Post by: grzegorj on September 24, 2014, 02:13:54 pm
As long ago as in 1997, some people created new UFO maps as replacements or variants (chosen by the game randomly) of the well-known types which we all know well from our beloved game. Which is more, the original game creators must also have planned different UFOs set(s), and left their unfinished work in game files (see https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2911.0 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2911.0)). My ultimate aim is to revive results of all that job - make it available for OXC (and for the original game, if somebody would like it too), and thus show respect to them and to their work.
I have also found a number of less or more important flaws in more modern maps, made by Luke83 and published in his ExtraUFOs pack. For example: if you install that mod, you cannot have the original Harvester any longer in your campaign (or it would look very strange). It needn't be so, this is a problem that one can solve (even if with some own efforts, sometimes enough painful).
Having considered all of these, I have decided to make my own mod with a large collection of UFO maps. The most basic premise of mine is NOT TO RESIGN of the original maps (so, Harvester variants will still be usable along with the original, unmodified map). I am planning to include as much of maps known to me as possible, to make the campaign more attractive. The sources of the maps will then be:
- original UFOs that are present in data files but not occurring in the game,
- UFOs from MapPack1 by Robert Di Fiore, of 1997 (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/ufo-map-pack-1/ (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/ufo-map-pack-1/)),
- UFOs from MapPack2 by Luchian Deurell and Sam Jeffreys, of 2001 (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/ufo-map-pack-2/ (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/ufo-map-pack-2/)),
- (another) Bird of Prey (provided) by PolynomialRing (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/birdofprey (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/birdofprey)),
- Small Scout by Zombie, of 2008 (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/small-scout-mod/ (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/small-scout-mod/)),
- Extra UFOs by Luke83 (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/lukes-extra-ufos (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/lukes-extra-ufos)),
- New UFOs by SolariusScorch (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/solar-039-s-new-ufos (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/solar-039-s-new-ufos)).
Now the time for my own contribution. The mod will not be only a compilation of existing maps, created by other people. Less or more important changes are needed in maps and especially in route files. Luke's tilesets (UFOL83 and U_DISEC3) used with his maps will also need some changes (esp. U_DISEC3, to make the original Harvester and his Harvesters usable side by side). Reviving the forgotten UFOs from the game files would need creating special tilesets (even if Luke83 has already made some good job in this point).
Moreover, I am planning to add reflected, turned, etc. extra variants as my contribution, and perhaps several personal creations made from scratch.
All details will be described in the included readme file.
As for now, maps of two UFO types (Small Scout and Medium Scout) are ready to tests: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/yet-more-ufos (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/yet-more-ufos). Large Scouts are just in preparation and will be available in a few days with a new version of the mod (20-30 variants may be expected).
All so far published maps are UFO variants, not new UFO types, i.e. you will still have the basic 8 types, and no new Ufopedia entries, no new topics for scientists, etc. So, the only change in the game is that you have more various alien vessels in your combat missions. Thanks to this, the game is less schematic. You will never know where is the entrance to the UFO, and what is its floor plan. You must be more flexible in your tactics then.
I am planning to leave this option for as much new maps as possible. As for now, it will be impossible for all maps, though.
MapPack1 is fully applicable here (even if UFOs from the pack do not look like their well-known basic variants). The only problem are false walls, holed floors, etc. - I do not like them, and I will remove them all (in my humble opinion, the game reality is not Hogwart, and the aliens should not be warlocks who walk through solid walls - if you disagree, try the original maps from that mappack). Problems start with MapPack2 whose authors changed tilesets for their UFOs. One of possiblilities is to take:
• their Battle Cruiser and Evader as Abductor variants (and not Harvesters like they planned),
• their Freighter as a Terror Ship variant (and not an Abductor variant),
• their Marauder as a Harvester variant (and not a Terror Ship variant),
• their Warbird as a Supply Ship variant (and not a Battleship variant),
• their Attack Cruiser as an Abductor variant (and not a Supply Ship variant),
and I am doing so.
It is so because the current rules used in rulesets do not allow UFOs with the same name and different tilesets. So, there is an appeal to the game creators then: please change it if possible! Especially that no tricks will help (for now) to survive the forgotten pyramidal UFOs from the game files to be just randomly selected variants of the plain UFOs known to all.
I mean that the game allows this:
Code: [Select]
- type: STR_LARGE_SCOUT
size: STR_SMALL
(...)
battlescapeTerrainData:
name: UFO_120
mapDataSets:
- BLANKS
- U_EXT02
- U_WALL02
- U_BITS
- UFOL83
mapBlocks:
- name: UFO_120
width: 20
length: 20
- name: UFO_121
(...)
and it would be nice if it allowed this (or something similar):
Code: [Select]
- type: STR_LARGE_SCOUT
size: STR_SMALL
(...)
battlescapeTerrainData:
name: UFO_120
- mapDataSets:
- BLANKS
- U_EXT02
- U_WALL02
- U_BITS
- UFOL83
mapBlocks:
- name: UFO_120
width: 20
length: 20
- name: UFO_121
(...)
- mapDataSets:
- BLANKS
- U_EXT02
- U_WALL02
- U_BITS
- UFOL83
- U_DISEC3
mapBlocks:
- name: UFO_122
(...)
(as for now, it does not work).So, I am also planning another option (and a special, second ruleset for this mod) in the future: adding more UFO types (so you will have more than 8 UFO types in the game, and each of these still in many variants). It would need changes in Alien missions, the research tree, additional interception graphic, so this is a more distant future...
Finally, inform me please if you know other UFO maps aleady made, and want to have them in this mod as well.
Post by: Arthanor on September 24, 2014, 05:07:46 pm
Quick question(s): Does your mod replace Luke's and Solarius' mods? Or does it complement them?
Since they add new UFO types (their fighters, especially) but you claim your mod doesn't, I am confused.
I guess in its current version, your mod only adds scout variants so complements the other mods, but you intend later to integrate them so your mod becomes "The one UFO mod"?
Post by: davide on September 24, 2014, 05:18:48 pm
In this link you can get the zip with the maps that I collected
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2546.0 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2546.0)
It contains MapPack1 and MapPack2 and more.
Some big maps were fixed by Luke83 too
The zip contains a text file with the fragment to add to the MapView.dat to quick preview the ufo maps
(remember to add the two line for the Luke's tileset into Images.dat too)
The routes files are to check or to complete
If you want use/complete them I will appreciate a lot and the past efforts were nor spent in vain
The only requirements that I wish it is that you preserve compatibility with Luke's and Solarious's mods
Post by: davide on September 24, 2014, 06:49:02 pm
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2501.0 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2501.0)
Post by: grzegorj on September 25, 2014, 09:21:11 pm
Quick question(s): Does your mod replace Luke's and Solarius' mods? Or does it complement them?
Since they add new UFO types (their fighters, especially) but you claim your mod doesn't, I am confused.
Solarius' mod does add new types; I am preparing a ruleset to make both mods (mine and his) usable side-by-side.
Luke's mod, as for now, does not add new types, only variants of the 8 basic, existing types. All his UFOs will be included in my mod (along with many other variants prepared by me). It is so because they need many corrections in both maps and terrain files. The corrections are necessary for many reasons, see above on one of them (and on the rest in the readme file in future versions of my mod).
I guess in its current version, your mod only adds scout variants so complements the other mods, but you intend later to integrate them so your mod becomes "The one UFO mod"?
My mod will replace Luke's mod completely when all maps (and especially route files) are checked and corrected. You must wait for some time (I hope not too long), though, until it is complete (when the version 1.0 appears). Anyway, one cannot use both mods at the same time (unless you edit the rulesets).
It is quite differently with Solarius' mod (and other similar mods, if any are ready) which add new UFO types. The new types should never cause conflicts betweeen mods.
For this very moment, 16 Large Scouts have already been checked (but only on my computer), and twice as many (or more) of them will be added (and tested...) very soon, as only time allows. I also need some time to repair LUKE83 tileset (which has some inconsistencies in its present shape - Luke has been noticed about them and also waits for results of my work). Just now I am about doing some changes in this file to make his UFOs look and function even better than now (I really appreciate his hard work!).
I hope the next version (with Large Scouts, including all Luke's ones) will be available by the end of this week. It is hard to say when 5 further types are ready as there are larger and need much more time to be examined in all details. Anyway, I will do my best to finish with them as fast as possible. It will remove the problem of possible conflicts with Luke's UFOs.
Post by: Arthanor on September 25, 2014, 10:02:33 pm
Thank you for your work! I am looking forward to the upcoming version(s) :)
Post by: grzegorj on September 25, 2014, 10:32:02 pm
Me too tried to make it in the past but my few free time crash my wish :'(
In this link you can get the zip with the maps that I collected
(...)
The routes files are to check or to complete
As I have already explained, MapPack2 cannot be taken "as is" - it uses different tilesets than the vanilla maps. I am working on it.
If you want use/complete them I will appreciate a lot and the past efforts were nor spent in vain
The only requirements that I wish it is that you preserve compatibility with Luke's and Solarious's mods
I will check your changes and additions, and add them with pleasure to my mod, so nothing of your efforts will be lost :)
As I've explained, my mod is not and will not be compatible with Luke's (you cannot install both and expect all will be in order) because it will contain all his UFOs (corrected and under new, unified names), and also because of the convention of naming maps (it is necessary to make more order, and to adjust the mod to contain more UFOs). I will explain it in all details in my readme file (in the version 0.3), you will also find tables of comparison of Luke's names and my names. The most important reason is that Luke's mod uses a new U_DISEC3 tileset which makes new Harvesters incompatible with the genuine one. To tell it in the simplest words: my mod will not allow such an incompatibility with vanilla game UFOs, so it must be incompatible with Luke's, and there is no way to resolve it. However, once again, it will not be necessary since all Luke's UFOs will be present in my mod with no or only very subtle changes in their look (Luke's Harvesters are been tested by me in their new versions now, and will be available soon).
My mod is thought to replace Luke's mod, or to be its new, reworked generation, with many important changes, like making new Harvesters compatible with the original one which is not preserved in Luke's mod.
I will include tnarg's UFOs as well when they are ready. Thanks for the info!
Post by: Hobbes on September 26, 2014, 03:30:06 am
The most important reason is that Luke's mod uses a new U_DISEC3 tileset which makes new Harvesters incompatible with the genuine one. To tell it in the simplest words: my mod will not allow such an incompatibility with vanilla game UFOs, so it must be incompatible with Luke's, and there is no way to resolve it.
I've had a look and one solution would be to simply edit the genuine Harvester and replacing the tiles that got changed by the new tileset order. The issue is that any other modded Harvesters that use the old tileset order will need also to be edited.
Luke should have created new tilesets to add the new tiles rather than replacing the old ones with different versions - that way it would be compatible with any other modded UFOs, as long as they didn't use new tilesets.
Post by: grzegorj on September 29, 2014, 01:37:42 am
1. The new Harvesters have already been changed to fit the original tileset, and a new tileset has already been prepared, so there is no need for any additional actions. As for now, all this stuff is tested by me, and will be available for anyone very soon. Just wait several days.
2. As I promised, a new (0.3) version of the mod is ready to be downloaded. However, I have not had enough free time to finish with all Large Scouts. Only about one half of their total number is available in the current version. The mod contains 55 UFOs for now. Other 20 Large Scouts are waiting, and will be available with the next version. All other changes - see the readme inside the package.
3. I have edited the tileset UFOL83. A new version is available inside the package. You can safely use it with all other maps that need UFOL83. It is so because the total number of tiles has not changed.
So, what are the changes for?
I must have corrected wrong assignation of some tiles (as ground, wall, object) in order to use them with the corrected maps. But thanks to this, no more patches are needed in the ruleset. Let me know if somebody find more errors...
There were "green screen" tiles in the tileset that duplicated the ones in U_WALL02. I have replaced them by their reflected (mirrored) versions, made by me. I have tried to do all my best. BUT... this is my first serious work in pixel graphics. In my humble opinion, the results are not bad (I have tested them in MapView and in the game). But if anybody can do it better than me, do not even ask, just do it and inform me about it, so that I will use the better version with my mod.
There were two new Alien Habitat bubbling devices in the tileset, looking the same, and only one of them was applied on maps. I have corrected the animation of the bubbling (now it is very fluent), and made a new reflected version as the other tile. Both have already been applied to the maps.
That gfx job has taken me some time (I have little practice...), and this is another reason why not all Large Scouts are present in the current version.
4. Everyone can add the new maps to MapView configuration and learn how they look (I hope it is not too hard). However, you may also want to see the new maps in the game. I have prepared a set of savegames, taken very shortly before landing of an Xcom ship by a landed UFO. The collection may be useful for testing purposes... See the attachment.
5. I have added other tilesets corrected by me as well to the mod. Use them to have jars with foetuses counted as Alien Reproduction and armchairs recognized as Alien Habitat. However, as for now, only the new, corrected version of UFOL93 is really needed for the UFO maps to look very good. All the other files in the terrain folder are facultative replacements/patches.
Wish me luck with the rest of Large Scouts, and they will be ready very soon! The same about Harvesters which are next to be checked.
Post by: Arthanor on September 29, 2014, 02:56:29 am
I do wish you luck and appreciate all your hard work. Graphics and maps are not easy but they are a core part of the game. Especially for replayability. Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to 0.4 already ;)
Post by: ivandogovich on September 29, 2014, 05:41:25 am
Cheers, Ivan :D
Post by: guille1434 on October 01, 2014, 01:34:21 am
Post by: grzegorj on October 02, 2014, 12:32:30 am
And even if not, I will add a ruleset to my mod to use both mods at the same time. But now it is too early for it... Just be patient...
Post by: Arthanor on October 02, 2014, 12:52:30 am
Just had a few encounters we the new UFOs and breaching the funky large scouts brings back the hesitation I had before I developed the "best way". Even ran into a wall last night! *walks soldier up to division, right click to check through, nothing happens* Uh?! *facepalm*
It's very nice to have the variety, especially combined with the new terrain mod.
One thing: The alternate small scout doesn't give the one Alien Alloy. In the grand scheme of things, it does not matter much. But if it is the first UFO you intercept, that one unit allows you to start the Alien Alloy research now instead of waiting for the next one, which means earlier personal armor, which is invaluable!
Keep up the good work! We'll try to be patient :)
Post by: grzegorj on October 02, 2014, 05:14:07 pm
I suspect OXC coders try to mimic the original game. Even if the original Small Scout contains several parts built of alloys, you receive only 1 piece in UFO:EU, so also not in accordance with tile properties. As the alternative variants use yet different tiles, you receive no alloys at all (even if you should).
I think that 1 piece of alloys is a bug also in the original game. You should receive as many alloys as there are parts of the UFO. It would be consistent with features of UFO materials. Small Scouts are enough rare in missions, so it has minimal influence on the game economy if you receive 1 or 10 pieces of alloys. But it would be easier if the game used the information from tile properties instead of using internal procedures.
I have found a similar problem with Xcom-made ships. Their maps are buggy, but when I patched them, soldiers start to walk through walls (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2988.0 (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2988.0)).
If the game relied rather on data files than internal algorithms, it would be easier to patch / mod / change things.
Post by: Arthanor on October 02, 2014, 07:45:45 pm
How about adding one unit o alloy lying on the floor of the UFO? Kind of ugly, but it's the easiest way to keep the game consistent, instead of "I got a whole UFO and not a single alloy?!" Or maybe it's the one steel UFO ;)
Post by: guille1434 on October 02, 2014, 09:27:23 pm
Thanks for sharing your work!
Post by: grzegorj on October 06, 2014, 12:30:58 am
I was hoping it was just a matter of adding some missing info in the map/tileset.
It should work this way. I have already reported a bug to OXC coders. This is the best solution: I have no idea what part of the original Small Scout does generate the Alloys... each one should.
Post by: grzegorj on October 06, 2014, 12:59:53 am
1. Two models have appeared to be really time-consuming (I mean UFOKLATU and UFOBOP), especially their route files. It is not so simple to check 62 nodes... And all of them twice, but each of UFOs has also its symmetrical twin in the mod.
2. I have also made some gfx work. Thanks to it we now have double pillars to plug holes in wall edges when there are short skew external walls in UFOs (there are no such walls in any original models but there are plenty of them in community models). No more seeing or firing through edges... I hope. Any possible errors which can still exist in this matter are probably generated by the game itself, not by maps. Adding those double pillars have made me correct some already done UFOs.
Wedges for external, convex angles in UFO walls have also been added to the tileset. Now we can place external UFO doors just by an angle. Previously it caused ugly graphic result. Now it looks really nice, see the corrected UFO_111(A) / UFR_111(A) (there are 4 doors now in the stand of the mushroom-like UFO instead of 2 in the previous version).
Replacing all files with newer version is absolutely necessary then. As for now, no genuine (game) UFOs have been modified in any way, only the ones made by the community (and the modifications are as tiny as possible).
3. This is only a hobby which I can cultivate only in my free time :) So, please be patient. There are already 71 UFO maps in the package so I think that my speed is relatively fast :) I really plan to finish all the work... in several weeks.
Note also that ALL Luke's Scouts are already in my package. All Scouts from MapPack1 and MapPack2 (plus "new" Bird of Prey) are here too.
The nearest plans are: 12 more Large Scouts (yes!), including 3 maps by davide, 3 of 4 maps by Solarius (I hope they are all right now but I will take a look at them once again) and 6 maps being mirrored version of the six ones.
Then I will repair harvesters and abducters... I have also an idea how to remove those nasty black triangles in floors of Abductor.
The version 0.5 is expected next Sunday :)
Post by: grzegorj on October 06, 2014, 01:07:39 am
Post by: guille1434 on October 06, 2014, 02:00:20 am
As I really want to see all those new ufos in action... I was thinking about a way to implemenmt them in a Final Mod pack modded game... Those steps are the ones I think should be done to replace luke's ufos present in the FMP and replace them with yours:
1) Copy all your mod files present in the MAPS, TERRAIN and ROUTES folders to the equally named folders present in the Data folder of the game installation (previously having made a backup)
2) make a new ruleset (.rul file) where the following types in the ufos section are deleted, refering to the ones present in the FMP ruleset: "- type: STR_SMALL_SCOUT", "- type: STR_MEDIUM_SCOUT", "- type: STR_LARGE_SCOUT", then in the same ruleset, copy the information from your ruleset...
Do you think this will be enough to enable the use of your new ufos, or is there something I am missing, for example if there is any other ruleset section(s) affected by changing some types in the ufos section?
I hope I could explain myself in a clear way...
Also I want to say a big "Thank you!" for sharing such a wonderful and thorough piece of work! 8)
Post by: grzegorj on October 06, 2014, 12:21:22 pm
Post by: guille1434 on October 06, 2014, 06:17:28 pm
Post by: Arthanor on October 06, 2014, 06:27:01 pm
Without you, I would have never seen all those. This is great! With your mod, the alien remix mod (Who thought of Ethereals+Chryssalids as a good idea?!) and a few new races, now I just don't want to leave Earth to see what's coming next :D
Post by: grzegorj on October 20, 2014, 12:50:44 am
Which is the most important... It is time to definitely quit with Luke's Extra UFOs, or at least with his Harvesters. It is so because I have changed U_DISEC3 terrain file, so if you do not copy the new version, your UFOs will not work well. But with the new version, Luke's Harvesters will not work.
At this moment 106 UFO variants are ready: 3 Small Scouts, 32 Medium Scouts, 59 Large Scouts, 12 Harvesters. More Harvesters will come very soon (all Luke's maps will be added; as for now, only A, B, C and D are implemented).
There are three rulesets inside, choose only one of them.
YetMoreUFOs - if you do not know what to choose (it is the basic option);
YetMoreUFOsMini - if you want all UFOs of a given type to preserve their outer shape (no strange, new constructions will appear then);
YetMoreUFOTypes - if you like to play Solar's UFOs just as he has designed them.
I have added 3 Solar's New UFOs either as Large Scouts or as new UFO types - you can choose what you prefer: to have more Large Scouts or to have more UFO types (see readme inside). Just choose the proper ruleset. The archive contains the entire Solarius' mod (and all his files) so you do not need to worry about incompatibility. If you want to have both mods, choose YetMoreUFOTypes ruleset, and do not choose Solarius mod (all its contents is already inside)!
I have also added several UFOs designed by myself, including "double Large Scout" and some triangular ships. They originated long time ago, and have never been published.
Have a nice time with new UFOs!
Post by: Arthanor on October 20, 2014, 05:31:20 pm
Once again, thanks for all your work! You're the reason recovering UFOs (especially large scouts!) can be enjoyable again!
I wish I could offer you something that's as game changing as your mod has proven to be for me. Let me know if there is some weapon/armor/craft/research/balance/alien change that you'd like to see and I would be happy to look into it.
And.. I apologize for asking, but since you're doing such great work on UFO maps, I was wondering if you could maybe fix this craft (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2634.0) redesign? Mainly fix the "elevator" on the roof so it looks like it's the top (no vertical yellow lines), maybe change the chairs to human ones, and apply the fixes you did to the lightning?
Thanks in advance and keep up the great work!
Post by: davide on October 21, 2014, 10:33:34 am
Which is the most important... It is time to definitely quit with Luke's Extra UFOs, or at least with his Harvesters. It is so because I have changed U_DISEC3 terrain file, so if you do not copy the new version, your UFOs will not work well. But with the new version, Luke's Harvesters will not work.
Could you rename your version of tileset U_DISEC3.* to an other unused name such as U_DISEC4.* or any other ?
It is a tiny effort but it could resolve the incompatibility
Thanks in advance
Post by: grzegorj on October 27, 2014, 01:17:54 am
All Harvesters are ready now. Install my mod and remove Luke's Harvesters completely (all are now in my mod, together with their reflections, not present in Luke's mod), there will not be any conflicts - only Harvesters use U_DISEC3.
Ah, one thing more. Renaming U_DISEC3 would NOT remove the incompatibility, so this would be aimless. As for now, the game needs to have the same list of tilesets / terrain files for all variants of a given UFO type. Luke's mod changes the original list, I have reverted the change. But as a result, both mods cannot be used in one game. It is not possible to work with Luke's Harvesters and my Harvesters at the same tiome, and this is not a question of U_DISEC3.
You can also rename the old version of U_DISEC3, for example, to U_DISEC3_OUTDATED (or anything else), and make proper changes in Luke's ruleset. But even then you will not have both my and his Harvesters. Such a request is a little stupid, however, as my mod contains all his Harvesters, with corrections in addition.
Post by: grzegorj on October 27, 2014, 01:37:46 am
Version 0.5 (final, with all Harvesters ready). 122 UFO variants: 3 Small Scouts, 32 Medium Scouts, 59 Large Scouts, 28 Harvesters. It has also SolarsNewUFOs mod integrated. Tiny patches for (the original) Harvester (no more invisible holes in floors) and for Lightning (no more invisible tiles) have been added, and are recommended also for a normal, unmodded game. Moreover, a ruleset for using Firestorm (and Interceptor) as a fighter-transporter (1 tank + 6 soldiers, or 10 soldiers) has been added, as the one provided with OXC causes problems. After installing this mod, Luke's Extra UFOs will no longer work because of changes made in data files.
As I said, there is no need to run both mods. In my mod, there is plenty of patches for Luke's UFOs. All his UFOs (Scouts and Harvesters for now) are present in my mod, together with plenty of other maps. If you cannot wait for other ships, modify Luke's mod yourself - remove all Scouts and Harvesters from his ruleset, there should not be any conflicts with Abductors, Terror Ships and Supply Ships. Or wait until I finish my mod, and then there will be no need to use Luke's mod any longer.
My mod has never been thought to be compatible with Luke's. It is its replacement, instead.
Checking and creating Harvesters has taken me a lot of time. Notice however that they have three floors and plenty of items to check. 60 nodes in RMP files is nothing exceptional... and each node must have been checked. I hope Abductors will do faster, just as they are smaller.
Post by: grzegorj on October 27, 2014, 02:32:02 am
To simplify: use this version, and your Lighning will be still usable. So will the modified Lightning be.
In theory, you need this in the ruleset to have both ships in the game:
Code: [Select]
battlescapeTerrainData:
name: LIGHTNIN
mapDataSets:
- BLANKS
- LIGHTNIN
- U_WALL02
mapBlocks:
- name: LIGHTNIN
width: 20
length: 10
- name: LIGHTNI2
width: 10
length: 10
So, you can use both ships (the original one and the changed one) side by side as variants - except that the deployment scheme is global and may not work properly (check it if you want!). Appeal to our coders to make deployment (and mapDataSets) possible to be specified for each single variant within a given type of a ship...
Alternative solutions are:
- to replace the in-game Lightning with this version completely,
- to add a new type of human ship to the game (rather time-consuming, think of the research tree, UFOpedia etc.).
If you have extra wishes, like human stairs, try to modify the ship yourself. Using MapView is not THAT complex, however it is rather tedious and needs some practice (especially, you need to add each map manually to config files of the program...). Or wait until I finish with UFOs...
Post by: Arthanor on October 27, 2014, 03:27:08 am
As usual, thank you for your outstanding work! I am looking forward to encountering the new Harvesters :)
I apologize about taking up your time with my little problem. I just figured it would be quick for you since you are already used to modifying UFOs/Crafts. The only computer I have access to is a Linux computer and I have not yet figured out how to run Map View on it. The only source I found was a zip file with a bunch of windows executables. I will figure it out one day.. Anyhow, thank you very much for fixing that version of the lightning!
Cheers,
Art
Post by: ivandogovich on October 27, 2014, 05:50:15 am
<snip>. The only computer I have access to is a Linux computer and I have not yet figured out how to run Map View on it. The only source I found was a zip file with a bunch of windows executables. I will figure it out one day.. <snip>
This is obvious, but have you tried WINE?
Sorry for the off topic. XD
Cheers, Ivan :D
Post by: Arthanor on October 27, 2014, 07:04:19 pm
Thanks again!
@ivandogovich: Yeah, I tried that and the result was pretty bad. It doesn't recognize transparency so I get a bunch of black squares and all the different levels of a craft overlap. It's pretty ugly :/
Post by: grzegorj on October 27, 2014, 11:37:54 pm
As there are impatient people who would want to use both Luke's mod and mine (which is not possible in all), I have found a good solution. Yes, it is impossible to use both mods at the same time. But one can add all Luke's UFOs to my mod without checking / mending / modifying them. Even more, this is not very complex to add UFOs from both MapPacks as well! No more problems with U_DISEC3 etc., by the way!
Even if I cannot guarantee (for now) that all Abductors, Terror Ships, Battleships and Supply Ships will function very well, there is no need to use Luke's Extra UFOs any longer. All his UFOs are already in the mod (even if not all have been checked / corrected yet).
I have added them to the current version, numbered 0.6. The version 0.7 will have all Abductors checked (and the ugly looking black triangles in floors removed, I am just working on it), plus their reflected variants (and possibly one or two more maps) that do not exist in this moment. The version 0.8 is planned to have new / checked Terror Ships as well. The version 0.9 will have Supply Ships (they are less in size than Battleships, hence the planned sequence). And finally the version 1.0 will have all UFOs checked. Further versions with Tnarg's UFOs and pyramidal UFOs (unused but present in the game) are expected as well.
Nice using the mod!
Post by: grzegorj on October 28, 2014, 05:05:13 pm
Post by: TaxxiDriver on October 29, 2014, 12:39:08 pm
Post by: volutar on October 29, 2014, 12:51:15 pm
Since outside walls are revealing insides by silhouettes.
I've made a patch changing bigwall reveal behaviour, but it's still not applied.
Though I'd prefer to change cursor behaviour logic entierly. If you points non revealed territory - it should show non-occluded cursor version. Always. There shouldn't be that easy single-turn final missions.
Post by: grzegorj on October 29, 2014, 02:24:27 pm
Post by: volutar on October 30, 2014, 05:57:50 am
Post by: new_civilian on November 01, 2014, 02:47:55 pm
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 01, 2014, 07:04:19 pm
Grzegorz, what's the status with Yet More UFOs vs. Luke's Extra UFOs? Does your mod contain all of them or not? This information would really make my work easier.
Though I'd prefer to change cursor behaviour logic entierly. If you points non revealed territory - it should show non-occluded cursor version. Always. There shouldn't be that easy single-turn final missions.
This, so much. :)
Post by: TaxxiDriver on November 03, 2014, 03:02:41 pm
Post by: Arthanor on November 03, 2014, 04:58:29 pm
Post by: new_civilian on November 05, 2014, 01:18:02 pm
Some UFOs having "hidden firing holes" is indeed really annoying. I think grzegorj is making good progress on those by patching the gaps though. This mod is really an awesome improvement on the game.
why yes it is... :)
It`s always nice to see something NEW in this game, especially when it is made that good.
Post by: TaxxiDriver on November 05, 2014, 02:22:07 pm
why yes it is... :)
It`s always nice to see something NEW in this game, especially when it is made that good.
Wow! I haven't met with that UFO yet. I laughed a lot ;D
Post by: pkrcel on November 05, 2014, 02:58:48 pm
Post by: ivandogovich on November 05, 2014, 05:58:01 pm
The scout ships population has skyrocketed, since using YetMoreUFOs! ;D
More scout ships over all, Or more aliens at a scout ship site?
Post by: XCOMFan419 on November 05, 2014, 07:33:08 pm
My game will never be the same again! I love this mod.
Post by: pkrcel on November 05, 2014, 07:53:39 pm
More scout ships over all, Or more aliens at a scout ship site?Wells, I meant that now you rarely get the same ol' scout
Post by: TaxxiDriver on November 07, 2014, 02:31:25 pm
(https://cfile6.uf.tistory.com/image/2217844F545CBA3F04E094)
(https://cfile28.uf.tistory.com/image/2113A64F545CBA400A5C04)
(https://cfile21.uf.tistory.com/image/237A9C4F545CBA412CD3D8)
(https://cfile9.uf.tistory.com/image/2534DC43545CBD2319873A)
P.S. The ship was one of the hardest one I've yet encountered with....
Post by: BBHood217 on November 07, 2014, 02:54:11 pm
Post by: Arthanor on November 07, 2014, 06:29:21 pm
@BBHood217: There's not really any point in running Solar's "Alien Armoury Expanded - UFOs" mod along with YetMoreUFOs, as they contain the same thing. I'm not 100% sure it would crash or conflict, but it complicates things for nothing.
If you want to reproduce the same experience you would get with Solar's AAE-UFOs, use the "YetMoreUFOTypes" ruleset of YetMoreUFOs, since it keeps the new UFO types introduced by the AAE-UFOs separate. You can still run the other AAE mod to get the weapons as well, so you get the full AAE experience + all the new UFOs.
Post by: TaxxiDriver on November 08, 2014, 02:42:47 am
Also found a faulty wall, just for showing :)
(https://cfile28.uf.tistory.com/image/2751E64F545D658A1BF963)
(https://cfile22.uf.tistory.com/image/255CCA4F545D658B12A2B2)
Post by: Solarius Scorch on November 08, 2014, 11:12:24 am
I think I've found a very bad problem: encountered with a large ship and the battle didn't end for more than 100 turns. I've just searched every possible places and concluded that there might be some enemies inside the closed walls and that is the reason why the battle continues forever. Unfortunately, I didn't have access to plasma weapons so couldn't breach the walls and confirm the hypothesis :( should have got some breaching mods or something.
Do you have a save from that mission? Because you can enable debug mode (by setting "debug: true" in options.cfg), then in the game press Ctrl + D and the entire map will be revealed.
Post by: TaxxiDriver on November 08, 2014, 01:13:36 pm
Do you have a save from that mission? Because you can enable debug mode (by setting "debug: true" in options.cfg), then in the game press Ctrl + D and the entire map will be revealed.
Thank you very much. The information was very helpful. I confirmed my hypothesis to be true: in fact, there were actually even two of them inside the closed hulls! It's very sad because it would havce been otherwise a very well designed ship.
(https://cfile28.uf.tistory.com/image/2305983D545DFA382D7769)
Post by: BBHood217 on November 08, 2014, 02:48:49 pm
@BBHood217: There's not really any point in running Solar's "Alien Armoury Expanded - UFOs" mod along with YetMoreUFOs, as they contain the same thing. I'm not 100% sure it would crash or conflict, but it complicates things for nothing.
If you want to reproduce the same experience you would get with Solar's AAE-UFOs, use the "YetMoreUFOTypes" ruleset of YetMoreUFOs, since it keeps the new UFO types introduced by the AAE-UFOs separate. You can still run the other AAE mod to get the weapons as well, so you get the full AAE experience + all the new UFOs.
Somehow, I forgot that the Solar UFOs are actually a separate ruleset from the AAE. Whoops :P
Okay then, so I'll turn off both Luke's and Solar's UFOs since this mod apparently already has them integrated. My next playthrough oughta be more interesting. Yay mods!
Post by: davide on November 11, 2014, 11:49:50 am
Post by: BBHood217 on November 13, 2014, 08:54:12 am
Speaking of supply ships, there's a weird supply ship map that looks like it's not finished. It's like half a ship, and obviously not an intentional design because it's missing UFO components like power sources. And y'know, there's a giant hole in it.
Post by: Mr. Quiet on February 17, 2015, 10:02:16 am
Post by: Arthanor on February 17, 2015, 10:57:23 pm
I am wondering, though, what kind of impact the maps redesign might have had on the UFOs in this mod? Anyone tried this/has the experience to guess what, if anything, might change?
Post by: Mr. Quiet on February 17, 2015, 11:56:15 pm
Post by: Arthanor on February 18, 2015, 01:02:03 am
I thought it made sense, since this mod hasn't been updated in a while. So I went to check and to my surprise, reload and breakoff times from "YetMoreUFOs" were similar with the new ruleset with doubled timers.
Apparently I've been playing with super easy UFOs (already doubled timers) for a while? But then again.. not being able to down small scouts is weird. The time it takes to get them in cannon range is enough for them to disengage unless you're super fast clicking "aggressive", and even then I could only sneak in a few shots. Shoot them with anything longer range like a stingray and you'll just destroy them...
I'm not sure what's happening anymore..
Post by: Arthanor on February 18, 2015, 09:48:07 pm
As it is, I have removed all the extraneous information from YetMoreUFOs regarding vanilla craft variants in YetMoreUFOTypes (since it was overwritting the vanilla version) and doubled the reload and disengage timers for Solar's types, as required by the nightly. Interception will be a whole new game...
I've attached the ruleset in case anyone using the recent nightlies want to give it a try.
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on February 18, 2015, 11:50:22 pm
Just tried this mod, v1.3 and the following happens on the 1st mission, see pictures regarding the black areas. I've the following mods on:
rulesets:
- Xcom1Ruleset
- Acid_Weaponry
- Batman
- CUSTOM STATSTRINGS
- CivArmorRich
- CraftMissleSound
- EleriumFlare
- Enforcer
- ExtraPockets
- Extra_Explosions
- FireStormGfx
- GaussWeaponry
- GenderDetail
- GuidedMissile
- HWP_Mortar
- Improved_HandOb
- Improved_Recruit_Start_Stat
- Ironman Super Suit
- Laser_Sniper_Rifle
- MassAccelerator
- PSX_Static_Cydonia_Map
- PowerSuitHelmOff
- Predator
- SECTOPOD_HWP
- SPACEMARINES
- SniperRifle_custom
- SniperRifle_u2s
- TacticalNuke
- UFOextender_Gun_Melee
- ViperAssaultCannon
- WeaponNaymore
- WeaponTranquilizer
- XcomUtil_Fighter_Transports
- XcomUtil_High_Explosive_Damage
- XcomUtil_Improved_Ground_Tanks
- XcomUtil_Pistol_Auto_Shot
- XcomUtil_Skyranger_Weapon_Slot
- small_rocket_small
- Research_Alive_Aliens
- Alternate_Lightning_Thunder
- 2012DeathSounds
- Commendations
- CommendationsUFOpedia
- ITEM LIST ORDER
- XcomUtil_Starting_Defensive_Improved_Base
- LukesDarkUFOs
Have tried various things like reloading, taking off Luke's Dark Ufo's but it seems that if any of my units get reaction shot in a dark area the game crashes to the desktop. I'm using the nightly of 2015-02-17 and I don't think any of the mods r causing a conflict but this is beyond my knowledge. Item list order is something of mine just to put stores/purchase screens in what I consider a more sensible order. Wud "Yet more ufos" work better?
Apologies if this is a bit long winded but I don't want to risk my current game messing up again. Once I took off anything involving maps, routes, terrain or using an .exe prior to November there seems to be no problem fingers crossed. Thanks in advance for reading through this waffle. The attached pics show what was happening.
Post by: Arthanor on February 19, 2015, 06:49:12 pm
A word of warning, however. I just realized that the mod above (and indeed the original "YetMoreUFOTypes" ruleset) "only" has 3 alien itemSets defined for the new UFO types originally introduced by the Alien Armoury Expanded - UFOs mod. Since the Alien Armoury Expanded uses 4 alien equipment levels, using the AAE will make your game crash if an alien is "lucky" enough to get the 4th level equipment on a mission involving one of the new craft types.
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on February 19, 2015, 08:32:47 pm
Post by: Arthanor on February 19, 2015, 10:05:41 pm
If the Research mod you use has 0-2 for item levels, then YetMoreUFOsTypes should be compatible with it as is, since it also contains "only" 3 alien item levels. It is only when mixing in the AAE (or any other mods with more than 3 levels) that you will run into trouble.
Every UFO mod does need to get the timers tweaked for the recent nightlies, but that should be all (assuming that your alien weaponry is figured out).
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on February 20, 2015, 01:03:53 am
###BEGIN ALIENITEMLEVELS
alienItemLevels:
- [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1]
- [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
- [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
- [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
- [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
- [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
- [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2]
- [0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2]
- [1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2]
- [1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2]
- [1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2]
- [1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2]
- [2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2]
###END ALIENITEMLEVELS
So fr what u've said shud be compatible. There r no item levels defined in Solar's new ufos either so 2 final points. Firstly am I better adding yet more ufos or solar's new ufos as all I want is the 4 new ufos. And finally if there is not an item level defined in a mod like the forementioned 2 mods how does the ai know what item levels to give them or does it just use the last mod loaded in to have a item level defined, which in my case wud use the one fr RAA(attached). Thanks for all the advice on this one as ur knowledge is far superior to mine as I'm learning on a trial by error basis.
Post by: Arthanor on February 20, 2015, 08:02:16 am
I used the wrong term earlier, when I said every mod that defines new UFOs needs itemLevels, what I meant is the alienDeployment section, which says which weapon the aliens will have. If you look in Solar's New UFOs, you will see that there is indeed an alien Deployment seciton.
An issue arises when you define more itemLevels (0,1,2,etc.) than there are weapons tiers defined in the alienDeployment. If the game needs itemLevel 3 for an alien, but there are only 0, 1 and 2 defined, it will crash (with a rather unhelpful error message about checking vectors, which is relevant but hard to guess at). If you have more alienDeployments "tiers" defined than itemLevels, there is no issue. The last tier just won't be used.
So.. All that said to mean: You are fine using either YetMoreUFOs OR Solar's new UFOs. YetMoreUFOs gives you a lot more variation in UFOs so it depends on if you want to be surprised or not. Do make sure you are NOT using the Alien Armoury Expanded with either of those, however, since that requires more alienDeployment "tiers" than exist in either YetMoreUFOs or Solar's New UFOs.
Post by: SIMON BAILIE on February 20, 2015, 06:36:02 pm
Post by: hellrazor on February 22, 2015, 11:31:12 pm
alienItemLevels are defined once, and overwritten if a mod is loaded that redefines them after. In your case, if your only mod that defines itemLevels is the RAA, then that's what you will use.
I used the wrong term earlier, when I said every mod that defines new UFOs needs itemLevels, what I meant is the alienDeployment section, which says which weapon the aliens will have. If you look in Solar's New UFOs, you will see that there is indeed an alien Deployment seciton.
An issue arises when you define more itemLevels (0,1,2,etc.) than there are weapons tiers defined in the alienDeployment. If the game needs itemLevel 3 for an alien, but there are only 0, 1 and 2 defined, it will crash (with a rather unhelpful error message about checking vectors, which is relevant but hard to guess at). If you have more alienDeployments "tiers" defined than itemLevels, there is no issue. The last tier just won't be used.
So.. All that said to mean: You are fine using either YetMoreUFOs OR Solar's new UFOs. YetMoreUFOs gives you a lot more variation in UFOs so it depends on if you want to be surprised or not. Do make sure you are NOT using the Alien Armoury Expanded with either of those, however, since that requires more alienDeployment "tiers" than exist in either YetMoreUFOs or Solar's New UFOs.
My Mod refered to as RAA here (*lol*) also has alienDeployment Sections defined, to get Elerium Bombs in, but i stick to the orignal 3 tier of Equipment.
Post by: new_civilian on June 07, 2015, 12:37:59 pm
Post by: niculinux on August 26, 2015, 07:14:51 pm
edit: oh, latest version appears to be 0.6. Supposed to ba a comlleted mod, if so move in the complete mods forum?
Post by: niculinux on August 27, 2015, 03:20:48 pm