening. If I make it too cheap (TUs), they'll snap with it over their regular sonic attack. If I make it too expensive, they won't have TUs left for 2-3 consecutive sonic attacks. And dropping range to just 5 doesn't make much of a difference: once close to your aquanauts, they'll just resolve to spurting ink and then swim around in the dye without attacking.

— [TFTD only] Finally edited Magnetic Ion Armor's spritesheet to display missing orange "grav-pack" on land so it looks just like underwater when "flying." Now it looks good, no more awkward flying.

— [TFTD only] Corrected Diving Suits bigOb color from white undersuit to light blue. It simply didn't look right since there's nothing white about it, it's all blue. Also did same for Plastic Aqua Armor: from (again) white vanilla undersuit and light-green gloves/boots to dark greenish-blue suit with white gloves/boots to match actual inventory sprite. (May wanna do the same palette change to spritesheet later since it's almost undistinguishable from Diving Suit's light blue look.)

— [TFTD only] Also implemented Xeno Wiper interface color swaps which makes reactions and strength bars in soldier stats/info screen better to read/distinguish. As well as minor bigOb corpse color corrections for Tasoth (orange crest to red) and Aquatoid (green skin to blue).

— [TFTD only] Added meleeHitSound to drills (used Calcinite's melee "thump!" in absence of better sound FX). And did the same for poor Triscene's melee attack too (previous "tap" was extremely underwhelming for such a gargantuan mouth, to say the least).


Because maximum character length has been exceeded in this post, it has been continued HERE



TO-DO-LIST

PENDING/TESTING (short-term)
-- [TFTD] Swap Battleship intercept/pedia sprite with Supply Cruiser. *NOT WORKING**
-- [UFO/TFTD] Maybe increase terrorist research points to 150 (from 50) to give them some sort of "benefit"?
-- [UFO/TFTD] Research: unlock alien weapons by rank. Reason: encourage live alien research (also has the side-effect of getting more alien craft UFOpedia entries, which is generally lacking)? DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Re-review item loadouts for aliens since those with Blasters/DPLs ain't using them! DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Remove corpse req from Mind Probe/MC Reader? DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Add UFO Extender accuracy to all weapons manually. DONE
-- [UFO] Also, add Armored Muton and Ethereal Ascendant for final Cydonia mission. DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Review difficulty levels, maybe bring UFO/EU up to TFTD's standards? Also review statGrowthMultipliers (may wanna add some health?). DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Ro-order deployment rank order so that Commanders don't go first in reverse order down to Soldiers (only final missions)? << BAD IDEA (spawning determined by rank order as listed in deployment, don't want terror units in the wrong places)

PENDING (mid-term)
-- [TFD] Make separate mod for Cruise/Cargo Ship missions 1-parters to make them less tedious?
-- [UFO/TFTD] Create 2nd type of non-recoverable Alien Grenade/Pulser to (1) reduce player's cash flow from selling loot by the hundreds and (2) allow me to give aliens more grenades?
-- [UFO/TFTD] Re-review/rehaul alien stats & armor. Stats increase by alien rank. Also review terrorists. DONE
-- [UFO] New Laser clips still pending (purely aesthetic). DONE
-- [TFTD] Remove Vibro Blade. Make it simple, just 2 drills: Thermic and Heavy Thermic? The 3 drills are just unnecessary as they all kill Lobsters just the same. DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Psi-attack by alien race rather than all-race Commanders: 3 Sectoid, 2 Ethereals, 1 Muton? (TFTD) 3 Aquatoid, 2 Tasoth, 1 Gill? DONE
-- [UFO] Give Anthropod only one type of Spitter? Reason: same Spitter appears (in name) as 'duplicate' in base's store, research screen, Soldier Diaries, etc. RESOLVED (Just used Naked Corpse version for all Spitters--this doesn't change the Soldier Diaries so Naked version will still appear as such)
-- [TFTD] Correct display of DYE, ELECTRIC and DRILL (TFTD still using UFO's SMOKE, ACID and MELEE). DONE (decided to keep as it was for SMOKE & MELEE, only changes to ACID/ELECTRIC)

PENDING (long-term)
-- [TFTD] HQSounds like UFO. Including better interface sounds.
-- [TFTD] More mapblocks/terrain variations, especially for Port & Island Terror.
-- [UFO/TFTD] Make HWP/SWS "corpses" recoverable? Use scraps to refurbish at workshop.
-- [UFO/TFTD] Add/display damage modifier values on UFOpedia alien files?
-- [TFTD] Fix pathing of new TFDT craft (pretty much done by Roxis, but still needs a couple touch-ups, such as being able to climb atop the HAMMERHEAD, etc). DONE by Roxis
-- [UFO/TFTD] Review and rework UFO statistics to improve intercept fights. DONE
-- [TFTD] Coelacanth/Gauss should get a color reskin like Tank/Laser. Preferably light grey with touches of orange to fit Gauss weapons style. DONE
-- [TFTD] Add inventory images for all aliens. POSTPONED
-- [UFO] Tank/Laser reskin still needs matching-color corpse (currently uses vanilla/brown one). DONE
-- [TFTD] Improved hand-obs like UFO DONE (TFTD Combo Patch 1.5)
-- [UFO] Add "mecha" moveSound to Sectopod. DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Review weight of corpses and other items. DONE
-- [UFO/TFTD] Review space items occupy at base. DONE


OTHER PENDING MODS
-- [MOD, TFTD] 5th TFTD race. Shark Guy from XenoOps is good, but TFTD should get one final Chthulu-themed alien. Its sorely missing and game feels half-finished without it! It does build up all this expectation with the whole "Great Dreamer" lore and all we get is Lobsterman (which I love, but one kinda expects some kind of squid/tentacle alien to show up in the end!).
-- [GRAPHICS, TFTD] Alt/recolored explosions to work both on land and underwater. Currently works only on land and crashes game underwater. Same goes for all other sounds (they'll work just on land). DONE
-- [GRAPHICS, TFTD] Flying Magnetic-Ion Armor on land is missing the orange "gravity pack" that it has underwater. This is because Mag-Ion Armor was originally designed to only "fly" underwater so it doesn't get it on land. DONE
-- [TFTD] Future idea: use Silacoid's sprite to spawn Calcinite's formless mass of entrails upon death! And give it new ranged attack: spew acid (TFTD electric, but whatever). DONE


FEATURE/MOD REQUESTS (+ BUG FIXES)
-- [BUG/FIX] Corpse-related research bug (same goes for UFO components).
-- [QOL] Allow deployment of HWP/SWS without full ammo (this would also get rid of "not enough ammo" messages). DONE by Meridian for OXCE
-- [QOL] Add UFO radar window. This would be similar to intercept window, only that instead of listing your interceptions this would show all UFOs/bases currently detected by radar (with respective type/size, location, mission, etc.). Useful when there's over 10 red dots flying around all at once. 
-- [QOL] Display number of days in Psi/MC training. This could be in both/either (a) soldier's stat screen and (b) Psi/MC-Lab screen. Why hasn't this been implemented already?
« Last Edit: April 01, 2016, 01:45:42 am by Orz »

Offline harre

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2016, 12:42:20 am »
Looks interesting. I will definitely try this out when I'm done with my current epic game :)

Offline Roxis231

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2016, 06:08:31 am »
— TFTD Crafts Reskin v1.1 by Roxis123 (only HAMMERHEAD & LEVIATHAN models used, TRITON was left same as vanilla, HAMMERHEAD got 2 SWS capacity and all craft got more intuitive troop deployment)

Orz - You do realise you haven't asked permision to use my work for your mod - right?

First: If you wish to use someone else's work for your mod, You should ask for permision first. While some people might not have a problem with this I do. Every one else who has wanted to use my work has asked for permision first. (or at least before they released their mod)

Second: While I don't mind the fact you have made changes to the deployments as that's something I'll let you do, I have a problem with your changes to the craft capabilities - When people borrow my designs, one of the things I prefer is that there are no changes to the graphics or ruleset's. This is so any further updates to my mods can be added in with no problems, and given the changes I'm haveing to make to the Hammerhead for the next release there's a chance it will.

Third: My handle is Roxis231 not Roxis123.

PS: This statement is not a rant but a polite complaint. I'm doing it this way because I've had people steal/claim my work as theirs before, This is one of the reasons I stopped modding for the Sims and Sims II several years ago.

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2016, 01:20:08 pm »
Orz - You do realise you haven't asked permision to use my work for your mod - right?

First: If you wish to use someone else's work for your mod, You should ask for permision first. While some people might not have a problem with this I do. Every one else who has wanted to use my work has asked for permision first. (or at least before they released their mod)

Second: While I don't mind the fact you have made changes to the deployments as that's something I'll let you do, I have a problem with your changes to the craft capabilities - When people borrow my designs, one of the things I prefer is that there are no changes to the graphics or ruleset's. This is so any further updates to my mods can be added in with no problems, and given the changes I'm haveing to make to the Hammerhead for the next release there's a chance it will.

Third: My handle is Roxis231 not Roxis123.

PS: This statement is not a rant but a polite complaint. I'm doing it this way because I've had people steal/claim my work as theirs before, This is one of the reasons I stopped modding for the Sims and Sims II several years ago.

First: Didn't realize it'd be such a big deal for anyone. I mean, I understand the politeness factor behind it, I simply assumed "permissions" were a given based on the fact that (a) these mods are released without any copyrights of any kind on completely public/anonymous forums in the domains of a free internet and (b) I would never ever demand anyone to ask me for any "permissions" of any kind for anything I've ever done. What I give is freely given without conditions or expectations of return. Admittedly, perhaps that's my problem (I simply cannot put myself on a lofty pedestal and demand recognition/veneration). But if you wanna get all political correct about it, did you even ask Satan Claus for "permissions" to use s/his craft in the first place? Either way, just say the magic word and I'll remove your slightly modified mod from public sharing. Alternatively, you may consider this my asking for your permission to use it as it is, late in coming as it may be.

Second: Only added 1 extra SWS to the HAMMER, that's it. I did formally ask/suggest you do it yourself a couple times before. You explained why you wouldn't. That's perfectly fine, it's your mod, and I wasn't gonna get butthurt about it. But I really don't see why you can't just keep on updating it as you see fit while others adjust it to their own modding specification.

Third: Sincere apologies for the typo. Considering my meticulous attention to detail, that was a really silly oversight. I'll correct it immediately.

PS: And hopefully this was a polite enough response. If it serves any consolation, you can be sure one as egoless as the Orz won't have the selfishness to steal/claim your own work as their own. I do understand where you're coming from, however, and I wish people wouldn't be such silly campers (what does anyone gain, really, from stealing/claiming someone else's work as their own other than a false sense of achievement? Is there a grander self-delusion?). I recognize your work, though, and I expressively stated my gratitude and ovations towards it.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2016, 01:37:40 pm by Orz »

Offline Hobbes

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2016, 04:32:05 pm »
PS: This statement is not a rant but a polite complaint. I'm doing it this way because I've had people steal/claim my work as theirs before, This is one of the reasons I stopped modding for the Sims and Sims II several years ago.

I must say that before I had wondered about your need to give permission to use your mods, but I now I completely empathize since I've also had people taking credit for my work (not in OXC though).

Offline Dioxine

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2016, 04:52:35 pm »
But Orz didn't take credit for Roxis' work.

I think we should use the open source licence as the legal basis for this. This might be arguable, naturally, but it seems (to me) to be the closest thing in terms of legality. Under the open source, you're not required to ask for permission. You are only required to credit properly, meaning, to the best of your knowledge. From this angle, all where Orz was wrong was a typo in credits.
What's more, asking for permission is superflous if we agree that Author's rights are inalienable, which I strongly support; it shouldn't be legal to grant, sell, gift, or surrender them under any circumstances (imagine the hit big game companies would take if it was universally the law, mekekeke).

So I do emphasize with Roxis for his hurt feelings too, especially since he got cheated before, but there needs to be equality; emotions and justice do not mix well. Everyone has different feelings, wants and needs, but these shouldn't give that person any special rights. Naturally, law is one thing, good manners are another...

Offline Roxis231

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2016, 10:42:29 pm »
The real problem, for me anyway (other than the typo) was that I was not informed first.  I had to learn about it from the posts.

And to the point about the HWP's, its that I am trying to put a 2x2 lift in to let the HWP access the roof, and that might cause problems.

Other than that, in the cold light of day, and after a good nights sleep (and yesterday's coments were a combination of lack of sleep and a VERY bad day) I have decided that I'm ok with this.

Sorry I just reacted rarther the thinking it through.

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2016, 02:06:45 am »
The real problem, for me anyway (other than the typo) was that I was not informed first.  I had to learn about it from the posts.

Duly noted.

Quote
Other than that, in the cold light of day, and after a good nights sleep (and yesterday's coments were a combination of lack of sleep and a VERY bad day) I have decided that I'm ok with this.





SLEEP MY DEAR

Offline Eddie

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2016, 02:15:59 am »
I was also thinking about a late game alien missing in TFTD. Gameplay wise, it should resemble an Ethereal. Floating M.C. masters of the alien hordes. The description of the Lobstermen and Tasoth describe them as warriors like the Mutons, so a master race that controls them is definately missing. The best I could think of until now was armoured elite Aquatoids, with their armor having a floating ability like Mag Ion armor. Research of such an alien could then be prerequisite to that armor, much more fitting than a live Deep One.

I am also missing a floating alien in the early game. I mean, EU has Floaters. TFTD is underwater where one would expect swimming aliens, but no. The only swimming/floating units are terror units. I don't think it would be fitting to make Aquatoids swim. Well, not compleately swim. I could imagine some limited swimming would work, which is "can swim but must end their turn on a ground tile. If not, fall to ground".
My best idea so far for an early game floating alien would be a floating Celatid, converted to a green palette. Lore wise, it is the blob of protoplasma that is inside the Calcinite. One could go further and make Calcinites spawn such a blob on death if underwater. A fitting weapon would probably be sonic and not the Celatids spit. As the inspiration for the blob in the Calcinite is the Shoggoth from Lovecraft, it should retain the melee attack of the Calcinite.

Offline Orz

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2016, 02:35:30 am »
I was also thinking about a late game alien missing in TFTD. Gameplay wise, it should resemble an Ethereal. Floating M.C. masters of the alien hordes.

Absolutely, it always struck me as odd that TFTD didn't have any aliens (terror units excluded) which could "float," especially underwater! So yes, TFTD should have at least 2 "floating" races just like UFO/EU. And I still hold that it must definitely be Cthulhu-flavoured! Like maybe some sort of squid/tentacle humanoid, sorta like the Squidlarkin/Mindlayers of Final Fantasy Tactics:



Just imagine those guys for the final crypt mission at T'leth!

Looks interesting. I will definitely try this out when I'm done with my current epic game :)

It would be nice to hear what you think of it later :)
« Last Edit: January 29, 2016, 03:40:42 pm by Orz »

Offline davide

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Re: Illamasqua's UFO & TFTD Rework
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2016, 02:27:31 pm »

Just imagine those guys for the final crypt mission at T'leth!

It would be nice to hear what you think of it later :)

For now, for O-TFTD there is only a new race:



from a XOps's mod:

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4205.msg57023.html#msg57023

therefore your Squidlarkin should be very valued

I wish you release this new race as a standalone mod too, such as XOps done .
Thanks
« Last Edit: January 29, 2016, 03:10:17 pm by davide »