OpenXcom Forum

Modding => Work In Progress => Topic started by: Cooper on October 20, 2015, 12:36:33 am

Title: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Cooper on October 20, 2015, 12:36:33 am
Getting tired of the over-powered Psi-Amp and Blaster Launcher ruining this awesome game, I just made the "Customizable Balance Mod Pack" (my first public mod, yay!).

This is 7 different options for reducing/changing theese weapons, like requiering line-of-sight to use the Psi-Amp, making the Blaster Launcher so heavy that only very very strong soldiers can carry it, or simply removing Blaster Launcher from the game.

https://www.openxcom.com/mod/customizable-balance-mod-pack (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/customizable-balance-mod-pack)

Edit: New link to the mod: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/customizable-psi-blaster-balance (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/customizable-psi-blaster-balance)

Edit 2: Latest version is attached to this post!
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Cooper on October 20, 2015, 12:38:13 am
Question: Will this code still allow aliens to use the Blaster Launcher?

Code: [Select]
items:
- delete: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
 
- delete: STR_BLASTER_BOMB
   

manufacture:
- delete: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
 
- delete: STR_BLASTER_BOMB
   

ufopaedia:

- delete: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
 
- delete: STR_BLASTER_BOMB
   

research:
- delete: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
 
- delete: STR_BLASTER_BOMB
   
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Arthanor on October 20, 2015, 02:45:53 am
if you delete the item, then what do you think the aliens will be equipped with? I would expect the game will crash when it tries to give a blaster launcher to an alien and finds it doesn't know what a blaster launcher is.

You can simply add requires: STR_NOT_AVAILABLE to the blaster launcher, which means that it will be unusable, but still researchable (so that XCom can still know just how devastating a weapon the aliens have).

Or did you want the aliens to not use it either? The you need to remove it from the alienDeployments section as well.
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Cooper on October 20, 2015, 03:40:49 am
Good point. Hmm I guess I should do more testing before I publish stuff.

You mean like this?

Code: [Select]
item:
  - type: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
    requires: STR_NOT_AVAILABLE

Cant get it to work.. ???
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Cooper on October 20, 2015, 03:59:09 am
But this seems to work:

Code: [Select]
item:
  - type: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
    requires: STR_SOME_RANDOM_TEXT
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Cooper on October 20, 2015, 04:11:17 am
Code: [Select]
items:
  - type: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
    requires:
    - STR_JUST_SOME_RANDOM_TEXT_12321

manufacture:
- delete: STR_BLASTER_LAUNCHER
- delete: STR_BLASTER_BOMB
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Orz on October 20, 2015, 04:48:15 am
if you delete the item, then what do you think the aliens will be equipped with? I would expect the game will crash when it tries to give a blaster launcher to an alien and finds it doesn't know what a blaster launcher is.

Actually, it won't! I learned by sheer happenstance the other day. On my original TFTD mod, I was making Sonic weaponry ammoless, so I painstakingly removed every single clip from the alien's arsenal (alienDeployment). When I went about to do the same on my UFO/EU mod... I just deleted each Plasma clip instead (items.rul) without removing them from the alien's actual itemset. I would have expected the game to crash, but... lo and behold: it didn't. Aliens simply spawned without clips even though they were still listed in their itemsets.

If I only had known this earlier I would have saved myself so much time! :P
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Arthanor on October 20, 2015, 06:26:36 am
Uh? That's interesting. One time when OpenXCom is more robust than I'd expect (CTDs are pretty common when modding...)

That works for removing ammo, but if you remove the weapon too, those aliens would spawn with nothing to fight you except a grenade if they're lucky. Not fair! ;)
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Orz on October 20, 2015, 04:59:34 pm
That works for removing ammo, but if you remove the weapon too, those aliens would spawn with nothing to fight you except a grenade if they're lucky. Not fair! ;)

Of course, that'd be pretty bad for the poor guys. Not to divert the topic, but I merely made alien's weaponry ammoless to (1) prevent X-Com from acquiring so much money-making loot (even though I had already cut sell prices in half for all recoverable alien items & UFO components) and (2) give the poor aliens a slightly higher advantage. Naturally, Laser weapons now require clips/batteries just like Gauss. Besides, ammoless Sonic weapons make much more sense (and why not, Plasma tech too). Sound-waves should require no ammo! :P
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Arthanor on October 20, 2015, 07:14:54 pm
Takes energy to make plasma or sound, even if the raw material (an atmosphere to turn into plasma by superheating it, or an atmosphere to support a pressure wave) is free! Those "ammo packs" are batteries!
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Orz on October 20, 2015, 08:39:54 pm
Takes energy to make plasma or sound, even if the raw material (an atmosphere to turn into plasma by superheating it, or an atmosphere to support a pressure wave) is free! Those "ammo packs" are batteries!

Umm, err... well, you know, let's just say those "batteries" are incorporated in the weapon system itself then! I very much do love the idea of having clips for all projectile weapons. The reloading aspect of it makes it all the more "tangible," if that makes any sense. It just feels great. But then again, I really need to limit looting. It's too indiscriminate! :P
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Arthanor on October 20, 2015, 09:02:47 pm
Use clips but make them not recoverable? Without clips, you are saying "this weapon has so much energy in, it can pew pew forever", with clips, each batteries has a finite life. Say they are Elerium/Zrbite batteries which degrade quickly after battle, then XCom has to devise their own system to manufacture clips then, which also means you can give them various power ratings compared to the aliens!
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 09:11:47 am
I really need to limit looting. It's too indiscriminate! :P

There's no such thing. You have no idea how heartwarming it is that basically every large OXCom mod is using some of my resources :) Just don't be sloppy with your credits, like Hellrazor :)
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: hellrazor on October 21, 2015, 02:57:12 pm
There's no such thing. You have no idea how heartwarming it is that basically every large OXCom mod is using some of my resources :) Just don't be sloppy with your credits, like Hellrazor :)

So i do have a "sloppy" creditlist? Creditlist (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3550.msg42492.html#msg42492)
I tried to include every information i found/find, to name the creator of a Sprite or ruleset i use, i do not think that this is in any way sloppy, even thou i do not track the Mods (for what)?

EDIT: Obviously Dioxine was making a joke, which as usual i did not understand at all...
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Meridian on October 21, 2015, 03:06:45 pm
You get excited too easily hellrazor. Chill out, it was just a friendly joke from Dioxine...
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 04:59:31 pm
Yeah, just kidding, I'm not someone to be bothered too much about this, but still I think I deserve at least some joking rights (and you still didn't check) :)
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: hellrazor on October 21, 2015, 07:13:27 pm
Yeah, just kidding, I'm not someone to be bothered too much about this, but still I think I deserve at least some joking rights (and you still didn't check) :)

Well your "joke" was more of a insult to me, then a joke in any regard.

Guess that is what you could call cultural differences :>
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 07:18:07 pm
One could say that not crediting someone is an insult too... Whew, cutting off that little game: it's Alloy Knife and most of the civilians in your mod.
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: hellrazor on October 21, 2015, 07:20:41 pm
One could say that not crediting someone is an insult too...

Sorry but i seriously read it as a insult. It probably was not intended as such, but i do not understand the subtellness in humor, especially your humor most of the time.
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 07:22:34 pm
Ah, just a little game. Cutting the subtlety: it's Alloy Knife and most of the civilians in your mod.
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: hellrazor on October 21, 2015, 07:24:45 pm
Ah, just a little game. Cutting the subtlety: it's Alloy Knife and most of the civilians in your mod.

Good to know that, you will be put on the creditlist of course.

EDIT: Maybe we should create some kind of sprite database, so we could track who is the original designer etc...
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: Dioxine on October 21, 2015, 08:03:13 pm
Thank you. And it ain't a bad idea with the database - not everyone credits sprites they reuse (not talking about you, in reality I think you're rather meticulous with these kinds of things. I bet you got those from Hobbes, wink, wink, Hobbes :) ) Even better would be a mapblock database, I think - with mapview-created thumbnail, tilesets used, and the list of creators/contributors. Chopping sprites is easy, but tracking all these maps and their versions... (like Luke UFOs, which got reworked several times over, or Luke's Terror, or even Hobbes' maps - through their sheer variety). It'd also tremendously help people who'd want to create some additional mapblocks to existing terrains, or update existing mapblocks. The same goes for tilesets...
And it's not cultural differences, it's character differences I think, and sorry for being smartass - that's how I react for being insulted :)

Uuuuh, @OP: sorry for derailing your thread!!! I think ammo-less weapons are nice... if you want the game to become more casual (the player doesn't need to worry about logistics anymore). What about just limiting clips to just 1 per weapon in deployments? That way the amount of recovered ammo would be severely reduced. Or reducing the number of shots per clips to below 15 - the aliens won't get a chance to shoot more than a few times anyway...
Title: Re: Customizable Balance Mod Pack
Post by: hellrazor on October 25, 2015, 05:01:47 am
Sorry OP for getting off topic here.

Your idea is good, i agree with Dioxine, that limiting the amount of clips to 1 should make them a little bit more scarce.