OpenXcom Forum
Modding => Released Mods => Topic started by: redv on September 18, 2014, 05:18:24 pm
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This mod on the OpenXcom mod portal: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/awacs-aircraft
Xcom forces were armed with Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).
The new generation of AWACS allowed significantly increase radius of detection. Which is especially important for low-flying and stealth targets. Radius of detection comparable with conventional underground Small radar system. Wait! Did I say "conventional underground radar"? It's ridiculous. Underground radars are not allowed because it is impossible.
Theoretically we can intercept and decode UFO transmissions, but even in this case we cannot determine the correct position of UFO. Therefore AWACS crafts is our eyes and ears. AWACS is most important part of our line of defense.
Are you ready to fight?
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AWACS AND AWACS.scenario
1. AWACS ruleset
AWACS ruleset just adds to your game an AWACS aircraft. You can buy it, fly back and forth, detect UFOs, enjoy by a new ufopaedia entries. Nothing more, because in regular OpenXcom using AWACS looks like a cheating.
2. AWACS.scenario ruleset
Can works well with regular OpenXcom, but I highly recommend to use OpenXcom Extended: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/openxcom-extended
Forum thread of OpenXcom Extended: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2915.0
You should begin a new game because the AWACS.scenario ruleset deletes Small radar system and Large radar system (you have been warned;)). You cannot build and use any kind of underground radars.
Starting base contains one Skyranger, one Interceptor and one HAWKEYE. Aircrafts of the AWACS class (HAWKEYE, AWACS and DARKSTAR) performs the function of radars.
AWACS has radius of detection comparable with Small radar system. Average chance of UFOs detection is 40% (* works only in OpenXcom Extended).
For manufacturing a DARKSTAR should be completed the "Unmanned Aircraft" research project.
Battle aircrafts of Xcom have average chance of detection 70% (* works only in OpenXcom Extended).
Hyperwave decoder cannot determine position of UFO (* works only in OpenXcom Extended), but can intercept and decode hyperwave transmissions. Therefore an UFO must be detected by AWACS or any other craft, then Hyperwave decoder during 30 min decodes transmissions and gives additional information about this UFO and his mission.
Update 1.1:
Added E2 Hawkeye and RQ-3 DarkStar aircrafts.
Update 1.2:
Fixed several mistakes in the ruleset.
Updated sprites.
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Lovely sprite for the AWACs in the hangar. :)
And very interesting mechanic, and definitely a challenging scenario!
Cheers, Ivan :D
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Props for a job well done, or at least well tought out...I strongly hope your modifications can be pulled into upstream OXC redv.
I may try this in the next future but I have my hands full right now with 3 campaigns :o
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Thanks, Ivan
Had to "fold":) a wings because max size of sprite is 32x40 px.
Thanks, pkrcel
This mod is some kind of proof of concept. Gameplay changes significantly. Old strategies not works.
For example no longer need 8 bases. 3 bases works well. Anyways you cannot cover whole Earth by radars.
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That big-ass E3 Awacs is a hard sell to fit in these hangars IMO :) How about replacing it with the older E2 Hawkeye? The lower speed of the latter would also limit the abuse :) Myself I'll be adding a Zeppelin for the exact same role :)
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An interesting approach!
I somehow feel that, a special craft hangar should be made just for the radar craft, to compensate for the fact the base will have now freed up a few slots of radar facilities in every base....?
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That big-ass E3 Awacs is a hard sell to fit in these hangars IMO :) How about replacing it with the older E2 Hawkeye? The lower speed of the latter would also limit the abuse :) Myself I'll be adding a Zeppelin for the exact same role :)
Hmm, it's a good idea. I think, instead of replace better to add E2.
Zeppelins reminded me Warcraft II :)
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hm it did not try it because i assume manually sending planes to find ufos is tedious work
what i would prefer (but its currently not possible) is after a base attack (=landing if ufo is destroyed by defense it does not happen) all radarfacilities is converted into build mode for 10 days (simulates rebuilding radar on the ground but the control/searchcomputer are in base/undamaged) during that time i would use some awacslike planes but reserving at least 5 facilities (hangar+hyperwave) just for detection in each base is not for me (did anybody ever thought/did something about different craft sizes like small fighter need small hanger, huge spaceship need huge hangar,..) ?
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hm it did not try it because i assume manually sending planes to find ufos is tedious work
In fact if openxcom extedend could support multiple waypoints.... ;)...it would be GREAT.
The fact that you can't lay down a flight plane is limiting and a pity, but I guess it's doable with reasonable effort and could be pulled as OPTION::MultipleCraftWaypoint....
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hm it did not try it because i assume manually sending planes to find ufos is tedious work
You are right. 4 (maybe 5) AWACS is maximum of managed quantity.
Perhaps, a drone on solar energy can solve this problem. After research and manufacture of course ;-)
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another option:
geostationary satellites = crafts with HUGE (>12 months) Fuel reserves but VERY slow speed
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Very nice dude! This makes a lot of sense. A global war with aliens would definately speed up research to have AWACS available at the timeline of UFO DEFENSE. I wish I had these in my first run superhuman runthrough. +1
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What is the cost of the AWACS?
What is the monthly upkeep cost?
What is the detection radius?
Will you release the hyper wave decoder not revealing an alien craft but it's mission info as a separate ruleset? or have I missed something?
Could you add an improved AWACS that is X-Com buildable with hyperwave capability, higher speed but still uses conventional fuel?
-HH
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What is the cost of the AWACS?
What is the monthly upkeep cost?
What is the detection radius?
costBuy: 700000 $
costRent: 700000 $
radarRange: 1700 miles
But you can change this as you want :)
Will you release the hyper wave decoder not revealing an alien craft but it's mission info as a separate ruleset? or have I missed something?
Behavior of Hyperwave decoder is a part of the AWACS.scenario ruleset.
If you don't need AWACS, but you want to try this behavior of Hyperwave decoder, you can use your own separate ruleset.
For instance "hyperwaveDecoder0.rul":
facilities:
- type: STR_HYPER_WAVE_DECODER
radarChance: 0But this ruleset will be works only in OpenXcom Extended, because in regular OpenXcom Hyperwave decoder always detects UFOs.
Could you add an improved AWACS that is X-Com buildable with hyperwave capability, higher speed but still uses conventional fuel?
Not now, because a code does not support this capability.
But speed of AWACS you can increase as you want. You can change the "speedMax" string. Remember, if you increase speed, then you increase a fuel consumption too. May be you want decrease speed? ;)
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But this ruleset will be works only in OpenXcom Extended, because in regular OpenXcom Hyperwave decoder always detects UFOs.
Not now, because a code does not support this capability.
Roger that. I think that will actually support what I am wanting in a game. I imagine a hyperwaves being a lot like an ELF transmitter used to get messages to submarines, which is a one way communication that provides simple orders that correspond to a code book. The amount of power and size of the generation equipment means that an ELF transmitter is NOT mobile by any means. So when transmitting the Russians or the US would know that each other had subs in the water, but not their exact locations.
With the Hyperwave decoder tweaked a touch we could know about where they were and what they were hoping to accomplish, but not their exact location which means an AWACS would need to find them and then dispatch of interceptors and lastly a ground mission by a skyranger.
time to play around with this...
Is there a way to set multiple waypoints? or a large patrol path?
-HH
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This makes a lot of sense. A global war with aliens would definately speed up research to have AWACS available at the timeline of UFO DEFENSE.
AWACS craft first appeared in World War 2. :)
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AWACS craft first appeared in World War 2. :)
Hmmm... I'm pretty sure, I never heard this before... do you mind explaining this? or providing a link to a wiki of the aircraft you are thinking of?
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Hmmm... I'm pretty sure, I never heard this before... do you mind explaining this? or providing a link to a wiki of the aircraft you are thinking of?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_early_warning_and_control
Not the same duder, but I can offer a little enlightenment.
The best way to put it is that the first prototypes where flown and used in the second world war on a limited basis with a modified version of the Avenger.
But the real dedicated craft came just after with the EC 121 warningstar.
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Is there a way to set multiple waypoints? or a large patrol path?
No. It is not implemented.
By the way it is not a good idea because leads to increase fuel consumption. Better patrol in one point.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_early_warning_and_control
Not the same duder, but I can offer a little enlightenment.
The best way to put it is that the first prototypes where flown and used in the second world war on a limited basis with a modified version of the Avenger.
But the real dedicated craft came just after with the EC 121 warningstar.
Yup, and the EC-121 first flew in 1949 and was accepted into service in 1954.
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... Wait! Did I say "conventional underground radar"? It's ridiculous. Underground radars are not allowed because it is impossible. ...
I have an idea for another scenario featuring these AWACS aircraft and the radars:
Underground radars work but the pile of mud used to hide them means they can't use the fancy spread spectrum tricks to hide themselves below the background noise floor. This means the aliens will be able to lock onto their signal and find your base pretty quickly once you prove to them you are more than a little nuisance for them. Expect to have so many aliens knocking at the door of your base(s) that you will be literally forced to dismantle them all and rely solely on AWACS to figure out where these pesky UFOs are lurking around.
Plus the pile of mud gets in the way of the radar's detection abilities. This means while AWACS sports a whooping 50% chance of detection in a small radar range, the small radar itself can barely get to the measly 20%. Long range radar has much higher range but at a pretty high cost: It has to use much stronger signal which makes the base where it is locate much more vulnerable to detection of the alien craft but even that does not help too much as the detection chance is only 10%
And don't think a mind shield is going to do you any good in avoiding detection. If the aliens can see your radar's signals, they can detect your base no matter if it has a mind shield or not.
Well, that could add an interesting twist to the game. If you like to invite aliens to bring their gear to your hideout and then perish, you can build a bait base equipped by radars. Then whenever aliens go out searching for your base(s), they will find your bait base and the carnage can begin ... :D
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I also would suggest AWACS crafts based on alien technology. Can hold hyperwave decoding circuitry, have 100% detection rate and huge range but are EXTREMELY expensive to build and operate (the 100% detection gear needs a lot of fine alien avionics and communication artefacts to build and the high range has its costs in Ellerium consumption as well). This would add an interesting strategic twist to the game: Am I going to pay to cover the important area with 100% accuracy detection or I am going to be content with 50% (standard AWACS uses human fuel and Hyperwave Decoder does not use any Ellerium as it is mostly passive decoding device able to operate on standard electricity).
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The mod has been updated: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/awacs-aircraft
Added E2 HAWKEYE: "A special modification for Xcom with additional fuel tank and increased radar range."
(https://www.military-today.com/aircraft/e2_hawkeye.jpg)
Added RQ-3 DarkStar: "Use of alien techology and ultralight alien alloys allowed develop an unmanned aircraft with previously unreachable uptime. The radar been configured for better detection of UFO."
(https://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt201/Pilikia_photos/Sane_Tyr_Drone/darkstar.png)(https://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/2Y/ufo-darkstar-470-0309.jpg)
You can manufacture Darkstars after complete an "Unmanned aircraft" research project.
AWACS a bit rebalanced because of HAWKEYE and DARKSTAR.
Hawkeye better to use for patrol near your base.
AWACS good for patrol distant countries.
Darkstar can autonomously patrol up to 18 days. Actually it is not real RQ-3 DarkStar, but i like this design :)
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Can I add them to the Final Mod Pack? :)
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Of course. You can use it as you want.
Just one problem:
Regular OpenXcom cannot support all abilities of this mod.
Only OpenXcom Extended can: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/openxcom-extended
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Is there custom hangar sprites for the E2 Hawkeye and RQ-3?
Oh, baby I am so excited.
-HH
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Of course. You can use it as you want.
Just one problem:
Regular OpenXcom cannot support all abilities of this mod.
Only OpenXcom Extended can: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/openxcom-extended
Then I think I'll wait for the FMP successor that I'm planning.
Thanks!
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Updated version of this mod: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/awacs-aircraft
CHANGELOG
v1.2:
Fixed several mistakes in the ruleset.
Updated sprites.
Fixed translaton.
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Those hangar icons are wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing! 8)
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The Hawkeye is so pretty :) The other sprites are top notch too, but I think the Hawkeye is the first propeller plane ever seen in XCom :)
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Awesome! I am using the 1.0 version (atm) and I really like it, have to test 1.2 right away!
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The Hawkeye is so pretty :) The other sprites are top notch too, but I think the Hawkeye is the first propeller plane ever seen in XCom :)
Next will be zeppelin
(https://arcanumclub.ru/autohtml/Arcanum/tarantian_images/tarantian_005.jpg)
May be ;)
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Awesome! I am using the 1.0 version (atm) and I really like it, have to test 1.2 right away!
1.2 much better because dramatically reduces micromanagement of aircrafts in mid and late game.
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And it has nice graphics to go with that! :)
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Since these are based on exsisting tech they should still be slower than the Skyranger as that is a global effort.
Halve the speed of the AWACS and 1/3 the hawk eye
as well as half the price of the Skyranger since again it's at the moment of it's creation the most advanced aircraft capable of radar and troop transport.
If possible can you make standard air craft and standard of modern day.
Craft idea's
[ Lockheed C-5 Galaxy ]
Maximum Speed: 572 mph
Maximum Range: 6,468 miles
Only for goods transport no radar, troops or guns. used to transport goods from one base to another.
so then transfer has to have a hanger with craft
[ F/A-18 Hornet ]
Hardpoints:
1 x 20mm M61 Vulcan six-barreled, Gatling-type internal cannon at nose.
2 x AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles on wingtip launchers.
speed 1,190 mph
Small radar 1/20th of the interceptor
1/5 the speed and can only equip stranded weapons that do less than the current in game
stranded aircraft guns
[ MiG-29 (Fulcrum) ]
Hardpoints:
1 x 30mm GSh-30-1 internal cannon
2 x AA-10
Maximum Range: 889 miles (1,430km)
Speed 1,519 mph
[ Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ]
(item for air strike while in mission)
Hardpoints:
2 x AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided anti-tank missiles
OR
2 x AIM-92 Stinger short-ranged anti-aircraft missile.(if used for aircombat to say defend a base )
Maximum Range:454 miles
Speed 135 mph
An item to put in the sky ranger to launch a hellfire missile that does equal to the alien launch in damage and needs no line of sight and can only carry one counts as a HWP
Also if a hanger could hold more than one vehicle would make more sense.
Super Stallion
No radar just for Short rang missions carrys 1 HWP and 6 crew and 10 cargo or so
[ Spy Satellite ]
Takes up a cube at base and provides a small constant Nigera sized radar ring with decent percent of detection
and moves super slow like 1-5 inch a day requires no fuel
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[ Spy Satellite ]
Takes up a cube at base and provides a small constant Nigera sized radar ring with decent percent of detection
and moves super slow like 1-5 inch a day requires no fuel
That kind of movement is possible for a sat but it makes no sense for a recon bird. Recon sats (picture/radar) are located on low orbit and they move faster than Earth's rotation thus during a single day they do several orbits around Earth, like the International Space Station:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/ISS_orbits_04132013.jpg)
This is due to the laws of physics: the closer you are to Earth the more gravity affects you, but you can counter gravity by moving fast (this is called the gyroscopic effect). Spy sats need to be close to Earth to look/search better for small objects and thus they need to move fast otherwise gravity will quickly bring them down.
For a sat to be permanently above a region, as you describe, its speed needs to match Earth's rotation, and thus needs to be placed in a higher orbit so that gravity doesn't affect it as much as in a lower orbit.
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Or we could just not go hyper realistic and make a cool new feature. :P
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I think I recall in the old UFO: Extender that there was an option to get a pop-up on the Geoscape whenever a craft was ready to launch. I bring it up here because that would be very useful when you've got various AWACS you have to use for your radars.
By the way, I love this mod. I actually makes you use the Graphs to sniff out where to patrol. Makes you take a more pro-active approach.