OpenXcom Forum

OpenXcom => Suggestions => Topic started by: kharille on September 28, 2013, 04:37:02 pm

Title: Base defence - lights out
Post by: kharille on September 28, 2013, 04:37:02 pm
If there were a power generator structure, maybe this could be destroyed by aliens forcing base defence to take place in darkness?  a subtle change that might make things slighty more interesting.

Thoughts?
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: moriarty on September 28, 2013, 09:46:35 pm
that would truly make things... interesting :)

I don't think adding a whole new facility only for this purpose would make sense, though.

perhaps each facility could have a "power node" somewhere, and the aliens would preferentially shoot it? destroying the power node would disable lights in that facility. hangars could always start with the corresponding power nodes destroyed.
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Danny on September 28, 2013, 10:22:16 pm
My bases have emergency lighting for EXACTLY this kind of situation... ^^
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: moriarty on September 28, 2013, 10:42:32 pm
my emergency lighting is called "incendiary ammunition"...
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: kharille on September 29, 2013, 04:48:16 am
I was wondering whether there may be ideas for other ideas, like maybe fusion missile defences exploding if they get hit by blaster bombs, and massive local damage.

Maybe extra smoke when explosions are set off which tends to make soldiers get stunned.
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Danny on September 29, 2013, 10:43:10 pm
"incendiary ammunition"...

We call that alien barbecue...

Like we call (our own) blaster bombs, happy happy fun time... ^^
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Gifty on September 30, 2013, 12:27:13 am
If adding a new room/prop to facilitate this is too tricky, maybe it could be handled by general room damage? Say, when 70% of the room is busted, the lights go out? Makes you think twice about using explosives.
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Mr. Quiet on September 30, 2013, 09:01:59 am
Also lights that blink on and off in a certain area after it takes damage would be neat. Lights that would be turned off from the beginning in the dark corners, like the radar, missile rooms. Maybe areas that nobody really go into as much and would be left abandoned for months. I really want cave tunnels in my base too.
How about a Fire Sprinkler system that activates when they sense heat in one of the facilities? When a fire grows big enough, the sprinkler goes off, creates a puddle of water and if you're nearby you will be able to hear anytime something walks across the water puddles. I much rather have the lights out mod instead. Who wants to make it?
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Danny on September 30, 2013, 12:35:12 pm
Or give Xcom night-vision goggles ^^
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: luke83 on September 30, 2013, 01:24:22 pm
how much does lighting effect alien vision?
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: moriarty on September 30, 2013, 01:25:10 pm
how much does lighting effect alien vision?

not at all, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: luke83 on September 30, 2013, 02:04:58 pm
not at all, unfortunately.

that needs to change ::)
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: moriarty on September 30, 2013, 03:20:19 pm
yeah, I think it should be rulesetted at the very least. maybe as a "low-light vision reduction modifier"?

something like:
lowLightVisionReduction: vision range in low light conditions is multiplied by this factor. defaults to "1" for vanilla aliens and 0.45 for vanilla humans.


unfortunately, reality is a little bit more complicated... https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Night_Missions (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Night_Missions)

apparently, vision range is always 20 (for every unit, no matter if alien or human). The difference is that aliens can see units "in darkness", but humans can only see units "in the light". and while the graphics make it appear to be gradual, night missions (including twilight missions) operate under a binary system: light sources illuminate everything within 9 squares, everything else is "in darkness".

I think this calls for an optional gradual system... but implementing it may be difficult, because the vanilla system is so different from any "realistic" system  ::)
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Danny on September 30, 2013, 04:02:42 pm
Most aliens shouldn't be able to see in no lights conditions either...
They might see better in the near dark, but even they should need SOME light. ^^
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: kharille on September 30, 2013, 04:12:57 pm
Maybe those sectoids with their large eyes might have some form of night vision which the others would not?  I'd imagine it would be easy to outsmart a muton, outmanoevre them and hit em' from behind.
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: djemon_lda on September 30, 2013, 08:45:35 pm
well... riddick didn't need big eyes to see in the dark ;)
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: Danny on October 01, 2013, 09:26:13 am
...outsmart a muton, outmanoevre them and hit em' from behind.

That's what I tell my (smaller) female troopers when they need to fight a Muton...
"Its a big boy, you need to take him from behind" ^^
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: kharille on October 01, 2013, 10:20:46 am
Yeah, they've been surgically altered so kicking them in the ...  won't work....
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: moriarty on October 01, 2013, 10:36:46 am
Well... back on topic...  ;D
AFAIK, the light in xcom bases is generated by the "xbase" floor tiles, so perhaps it would be a start to make those floor tiles more squishy? Is that externalized to the ruleset already? I'm on my smartphone right now so I can't check easily. Maybe add a tile that looks the same but doesn't emit light, so an explosion turns off the lights?

EDIT: according to the UFOpaedia (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Night_Missions), those two floor tiles emit light:
XBASE1[06]   Base Floor Tile #1
XBASE1[09]   Base Floor Tile #2

apparently, tiles are currently taken directly from the xcom source files, if I read that correctly. I don't know if it would be possible to read additional resource files, but that would also involve modifying the mcd tilesets to actually use the new tiles in the game...
Title: Re: Base defence - lights out
Post by: kharille on October 01, 2013, 07:20:08 pm
Hm...   I think I was looking at the xcom wiki, and it mentioned that some alien objects emit light.  So in the xcom base its pretty much emitted by the tiles themselves eh?  Wonder whether these glowing tiles could be separated out.  Don't have the time to go into the coding part but I'm sure you guys are doing an amazing job....