What is Snug Assortment of Little Things?
Also known as OpenXcom Extended with SALT.
Snug Assortment of Little Things is a lightweight yet comprehensive canon-friendly overhaul of the original experience.
In addition to at least 1 global option and 33 fixed user options, it consists of:
5 first-party mods by OpenXcom
32 second-party mods by Snug Assortment of Little Things
14 third-party mods by Various Authors
Why is it unreleased?
While it's 99% done and playable, the addition of a few rulesets and script hooks are needed for the remaining 1%.
That said, I am not quite sure it's releasable. More specifically, I need clarification on licensing:
Spoiler alert: I know anyone who replies regarding this section is probably not a copyright lawyer and that I should seek an actual lawyer for legal advice. I am just asking to gauge the waters and if it's too much of a hassle... oh well.
Forget the legalities for a bit, give us some details about the mod!
First-party mods are self-explanatory and are what I believe should objectively be in the base game.
Third-party mods are self-explanatory and are what I believe should subjectively be in the base game.
Second-party mods are more biased in intentions and could benefit from explanations. The emphasis is 99% on each mod being "a lightweight yet comprehensive canon-friendly overhaul". A summary of what was done is included at the top of each mod's metadata.yml file. For instance...
Craft_Speeds:
#
# In the base game (xcom1) the Lightning is slower than the Firestorm,
# giving yet another reason not to use it.
#
# We flip the speeds and adjust the acceleration values shown in UFOpaedia
# (the latter which also affects the disengagement speed in piloted crafts).
(https://i.postimg.cc/bNFVnCBJ/Craft-Speeds-1.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/85HtztvT/Craft-Speeds-2.png)
Craft_Weapons_Balanced_on_a_Linear_Distribution:
#
# In the base game (xcom1) some craft weapons either do too little damage
# or too much.
#
# We balance damage and accuracy on a linear distribution
# with increased minimums and decreased maximums,
# however, we peg range to UFO size.
#
# We reduce reload times where continuous fire is expected.
#
# We split craft weapons into types to delay planned obsolescence.
#
# We give every craft a built-in cannon as a measure of last resort.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Y0YxG7hK/Craft-Weapons-1.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/nVD2w4TR/Craft-Weapons-2.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/m2WjxP5b/Craft-Weapons-3.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Jz1Qn98v/Craft-Weapons-4.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/CLCNww3b/Craft-Weapons-5.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/qvjxCjMR/Craft-Weapons-6.png)
I can also do likewise for the other second-party mods (as I'd like general feedback on the balance decisions I made) but does anyone even read these walls of texts?
References:
- [RULES] Modest Rebalance (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2532.0.html)
- [UFO MEGAMOD] Reaver's Faithful Megamod (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5543.0.html)
- [UFO] Ramikin Rebalance (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,9552.0.html)
- exponential difficulty (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,2218.0.html)
- General XCom balance (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,1263.0.html)
- Reaver's Rebalance (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6585.0.html)
- Vanilla Rebalanced - nothing is added, but everything is different! (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3509.0.html)
- Weapons and Craft rebalance (https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,1324.0.html)